F1 to Marriage Greencard (same-sex)

[laguys 1]

I'm just getting started with the whole process of submitting a I-130 for my spouse.

Here is some quick background information.

• I am a California Native USC.
• My spouse was admitted into the country on a F1 D/S Visa on 9/03/2012 from China.
• He is working on his PhD at UCLA in environmental engineering and is considered to be one of the top in his program.
• UCLA funds almost all of his education. He also works as a Graduate Assistant teaching courses and is paid a living salary... so he also has a SSN already.
• We met early last year and decided to get married 11/24/13.
• Due to his study and current research it can be said that he would have had no problem getting corporate or university sponsorship if we had not met and married.
• He has been completely embraced by my family and although his family is not all aware of me, his parents are. They have accepted and show me much respect on skype
• We have lived together since 5/2013 and have combined most of out daily finances.
• We are opting to have him taxed as a resident alien for 2013 so we may file jointly, as advised by our CPA.
• We do not have a pre or postnup.

So my questions are.

• We haven't known each other for years like many on this forum have. Does this raise a red flag and what should I do upfront to address it?
• Is there anything else that I should be extra aware of based on our specific situation?
• Are there any recommended agencies in Los Angeles that someone could recommend to help review our paperwork?
• We are both intelligent people but I keep thinking that one stupid mistake in filling out the forms could create unnecessary problems.

Thank you.

[skysofialila 45]

• We haven't known each other for years like many on this forum have. Does this raise a red flag and what should I do upfront to address it?
• Is there anything else that I should be extra aware of based on our specific situation?
• Are there any recommended agencies in Los Angeles that someone could recommend to help review our paperwork?
• We are both intelligent people but I keep thinking that one stupid mistake in filling out the forms could create unnecessary problems.

1) No, it shouldn't

2) Nothing I can think of.. except that you'll do an adjustment of status and it should be relatively quick unlike a CR-1/IR-1

3) check with your husband's graduate school - office for International students. They offer free or low cost legal advice. That is, if you don't check out the guides up at the top between "Portals" and "Wiki", first.

4) Yup

Edited February 3, 2014 by skysofialila

[Darnell 8,479]

Hey ! Welcome Aboard !

All I will say is that

This is a D I Y site, with an emphasis on 'Y' 'D'.

So, if you can make some time to read stuff here, in Guides section and find the same-sex topics,

then run through the forms, asking questions when you get stuck,

then I think you two will be OK without a lawyer.

There's one sticky bit about getting married in a place that allows same-sex marriage, so be certain you got that part covered.

[city/state of marriage not need be same as city/state of residence, so that's a plus]

[laguys 1]

1) No, it shouldn't

2) Nothing I can think of.. except that you'll do an adjustment of status and it should be relatively quick unlike a CR-1/IR-1

3) check with your husband's graduate school - office for International students. They offer free or low cost legal advice. That is, if you don't check out the guides up at the top between "Portals" and "Wiki", first.

4) Yup

Thank you for the quick reply. I didn't even think about having him check with the International Services Dept. This will be top of his list tomorrow.

I have been reading through this site for the past few hours. I am so happy to have found this resource.

Best!

[laguys 1]

Hey ! Welcome Aboard !

All I will say is that

This is a D I Y site, with an emphasis on 'Y' 'D'.

So, if you can make some time to read stuff here, in Guides section and find the same-sex topics,

then run through the forms, asking questions when you get stuck,

then I think you two will be OK without a lawyer.

There's one sticky bit about getting married in a place that allows same-sex marriage, so be certain you got that part covered.

[city/state of marriage not need be same as city/state of residence, so that's a plus]

So happy to have found this resource. We are in California so we are good with the same-sex marriage requirements. I'm sure we will have more questions as we progress through this process. Thank you for your reply.

Best!

[skysofialila 45]

Best of luck! I wish I could have adjusted my husband's status but he came to do grad school under a J-1 (2 year rule) so there was no adjusting allowed without a waiver, which would mean paying back all of the funding he received via his scholarship (over $200K).

But, we had friends who were F-1 students who married and had no problems adjusting their status... it was a breeze. They said to include lots of pictures, financial co-mingling evidence, etc. when they call you in for the interview. Good for you for filing taxes jointly. That will also help (according to my accountant's advice, too.)

Good luck

[Ayumi_Hamasaki 4]

Hi! We're in a similar situation! I'm a grad assistant as well.

