AOS or extension of stay on J-1 Graduate/Intern visa

[erockwood 0]

Hi everyone,

My boyfriend is coming to live with me in Boston (from Ireland) for a year on a J-1 Graduate/Intern visa, which allows him to work here for a year as long as his job is related to what he studied in college. His visa starts on January 16th, and as much as I'd love to move to Ireland for a few years, I do want to stay and work here for at least another two years but we're both sick of living apart from each other.

I have so many questions I don't even know where to begin.

Is there any way his visa could be extended, even if it wasn't for another year? Maybe until August 2018? I've read places that you can be sponsored by the company you work for, but that it's also incredibly expensive so companies usually aren't willing to pay for that, and I doubt my boyfriend is going to get a job with a big company like that.

Is there any way I could be a sponsor for him? I know that would probably be expensive too, but I'll literally do anything I can to keep him in the country.

We've talked about marriage a lot, and we know that we want to marry each other, but he's not coming with the intention of marrying me and staying. It's definitely a possibility that we could get married, but I want to make it clear that he didn't get his visa so he could come over and we could get married. If we did end up getting married, then what??

Any advice/information/help would be greatly appreciated. I'm open to any and all suggestions as long as I don't have to go back to not seeing him for months at a time once his visa ends.

Thank you!!

[erockwood 0]

I have not yet received any suggestions and the anxiety over this situation is literally eating me up.

[Transborderwife 4,666]

he should ask his visa sponsor