Received Welcome letter,but my wife and I am in US.Confused

[James777 0]

Hello folks,

Yesterday I received welcome letter that states I need to pay fee and schedule visa interview in my country.

Here is my situation:

My wife is green card holder, my category is F2A and PD is 10-8-2015.

Now I work in US by using my OPT extension.

So I am confused why I could receive this letter since I am in US.

And we plan to do AOS in US.

we are not sure what to do next ?

If I stay and do AOS in US, I may need to apply another school and keep me legal in US since my opt will expire this October.

Please advise if you have any idea.

Thanks a lot

[Pennycat 880]

Shot in the dark here but did you apply to adjust from student to F2A or did you straight-up apply for F2A? Because if it's a new visa and not changing visas, then I'd think that yes of course the interview would be in the foreign embassy. Just by best guess though.

[mineta 0]

Hi James,

I am confused too. My husband is greencard holder and I am in US with H1B visa, my priority date is 10-05-2015, I tried to send I-485 form but it was rejected twice due to my priority date is not current... How come you can receive welcome letter? did you already apply for 485 adjustment of status and which address did they send you the letter in US or China?

[James777 0]

Shot in the dark here but did you apply to adjust from student to F2A or did you straight-up apply for F2A? Because if it's a new visa and not changing visas, then I'd think that yes of course the interview would be in the foreign embassy. Just by best guess though.

I came to US by holding F1 visa and got married in US.

Actually I am student and belonged to F2A category.

Thanks

[James777 0]

Hi James,

I am confused too. My husband is greencard holder and I am in US with H1B visa, my priority date is 10-05-2015, I tried to send I-485 form but it was rejected twice due to my priority date is not current... How come you can receive welcome letter? did you already apply for 485 adjustment of status and which address did they send you the letter in US or China?

I was also rejected due to priority date is not current since USCIS use the final action date for AOS.

They sent me welcome letter by email. Interesting....

[arken 4,197]

As long as you think you will be in valid status till you can file i485 which could be several months away or may be more than a year away from now, you can simply let NVC know that you will be doing AOS with USCIS and then you don't need to do anything with NVC even if you get the welcome letter. For i485 filing eligibility, you have to check USCIS visa bulletin to see if USCIS is using Table A or Table B. These months USCIS is using Table A which means only after your PD becomes current, you can file i485.

[Pennycat 880]

I came to US by holding F1 visa and got married in US.

Actually I am student and belonged to F2A category.

Thanks

Ok. So you're in the country with an F1 and are trying to change to F2A? Why didn't you adjust status right away? You've basically applied for an immigrant visa. Visas are for crossing borders. Status is for staying. If you were eligible to adjust status (from non-immigrant to permanent resident) while still in the US-- that's the route to go. But you applied for an immigrant visa (the type of visa that automatically results in permanent residence status)-- to cross the border again. Visas are processed in embassies abroad. It really looks like you should AOS in- country (if eligible, seems like there are many circumstances under which you could not be eligible). So this is correct. You would need to attend the interview in the US embassy abroad.

http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/free-books/fiance-marriage-visa-book/chapter12-1.html

[James777 0]

Ok. So you're in the country with an F1 and are trying to change to F2A? Why didn't you adjust status right away? You've basically applied for an immigrant visa. Visas are for crossing borders. Status is for staying. If you were eligible to adjust status (from non-immigrant to permanent resident) while still in the US-- that's the route to go. But you applied for an immigrant visa (the type of visa that automatically results in permanent residence status)-- to cross the border again. Visas are processed in embassies abroad. It really looks like you should AOS in- country (if eligible, seems like there are many circumstances under which you could not be eligible). So this is correct. You would need to attend the interview in the US embassy abroad.

http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/free-books/fiance-marriage-visa-book/chapter12-1.html

Thanks for your information.

I plan to do AOS here but my PD is not eligible according to USCIS visa bulletin.And I have to wait and keep my legal status until I can.

Recently I receive welcome letter what for people are not in the states. That is why I am confused..

[James777 0]

As long as you think you will be in valid status till you can file i485 which could be several months away or may be more than a year away from now, you can simply let NVC know that you will be doing AOS with USCIS and then you don't need to do anything with NVC even if you get the welcome letter. For i485 filing eligibility, you have to check USCIS visa bulletin to see if USCIS is using Table A or Table B. These months USCIS is using Table A which means only after your PD becomes current, you can file i485.

Thank you for your precious advice.

I will email NVC that I will do AOS here with USCIS.

But Now USVCI keeps using table A, hopefully they will use table B soon