we may be in trouble. how bad do you think it is?

[chris43 0]

Hi. I'm just looking for a gut-feeling about how much trouble we are in here:

Me: US citizen

Spouse: Canadian, has been working/studying in US for 11 years on F1 and TN.

1) A few years ago, spouse entered grad school, got F1.

2) We got married last summer

3) Immediately after the wedding, we left and re-entered the country twice.

4) Spouse is in status for another year - F1 running out but has OTP now for a year

5) We are now trying to do Adjustment of Status and eventually get green card

So, I understand now that the potential problem is #3 - spouse came in on a visa that does not have immigrant intent after we were married. (At the time, she had been erroneously advised by her school's foreign students counselor that this would not be a problem).

We have engaged an attorney to help us through AoS. The attorney scared the daylights out of us about the possibility of the AoS going south because of the two illegal entries. We're freaking out a little bit here.

In you experience, how likely is it that we're going to have trouble here?

Thanks in advance.

[hanster 0]

Hi. I'm just looking for a gut-feeling about how much trouble we are in here:

Me: US citizen

Spouse: Canadian, has been working/studying in US for 11 years on F1 and TN.

1) A few years ago, spouse entered grad school, got F1.

2) We got married last summer

3) Immediately after the wedding, we left and re-entered the country twice.

4) Spouse is in status for another year - F1 running out but has OTP now for a year

5) We are now trying to do Adjustment of Status and eventually get green card

So, I understand now that the potential problem is #3 - spouse came in on a visa that does not have immigrant intent after we were married. (At the time, she had been erroneously advised by her school's foreign students counselor that this would not be a problem).

We have engaged an attorney to help us through AoS. The attorney scared the daylights out of us about the possibility of the AoS going south because of the two illegal entries. We're freaking out a little bit here.

In you experience, how likely is it that we're going to have trouble here?

Thanks in advance.

if after re-entering the country she still attended school as a full time student, then there is nothing wrong with that.

as in the case where she re-entered the country and was not a full time student but doing the opt, then i am not sure about that and what the implications would be..

[JayJay 4]

To be honest, I think you'd have more of a problem if she were out of status for more than 6 months (i.e. without any type of visa at all).

My hubby and I were in a similar situation to you - only that I entered on the visa waiver program to see my boyfriend, who shortly afterward became my fiancee and then my hubby - and I subsequently never even left and decided to do AOS from here on the advice of the USCIS, who told me that I would be pretty much alright as long as I filed the papers prior to being out of status for six months (at the time I was 1 month out of status).

It was briefly mentioned (i.e. how did we come to stay and get married?) almost as an "out of personal interest" by the immigraiton officer interviewing us - but nothing more at all. In fact we had a pretty easy time of it - quite a short process compared to some others

In the end, there are many worse situations to be in than yours - my advice would be to get a second opinion and call USCIS constantly (get as many peeps on the 'phone as you can). We actually did the whole thing with no lawyer, either - and it really wasn't too bad. Doing taxes manually was easy after all that paperwork!!

I wouldn't panic. If your marriage is genuine and there was no nasty and sly - and by that I mean knowingly illegal - intent upon entry, immigration RARELY give too many problems. That's honestly what I've seen from many, many stories. I think immigration are very much more concenred about bogus marriages of convenience for either spouse, or the terribly complicated shenaneghans created when a US citizen marries and has children with someone who's here illegally. I ahve several friends who are in the second boat and believe me, I don't feel envious of them at all! But their lives go on too, so not to worry

make sure you dot your i's and cross your t's and do AS MUCH research as you can - talk to many, many people and you should be quite alright in the end

Good luck to you!

[Asamu 0]

Dito - Hanster & Jayjay!

[chris43 0]

if after re-entering the country she still attended school as a full time student, then there is nothing wrong with that.

as in the case where she re-entered the country and was not a full time student but doing the opt, then i am not sure about that and what the implications would be..

She did continue as a full-time student for another semester after marriage/reentry. But I don't think that is the issue.

The basic problem is that the marriage effectively invalidated her F1, because marriage to a USC is seen as clear evidence of intention to immigrate (which you can't have with an F1).

[chris43 0]

To be honest, I think you'd have more of a problem if she were out of status for more than 6 months (i.e. without any type of visa at all).

...

Good luck to you!

Thanks for that.

Yeah, I hope you are right. We definitely have not intended to do anything improperly or sneaky.

Cheers.

[brightside 0]

if after re-entering the country she still attended school as a full time student, then there is nothing wrong with that.

as in the case where she re-entered the country and was not a full time student but doing the opt, then i am not sure about that and what the implications would be..

She did continue as a full-time student for another semester after marriage/reentry. But I don't think that is the issue.

The basic problem is that the marriage effectively invalidated her F1, because marriage to a USC is seen as clear evidence of intention to immigrate (which you can't have with an F1).

