F1 visa, married, AOS filed. Now out of status for F1.

[tanyakaraman 0]

Asking for a friend from Azerbaijan. He arrived on an F1 visa (1-94 marked D/S) and attended school until recently. Married a US citizen in September and stopped attending classes afterward (due to descrimination in the school). He is now receiving messages from the university he was attending stating they are going to contact the Dept of Homeland security and terminate his visa to have him deported. Does he need to worry? The AOS is already filed and is in process.

Thank you in advance for any advice. I apoloize if this has already been asked elsewhere.

Tanya Karaman

[Merrytooth 5,748]

You friend should read this

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/532994-a-visit-from-ice-at-homenow-going-to-court/

[Hypnos 6,576]

If he has filed for AoS already then he is not subject to any action by ICE.

Edited February 11, 2015 by Hypnos

[JP & LMR 13]

As long as your friend's case is strong, then he does not need to worry. Once the I-485 and other forms are filed, your friend will be in a stay authorized by the Attorney General.

Even if a foreign national is, for a period of time, not holding a lawful nonimmigrant status, the individual may be in a "period of stay authorized by the Attorney General" (i.e. period of authorized stay). One of the most common situations in which this occurs is when a properly filed application or petition to extend or change nonimmigrant status is filed with the USCIS on behalf of a foreign national.

from http://www.murthy.com/2013/06/03/differences-between-lawful-status-period-of-authorized-stay-unlawful-presence/

The primary reason to stay in status would be any unforeseen issue with the application (or a weak case where the officer suspects fraud). In that case, your friend could fallback to their F1 status. Good luck!