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Heather&Ramy

Adjusting Status from Student or Work Visa

By Heather&Ramy in Adjustment of Status from Work, Student, & Tourist Visas

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Heather&Ramy Explorer

Heather&Ramy   22

Posted
Filed: AOS (apr) Country: Egypt
 Timeline
Posted

Hey guys,

I have a really general stupid question that is probably answered elsewhere on the site, but I can't seem to figure it out. Sorry!

I have a friend who is in the US on a student visa currently. She is graduating from her program soon, and is hoping to pursue either her PhD here or finding work, and therefore she would probably be extending her student visa or somehow switching to a work visa. While I have extensive knowledge at this point about the whole fiance/marriage thing, I don't know ANYTHING about how those visas work and it doesn't seem like there is a lot of general info about them on VJ.

So...

1- Do companies actually sponsor people for work visas? Like, your average company? I don't know what kind of work she would be looking for exactly, but I just imagine that most companies wouldn't be very interested in doing that even if it only cost them paperwork... Her degree is in Math education so probably she would be applying to be a teacher or professor, but that's all I know...

2- Is there any way to become a permanent resident from work or student visas WITHOUT marrying someone? Doesn't it matter that she has been living here for some time and making ties and connections that she doesn't want to leave?

3- What options are available to someone whose student program finishes and wants to stay?

She's been living in the US for a while now and loves it here, and I'm just trying to figure out ways which legal options she has.

Sorry for how general those questions are, I'm just at a loss as to where to start!

We met when Heather travelled to Egypt to be an au pair!

Our K1 Visa Journey:

12/19/12- NOA1 -VSC

--- moved to "another office" 5/24/13

--- moved to "local office" 5/29/13

--- "is now being processed at a USCIS office" 5/30/13 ... what??

5/30/13- Transfer to TSC

6/18/13- NOA2

7/16/13- NVC Assigned Case #

7/29/13- Case Arrived at Embassy

7/31/13- Packet 3 Received (completed and sent back in 5 days)

1/16/14- Interview Assigned

1/21/14- Interview

2/03/14- Visa Issued!!

4/09/14- Entry into America (JFK)

4/23/14- MARRIED in local courthouse

4/29/14- AoS packet completed and mailed

5/02/14- NoA for AoS received

5/09/14- Biometrics Appointment Notice Received

6/04/14- Biometrics Appointment

7/30/14- EAD/AP Combo Card Received in Mail

Need help with your visa but don't want to pay expensive legal fees? Take an online course --> www.myvisaclassroom.com

Harpa Timsah Grand Master

Harpa Timsah   13,258

Posted
Filed: Lift. Cond. (apr) Country: Israel
 Timeline
Posted

If she has a F1 student visa, then there is a one-year program for work after, called OPT, which is Optional Practical Training or something. That would be the best thing to start.

After that, there are work visas that can lead to Greencards, the most common is H1B and they reach the maximum fast,so the company would have to be on top of things. There are companies that sponsor people for work visas (you are right that the employer is the sponsor and the visa is to do a specific job). During his/her OPT time would be a good time to look for a job that will sponsor.

After some years the H1B sponsor can apply for a GC for the worker.

She can't just stay because she wants to, but there are visa options available. Her international student advisor at her school should be able to help more too.

There are also special programs for certain nationalities, so we'd need to know her country.

You can also check out the work in the US tabs at uscis.gov.

AOS for my husband
8/17/10: INTERVIEW DAY (day 123) APPROVED!!

ROC:
5/23/12: Sent out package
2/06/13: APPROVED!

  • 2 weeks later...
Heather&Ramy Explorer

Heather&Ramy   22

Posted
Filed: AOS (apr) Country: Egypt
 Timeline
  • Author
Posted

Thank you so much for your helpful answer! I've never heard of the OPT program, I will look into that and pass the information along to my friend. The international office at our university is horrible and they don't seem to be giving her a lot of support for after graduation.

She is from Korea. I'll look at the USCIS pages and I'll try googling it as well to see if there are any programs specifically for her nationality.

We met when Heather travelled to Egypt to be an au pair!

Our K1 Visa Journey:

12/19/12- NOA1 -VSC

--- moved to "another office" 5/24/13

--- moved to "local office" 5/29/13

--- "is now being processed at a USCIS office" 5/30/13 ... what??

5/30/13- Transfer to TSC

6/18/13- NOA2

7/16/13- NVC Assigned Case #

7/29/13- Case Arrived at Embassy

7/31/13- Packet 3 Received (completed and sent back in 5 days)

1/16/14- Interview Assigned

1/21/14- Interview

2/03/14- Visa Issued!!