We've known each other for three years before we got married.

I'm doing my Ph.D. at University of Chicago. We (I, primarily) prepared everything without a lawyer. Look at my progress. We're just waiting on our interview date.

Well, the only difference is that same-sex marriage isn't legal in the state of Illinois until this June (a few months away). We got married in Minnesota instead for a number of reasons.

good luck!

I'm just getting started with the whole process of submitting a I-130 for my spouse.

Here is some quick background information.

• I am a California Native USC.
• My spouse was admitted into the country on a F1 D/S Visa on 9/03/2012 from China.
• He is working on his PhD at UCLA in environmental engineering and is considered to be one of the top in his program.
• UCLA funds almost all of his education. He also works as a Graduate Assistant teaching courses and is paid a living salary... so he also has a SSN already.
• We met early last year and decided to get married 11/24/13.
• Due to his study and current research it can be said that he would have had no problem getting corporate or university sponsorship if we had not met and married.
• He has been completely embraced by my family and although his family is not all aware of me, his parents are. They have accepted and show me much respect on skype
• We have lived together since 5/2013 and have combined most of out daily finances.
• We are opting to have him taxed as a resident alien for 2013 so we may file jointly, as advised by our CPA.
• We do not have a pre or postnup.

So my questions are.

• We haven't known each other for years like many on this forum have. Does this raise a red flag and what should I do upfront to address it?
• Is there anything else that I should be extra aware of based on our specific situation?
• Are there any recommended agencies in Los Angeles that someone could recommend to help review our paperwork?
• We are both intelligent people but I keep thinking that one stupid mistake in filling out the forms could create unnecessary problems.

Thank you.

[mypreciousss 1]

Hi there! My husband and I are in pretty much the same situation (he's a USC and I'm from India). I have been on H1B for a couple of years and still have several years left on this status, and I was also being sponsored for a green card by my employer. My husband and I started dating just over a year ago and got married this month after living together for about 8 months. It was relatively quick compared to some of the other couples on the forum, but what can I say - when you know its the right person, you know, and don't want to wait!

Although we are both well informed and intelligent people, we are also TOO detail oriented and a little OCD :-). We were worried about the exact same thing, not about getting denied, but making a small mistake and causing an RFE or delay and stress. We also wanted to do things right because our relationship is just over a year old and we didn't want this to raise a red flag. Because of this, we decided to hire an attorney, even though it cost a couple of thousand dollars. For us, our time and peace of mind was worth the cost, ad we cound afford it. Despite this, I still lurk on VJ and inform myself as best as I can. I also have no doubt that we could have prepared the filing ourselves, but it would have taken a lot more time, energy, and stress. I'm very impressed by people who do it themselves.

I have to say it was incredibly helpful having our attorney address our concerns, and the fact that she specializes in post-DOMA cases (she has done dozens since last year) was an added benefit. We just submitted our filings last week.

I don't think you need to worry about your relationship being relatively short compared to others - if you can show financial interdependence (joint accounts, having each other as beneficiaries on each others insurance and 401k, etc) and showing a joint residence are the most important things.

Good luck!

I'm just getting started with the whole process of submitting a I-130 for my spouse.

Here is some quick background information.

• I am a California Native USC.
• My spouse was admitted into the country on a F1 D/S Visa on 9/03/2012 from China.
• He is working on his PhD at UCLA in environmental engineering and is considered to be one of the top in his program.
• UCLA funds almost all of his education. He also works as a Graduate Assistant teaching courses and is paid a living salary... so he also has a SSN already.
• We met early last year and decided to get married 11/24/13.
• Due to his study and current research it can be said that he would have had no problem getting corporate or university sponsorship if we had not met and married.
• He has been completely embraced by my family and although his family is not all aware of me, his parents are. They have accepted and show me much respect on skype
• We have lived together since 5/2013 and have combined most of out daily finances.
• We are opting to have him taxed as a resident alien for 2013 so we may file jointly, as advised by our CPA.
• We do not have a pre or postnup.

So my questions are.

• We haven't known each other for years like many on this forum have. Does this raise a red flag and what should I do upfront to address it?
• Is there anything else that I should be extra aware of based on our specific situation?
• Are there any recommended agencies in Los Angeles that someone could recommend to help review our paperwork?
• We are both intelligent people but I keep thinking that one stupid mistake in filling out the forms could create unnecessary problems.

Thank you.

[Xanax 349]

I just want to say, welcome and good luck