USC studying abroad while foreign spouse stays in USA

[JessDak 27]

I recently saw a post from another VJ'er about him and his wife living in Europe while he does a graduate program after her AOS and it made me wonder about something my fiancee and I have been talking about. I started a new post because I did not want to hijack his question as these are similar but different issues.

So my USC fiancee wants to go to medical school in Grenada whenever we manage to find the funds to pay for it. She has been working on her application and gathering recommendation letters and other things for a while now. While she is not going this year, it is entirely possible that we will be in position to afford it if she were to go next year January, or August if I'm able to find a well paying job (Marriage in July, then hopefully I'll have my EAD and a job before the end of 2016). Obviously my first goal is to get a job so that we can actually pay for med-school, so it's not like i'll be going with her. I'll be staying in Minnesota with all of our stuff, and working, while she is in Grenada for school (it should only be a 2 year program before she is able to come back to Minnesota to do her residency). My question is, will this be an issue? We never even considered that it might be an issue with her being out of the country for a portion of the application process...I often forget just how much of a legal process this whole thing is.

So, will this be an issue? We prefer not to postpone med-school longer than we need to (the longer we push it back, the longer it will be before she can get out of her dead-end job, and into her preferred career). Any advice or insight will be helpful. I know that this is a bit of a ways away, but if there will be an issue we rather start preparing for it now.

[SanneW 30]

What I am thinking... I am no expert tho...

If you apply for a greencard through marriage, you sometimes get an interview to see if the marriage is real...

Since you wont be married for 2 years, you will get a conditional greencard.

Meaning you have to apply for ROC within 2 years, proving you have a real marriage.

I hear some people have a hard time having to send more proof etc of a legit marriage.

So the question is: how do you want to proof them that you came to america to be with the person you love/married, if that person isnt in america the entire 2 years?

[Stevephoto 230]

I would start gathering as much evidence as you can now (including wills and medical power of attorney). I would also include a lot of information about her program and why it is important for her to attend THAT school. You might get lucky and have the AOS interview before she leaves if she goes in August. Would she be able to return for an interview after she leaves? Sorry, I don't know how much of a problem this will be for you, but better to be over-prepared for the questions that will pop up. Good luck.

[JessDak 27]

Well I'm only 23 and she is 25 so neither of us even have a will or POA on our radar yet but we can definitely look into it if it will help. And yes, she will definitely be going back and forth between Grenada and MN (and I plan on visiting her too if I get a chance).

What we did have planed as far as proof was just the basics, joint bank accounts, joint lease, joint taxes..she also has tons of student loans to pay off so I was going to work on getting those down while she is in Grenada

SanneW, yes that is what I was worried about. We realize the timing was a little bit funky, but even if she goes next year, we will still have 1 whole year together before she leaves for school. It seems weird that we would have to live our lives differently than we normally would just to prove to the government that we are a real couple

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

You will be free to do this, but you will have a harder time proving that you marriage is legit for ROC especially since you will live apart. But, you will have a chance to explain your thinking and your plan to be reunited.