4/09/14- Entry into America (JFK)

4/23/14- MARRIED in local courthouse

4/29/14- AoS packet completed and mailed

5/02/14- NoA for AoS received

5/09/14- Biometrics Appointment Notice Received

6/04/14- Biometrics Appointment

7/30/14- EAD/AP Combo Card Received in Mail

Need help with your visa but don't want to pay expensive legal fees? Take an online course --> www.myvisaclassroom.com

AnotherLostSoul Proficient

AnotherLostSoul   167

Posted
Filed: Timeline
Posted

Sounds to me your friend is in STEM. Which is good. That means besides that 1 year of OPT she can have an additional 17 months for OPT. As Harpa mentioned, after that is H1B. If she is really top notch and really really, I mean REALLY good, she can acually file for her green card on her own without work sponsoring her through NIW (national interest waiver). But for this she has to be very good, at least 7 letters of recommendations, publications and stuff like that. Good luck to her!

psv57 Collaborator

psv57   88

Posted
Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: India
 Timeline
Posted

I would add with the H1B, although there is a limited amount of 65,000 per year given out, there are some exemptions from that limit. One to be noted is that there are some employers who when they hire are not subject to the cap limit.... Take a look at this link for more info http://www.visapro.com/Immigration-Articles/?a=1090&z=48

If she will be working for a higher education (college etc) as defined in the link above, as a teacher, she may be exempted from the H1b limit... When I was in H1B, since my organization was nonprofit, I was also exempt....

something to think about...

Naturalized citizen since September 2018



I485
08/15/2007 Filed AOS based on approved I140, EB3 category (Employment Based). Received RFE and responded....Pending since then.
I-130 Timeline:
07/03/13 - I-130 packet sent
07/05/13 - I-130 packet delivered
07/10/13 - NOA 1 with PD 07/05/13
Last touched 07/10/13
12/9/13 - Case update to "transferred to another office for processing" and received text and email alert.
12/10/13 - Case update "transferred to local USCIS office for processing"
12/12/13- Case update "transferred and being processed at a USCIS office"
12/14/13 - Received 2 hard copies stating transferred to California Service Center, left Priority Date blank
2/5/2014- Email/Txt I130 approved and notice mailed.
2/10/2014-Hard Copy NOA2. Approval
Back to I485
2/21/2014-Letter sent to request conversion for old I485 from employment to marriage with copy of I485 receipt and I130 approval
03/19/2014 - Service request to check on conversion request status.
04/04/2014 - Service request status through mail stating request received for conversion and file being prepared for transfer to local office.
04/08/2014 - I485 updated to "transferred to local office"
04/12/2014 - Received transfer notice in mail stating file transferred from Nebraska to NBC Lee Summit, Montana (so disappointed as I thought it was at local office now).
04/14/2014- emailed Nebraska and scopscata to see what's going on with file due to conflicting info I've gotten and NBC doesn't even show processing I485.
04/14/2014- Got response from scopscata saying will look into email, forward to resolution team.
04/14/2014- I485 updated to "485 was transferred and is now being processed at USCIS office"
04/25/2014- Text message and case update online "testing and interview" stage.
05/06/2014- Text message and case update online with interview date of June 11, 2014.
06/05/2014-Notice sent by NYC acting district director/office that interview date is Aug 21, 2014.....??????????? No change online
06/11/2014 - Interview for AOS. I130 was already attached. Approved and got passport stamped. YAY. Thank God.
06/19/2014 - Case updated online with text and email saying new card mailed.....

06/21/2014-Condtional GC received along with welcome letter.

ROC

04/06/2016- Filed I-751 along with evidence

Heather&Ramy Explorer

Heather&Ramy   22

Posted
Filed: AOS (apr) Country: Egypt
 Timeline
  • Author
Posted

Yes, I too noticed she would be STEM then, which is great! Thanks for that extra information. I had no idea that there would be an option to file for a green card on her own with extra qualifications like that. She's already got herself some publications, so maybe that's a possibility. Thanks! :)

We met when Heather travelled to Egypt to be an au pair!

Our K1 Visa Journey:

12/19/12- NOA1 -VSC

--- moved to "another office" 5/24/13

--- moved to "local office" 5/29/13

--- "is now being processed at a USCIS office" 5/30/13 ... what??

5/30/13- Transfer to TSC

6/18/13- NOA2

7/16/13- NVC Assigned Case #

7/29/13- Case Arrived at Embassy

7/31/13- Packet 3 Received (completed and sent back in 5 days)

1/16/14- Interview Assigned

1/21/14- Interview

2/03/14- Visa Issued!!

4/09/14- Entry into America (JFK)

4/23/14- MARRIED in local courthouse

4/29/14- AoS packet completed and mailed

5/02/14- NoA for AoS received

5/09/14- Biometrics Appointment Notice Received

6/04/14- Biometrics Appointment

7/30/14- EAD/AP Combo Card Received in Mail

Need help with your visa but don't want to pay expensive legal fees? Take an online course --> www.myvisaclassroom.com

 
Didn't find the answer you were looking for? Ask our VJ Immigration Lawyers.

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