F1 student needs help please!

[Djamy 0]

Hello All!

Sorry for posting  in the wrong post but I need help!

I came here in the US on F1 visa a year and 3 months ago, attended  university  and have a good academic standing. After few months of coming here, I met my usc boyfriend who is my fiancee now! We are planning  to  get married  sometimes in August! I was planning  to  go back home and visit  my family but unfortunately  my Sevis has been terminated  by my school  on April 20th cause my french teacher withdrew my class and I was Registered  less than the required  course load. I don't really  know  that much about  immigration  stuff. My question is do you think I should go back home re-enter with a new F1 visa and then marry my fiancee in August ? Or should I stay apply for reinstatement  and then get married ? 

Will really appreciate  any help! 

Thank you,

 

[DrEllaNJ 288]

You should first go to your Office of international students to see if you can sort this out, as you are basically out of status now. The OIS can tell you what steps you need to take to get back in status. It is your responsibility as an international student to make sure you follow the regulations.

 

In any case, if you are planning to get married in August, you won't be able to get into the country with a new F1 visa - they will probably deny you when they see you have a USC fiance and tell you to get a fiance visa our spousal visa. Also, coming back on a (non-immigrant) student visa with the intention to adjust is immigration fraud, and even if you get a visa, you can still get denied at the border.

 

So basically it's in your best interest to stay and adjust through your then-husband, but in the meantime you're 'unlawfully present'. Overstay is forgiven for spouses of USC so it probably won't be too much of a problem in the end, but if something happens you can get in trouble.

 

Would it be possible to have a quick courthouse wedding now so you can start the paperwork to adjust status? You can still have your big wedding reception in August (as long as it's in the US), but that way you're minimizing unauthorized stay. Once you're married, you can follow this guide: http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide2

 

Of course, you should still follow up with your OIS.

[Djamy 0]

Thank you so much, appreciated!  I spoke with the DSO but didn't tell her about the future  mariage as we didn't plan it yet at that moment.  She said I either have the choice to go back home and come with a new F1 visa or apply for reinstatement.  She also said I should do it within 5 months if not I will accumulate unlawful  presence.

So now my question is what about if I get married  now. Will I still accumulate  unlawful  presence  ?

Thanks

[Ben&Zian 4,398]

1 minute ago, Djamy said:

Thank you so much, appreciated!  I spoke with the DSO but didn't tell her about the future  mariage as we didn't plan it yet at that moment.  She said I either have the choice to go back home and come with a new F1 visa or apply for reinstatement.  She also said I should do it within 5 months if not I will accumulate unlawful  presence.

So now my question is what about if I get married  now. Will I still accumulate  unlawful  presence  ?

Thanks

 

I agree you should try to resolve this with the school.

 

As to unlawful presence, as again right now you are out of status it sounds like, if you get married even in August, this unlawful/out of status time will be forgiven/ignored because of your marriage with the USC and subsequent AOS.

[Djamy 0]

Thank you so much, appreciated! 

So that means  that I can't go back home and re-enter with a new F1 visa. In case I got married and apply for aos, can I still go to school ?

[Jojo92122 1,924]

Don't go home.  You can stay, marry your USC boyfriend, and adjust status.  There is no need to contact your school.  Once you get your green card, you can go back to school.

 

You are not going to get a new F-1 visa with the intention of marrying your boyfriend and presumably adjusting status.  You will likely be stuck outside the US until you can get either a K-1 fiancee visa or spousal visa.  

 

Don't go home.  That will be a giant mistake.

 

 

[Jojo92122 1,924]

Just now, Djamy said:

Thank you so much, appreciated! 

So that means  that I can't go back home and re-enter with a new F1 visa. In case I got married and apply for aos, can I still go to school ?

You can go back home anytime you want.  You are not likely to get a new F1 visa with a USC fiance and immigrant intent.

 

You can go back to school when you have a green card.  AOS does not give you permission to go to school.

[Djamy 0]

Sorry for disturbing  you  with my questions.  I have on more question.  Do you guys think it's a good idea to file for reinstatement  and then after marry and file aos cause I really wanna attend classes this semester 

[Jojo92122 1,924]

Perfectly fine to apply for reinstatement.  I would be surprised if you get it while having immigrant intent.

[Penguin_ie 5,997]

***** Moving from K1 fiance via to AOS from Student Visa forum *****

[DrEllaNJ 288]

I'm not sure how the process for reinstatement works. You can try, or talk about your options with the school officer. 

here's an example of what is needed for reinstatement from one university: http://www.bridgeport.edu/files/3013/6804/2894/Reinstatement20Application.pdf

Yours may be different, so by all means check with your own school. But I don't see anything in it about getting married to a USC, just about your intent to go back to full-time student status. So I don't see how your planning to get married would prevent you from applying for this. However, if you leave the country and apply for a new visa, that's a different story.

 

Also, when you get married and file for AOS, you enter a period of waiting, but you're then no longer unlawfully present.

[Djamy 0]

Thanks you so muvh! Realky appreciated your help.

[Coco8 1,042]

On 6/9/2017 at 3:50 PM, Jojo92122 said:

AOS does not give you permission to go to school.

Actually, I think you can enroll with a pending application.

 

The person who asked the question should ask the international office of the university/college whether they would accept a pending application. Otherwise, apply for reinstantement while in the US, when you get that you can marry. Intent to marry does not matter for reinstantement because you are already in the US.

Edited June 18, 2017 by Coco8