AOS Time

[Andrei25 12]

Hello ! I have a short question. I came in USA with K-1, and my question is, DO I NEED TO APPLY FOR AOS IN THIS 90 DAYS TERMEN?

Thanks in advance

[Dohan 133]

Hi Andrei. First, congratulations on getting through the K-1 visa journey. You have to get married within 90 days and then file for AOS after the marriage.

[Caryh 5,206]

You are not required to file the AOS. But you are also not authorized to stay in the USA after the expiration of the I-94, or the 90 days. Getting married doesn't change the length of time you were authorized to stay in the USA. When you file the AOS, you are authorized to stay until such time as your AOS petition is adjudicated. There is no penalty for filing the AOS late, although if you wait too long, you may have to redo your medical. In the past as long as the medical was not a year old when they applied to AOS, it was considered current. But some are now reporting they have been told it must be current (less than a year old) when they get around to adjudicating the AOS.

This is not common, but it does happen. As you are not authorized to be in the USA, you can be detained by immigration authorities and sent before a judge. The end result of those cases is normally hiring a lawyer, and the judge will order you to apply to adjust status within a limited time period or face deportation.

Any time spent in the USA without authorization accrues towards limited bans on re-entry should you never adjust status and leave the country. When you do adjust status based on marriage to a USC, those over stay days are forgiven and no ban ever goes into effect as long as you entered the country legally.

So its best to adjust in the 90 days, or at least as soon as you can, but it is not required that you adjust in the 90 days.

[Pitaya 2,577]

As is often mentioned mentioned in this forum, you need to marry within 90 days of your POE to satisfy the requirements of the K1 visa. It is generally recommended to file for AOS as soon as possible after marriage.

Good luck on your immigration journey.

[ZAMA 6]

The last time I callled USCIS about time frame to file AOS, I was told I have 180 days from date of marriage to file AOS.

[Pitaya 2,577]

The last time I callled USCIS about time frame to file AOS, I was told I have 180 days from date of marriage to file AOS.

It sounds like you got hoodwinked by the USCIS "mis"information line.

There is NO stated time frame to start the AOS process. It IS a general forum recommendation to start the AOS process as soon as possible after your marriage.

[Andrei25 12]

Hi Andrei. First, congratulations on getting through the K-1 visa journey. You have to get married within 90 days and then file for AOS after the marriage.

Thank you!

[Caryh 5,206]

The last time I callled USCIS about time frame to file AOS, I was told I have 180 days from date of marriage to file AOS.

The disinformation line strikes again.

There currently is no limit as to when you can file AOS. Although proposed immigration bills do include a 180 degree limit based upon the entry date, should they ever get any attention in congress and pass. The bill I read did not say what would happen if you failed to. But it does show someone in power has noticed and pointed out the lack of a limitation on when AOS can be filed by a K-1 entrant, is a problem. The K-1 is also not immune from accumulating unauthorized stay days after the 90 days are up, regardless if they marry. You will find no handbook entry to state this 180 days, nor you will find any law that states this.