f1(student) now married???

[scott69 0]

my wife came here from indonesia with a student visa about 2 years ago. we married in october and have filed all the necessary papers and are waiting for interview. problem is, she never attended the school that accepted her. here visa has not expired, but she has fell out of status since she didnt go to school. does this mean she is an overstay and could possibly face the 10 year ban if she is approved at the interview?

thanks in advance

[MPGGPM 0]

my wife came here from indonesia with a student visa about 2 years ago. we married in october and have filed all the necessary papers and are waiting for interview. problem is, she never attended the school that accepted her. here visa has not expired, but she has fell out of status since she didnt go to school. does this mean she is an overstay and could possibly face the 10 year ban if she is approved at the interview?

thanks in advance

As far as I know, you won't have to worry about any 10 year ban in any case, as long as she doesn't leave the country while you are adjusting her status.

I don't think she has anything to fear once they give her the green card. The important thing is to make sure she doesn't leave...because even on advanced parole, someone who might be facing a ban etc....would be denied entry back into the USA. She'll have to wait here until her adjustment of status is comeplete.

Now, HOWEVER....that is IF she would even face any penalty. I am not sure about the answer to that. To me....it does seem like she could face some penalties for staying and never enrolling/registering for classes. From what my wife had told me before, since she had an F-1, the policy was something like the student was supposed to return back to their country after 30 days (I believe it was around that number of days)......if they did not register for that semester.

Maybe the length of time a student can stay, even if not enrolling is longer...in some conditions..........(althought I doubt even in the best of conditions, they'd be allowed to stay for 2 years...if never enrolled....so I still think she has broken a few rules/regulations of her student visa.).

To be safe, if I were you, I'd consult with a lawyer. Many of them even offer free consultations, and I think it'd be worth your while to see one.

Good luck.

Edited January 22, 2007 by MPGGPM

[brightside 0]

my wife came here from indonesia with a student visa about 2 years ago. we married in october and have filed all the necessary papers and are waiting for interview. problem is, she never attended the school that accepted her. here visa has not expired, but she has fell out of status since she didnt go to school. does this mean she is an overstay and could possibly face the 10 year ban if she is approved at the interview?

thanks in advance

you say she came to US 2 years back; what did she do for 2 years if she didnt go to school? Was she working unauthorized? As soon as she stopped going to school, the international office cancels your SEVIS records and you go out of F1 status. So, I am guessing that she has been out of status (so she is overstay); since the 'duration of status' printed on I-94 is based on the SEVIS or I-20 being valid.

Also, there might be a problem to the intent of the F-1 visa since she NEVER attended school and if she knew you before she came to US on F-1 visa. These factors might go against her during the AOS interview. These are my 2 cents; people on VJ correct me if I am wrong...I personally have never been out of status or overstayed.

Edited January 22, 2007 by brightside

[Kez/JWolf 6]

You need to talk to an immigration lawyer before you go to any interview....

Kez

[scott69 0]

thanks for yalls opinions. we didnt know each other before she came here. she had been here about a year when we met. she has a sister that lives here that gave here a place to live, but wasnt able to help her pay for the school at that time. and yes she did a little unauthorized work. can they find out?

we have an attorney and he said we should have no problem at interview, but if we do then all we have to do is file a waiver. is it that simple? i thought there was an appeal process first?

thanks again for your help

[brightside 0]

thanks for yalls opinions. we didnt know each other before she came here. she had been here about a year when we met. she has a sister that lives here that gave here a place to live, but wasnt able to help her pay for the school at that time. and yes she did a little unauthorized work. can they find out?

we have an attorney and he said we should have no problem at interview, but if we do then all we have to do is file a waiver. is it that simple? i thought there was an appeal process first?

thanks again for your help

I think as long as you both can prove that she didnt know you when she came to US on F-1 visa, everything should be fine. Unauthorized work is forgiven when married to US citizen. So, it wont be a problem.