Currently on OPT, need to travel with an expired F1 visa, will get married soon

[tassos77 0]

Hello everyone,

I am currently working using my OPT which will expire in December 2013. I can renew it for another 17 months (STEM extension). The problem is that my F1 visa expires in December as well, so i wont be able to fly overseas after that. The company will apply for the H1B visa in Spring 2014 so i can have it in October 2014. I am also angaged to a US citizen and we are planning to get married soon. The question is if there is a way to travel overseas for a few weeks during the summer 2014 and return without any problem. I would appreciate any help.

Thank you,

[Pitaya 2,577]

~Moved from K-1 Process to Student and Exchange Visitor Forum~

~currently has student visa, not actively in K-1 Process~

Edited October 18, 2013 by A&B

[jaycali 415]

Hello everyone,

I am currently working using my OPT which will expire in December 2013. I can renew it for another 17 months (STEM extension). The problem is that my F1 visa expires in December as well, so i wont be able to fly overseas after that. The company will apply for the H1B visa in Spring 2014 so i can have it in October 2014. I am also angaged to a US citizen and we are planning to get married soon. The question is if there is a way to travel overseas for a few weeks during the summer 2014 and return without any problem. I would appreciate any help.

Thank you,

You cannot enter the US on an expired visa, and your OPT card is not valid for re-entry. I was in the same boat a few years ago. In short, if you need to travel abroad, do it before your F-1 expires. After that, the moment you leave the country you won't be let back in.

Your best option if you have to travel in the summer is to either 1. Get married, file for adjustment of status now. (you should have your green card by the summer, or at the very least advance parole), or 2. Travel in the summer, come back in October when your H1b is approved.

[tassos77 0]

Thank you for your response.

One last question. If i fly back to Europe with my fiance, get married there, get the K3 visa and fly back to the US, will my OPT (EAD card) be valid until i receive the Green Card and the new EAD card so i can continue working?

Thank you.

[jaycali 415]

Thank you for your response.

One last question. If i fly back to Europe with my fiance, get married there, get the K3 visa and fly back to the US, will my OPT (EAD card) be valid until i receive the Green Card and the new EAD card so i can continue working?

Thank you.

The K-3 visa is obsolete. If you got married in Greece, your fiance would file an I-130 for a CR-1 visa. This is at best a 7 month process, usually closer to 8 or 9 months. By that time your OPT would be invalid as you'd have been unemployed for more than 90 days, and you wouldn't need OPT anymore anyway, as a CR-1 visa leads to a green card on arrival in the US. Doing it from within the US is another animal, but generally a lot less complicated. If you get married in the US, you can file adjustment of status, an I-130/I-485 package. You keep your OPT status until the green card is approved. In addition, you can file for Employment authorization (I-765) and Advance Parole (I-131) concurrently with the I-130/I-485 package. The Advance Parole is a document that allows you to re-enter the US while the adjustment of status process is ongoing, regardless of your F-1 status.

If you have to travel, do it before your F-1 expires, or after you get advance parole approved.

Whether you want to go for the H1b or get married and go for the green card sooner rather than later is up to you. Just don't leave the country with your F-1 expired, unless you want to quit your job and spend close to a year in Greece.

Edited October 18, 2013 by jaycali

[newacct 688]

If you have to travel, do it before your F-1 expires, or

I don't think they can re-enter on the F-1 at this point even if it's not expired, since they seem to have an intention to adjust status once back in the U.S.

[jaycali 415]

I don't think they can re-enter on the F-1 at this point even if it's not expired, since they seem to have an intention to adjust status once back in the U.S.

Finishing one's OPT is a legitimate reason to re-enter on an F-1. Also, the H1b is a non-immigrant visa, so adjusting to H1b isn't automatically considered immigrant intent (though H1b does allow for dual intent).

But if intent is to return on the F-1, finish OPT and then adjust status once married, that's a big no no.

Edited October 18, 2013 by jaycali