I don't think marriage to USC is an indication of wanting to immigrate AT ALL!!

but, marrying and filing for AOS soon enough is definitely an indication of wanting to immigrate...if your spouse continued attending school after re-entering on F-1 even if she was married to you, the non-immigrant clause of F-1 visa is not violated...that is my thinking reading and being on F-1 for a while now..

But, stop attending school and not graduating and eventually filing for AOS after being out of full-time student status might lead to a suspicion that there was immigration intend right since marrying the USC...so, if that was the intention, then, re-entering on F-1 instead of K-3/CR filing can be a cause of concern....think about your case....i think you might just be fine...try 2-3 more attorney opinions.

[notscenenough 6]

you're not in trouble. relax. :]

[MPGGPM 0]

if after re-entering the country she still attended school as a full time student, then there is nothing wrong with that.

as in the case where she re-entered the country and was not a full time student but doing the opt, then i am not sure about that and what the implications would be..

She did continue as a full-time student for another semester after marriage/reentry. But I don't think that is the issue.

The basic problem is that the marriage effectively invalidated her F1, because marriage to a USC is seen as clear evidence of intention to immigrate (which you can't have with an F1).

Just because someone got married on an F-1 visa, does NOT mean the visa is invalidated. As long as she continued to use the visa properly and attended school, she won't have a problem. I have read of many people who got married on student visas (including my wife .............and then did AOS later on down the road.

We have to be careful with how we word things here, because marriage does NOT invalidate a student visa or make it unusable. That is just not accurate.

Now, the fact that she left, then re-entered.......that is really not the way things were supposed to be done, but it is not illegal to do so. (I believe that lawyer used incorrect words...because it is NOT illegal.......I have had other lawyers discuss that same issue with me and it is NOT illegal....it just isn't the preferred method, and it IS risky).

I don't think they will have a problem as long as they didn't apply for AOS shortly after her last entry. They should generally wait 60-90 days or so....(hopefully they did....and from their post it appears they did)....and they will have to explain their circumstances carefully when at the interview.

[Dr_LHA 3]

To be honest, I think you'd have more of a problem if she were out of status for more than 6 months (i.e. without any type of visa at all).

Wrong, I'm afraid. Overstay/out of status is not an issue if you're married to a USC, a 6 month out of status would cause no problem with AOS at all. However, Visa fraud (i.e. entering on a non-immigrant visa with intent to immigrate) is a big problem and you can be denied AOS because of it.

I would advise a legal consultation.

BTW - no marriage does not invalidate a F-1. Filing for AOS however, does.

Edited February 17, 2007 by dr_lha

[Nancy2015 2]

if after re-entering the country she still attended school as a full time student, then there is nothing wrong with that.

as in the case where she re-entered the country and was not a full time student but doing the opt, then i am not sure about that and what the implications would be..

She did continue as a full-time student for another semester after marriage/reentry. But I don't think that is the issue.

The basic problem is that the marriage effectively invalidated her F1, because marriage to a USC is seen as clear evidence of intention to immigrate (which you can't have with an F1).

Wrong. The marriage itself DOES NOT cancel F-1 - filing AOS does, but not the marriage! It's a common misconception many people have - simply marrying a US citizen doesn't mean that you have plans to immigrate to the US.

[Boiler 46,261]

You made 2 trips since you got married.

Now the first entry self evidently did not imply immigrant intent, as you subsequently left.

The second one is the issue, did you use the visa to re-enter to carry on studies and then subsequently decide to adjust status? Or did you use it with immigrant intent?

Edited February 18, 2007 by Boiler

[rebeccajo 14]

You made 2 trips since you got married.

Now the first entry self evidently did not imply immigrant intent, as you subsequently left.

The second one is the issue, did you use the visa to re-enter to carry on studies and then subsequently decide to adjust status? Or did you use it with immigrant intent?

As long as the entries were inspected and prior to AOS, does it matter?

[makidesuu 0]

There are people who got married, but do not apply for AOS since they still have valid visa like F1, H1. She can reenter the U.S with her F1-visa or OPT as long as she goes to school or work in the us. If she used F1 or OPT to reenter the U.S while applying AOS, then it is a problem.

[makidesuu 0]

There are people who got married, but do not apply for AOS since they still have valid visa like F1, H1. She can reenter the U.S with her F1-visa or OPT as long as she goes to school or work in the us. If she used F1 or OPT to reenter the U.S while applying AOS, then it is a problem.

Also, at my company, there are some people keep renewing their H1 visa after married to USC a few years ago to save money. Since compeny pays for renewal fee and lawyer fee, so they just keep their H1 and a few of them going for AOS through our company not marriage. If they have to apply AOS based on marriage, our company does not pay. So, marrying to USC does not revoke their valid visa.