F1 AOS Questions

[Jamz835 7]

Hi, 

 

I am currently on an F1 (OPT) visa that expires July 1st, 2018. After that, I have a 60 day grace period to find an employer that will sponsor me, or exit the US. My goal is to obtain permanent residency through marriage. I am looking to marry my fiance this January 2018 and apply for AOS whilst on my F1.

 

We have assumed that in our situation, a K1 or CR1 would not be suitable since I would have to leave the country in order to complete the application process. 

 

I have the following questions regarding the AOS process:

 

1. If the AOS is not processed before my F1 expires, am I able to stay in the country? 
2. If yes to question #1, am I able to find work whilst the application is pending?
3. Am I able to leave the country (approximately <2 weeks) if the application is still pending?
4. What other documentation beyond the AOS would be advisable to consider in my situation?
5. Lastly, does anyone have any input on the processing times for the AOS? Per the attached screenshot from the 'Processing Times' page of this website, Chicago's turnaround time seems excessively long. Is there a way to expedite this?

 

Many thanks in advance.

 

 

[geowrian 22,338]

19 minutes ago, Jamz835 said:

My goal is to obtain permanent residency through marriage. I am looking to marry my fiance this January 2018 and apply for AOS whilst on my F1.

Congrats.

That timeline is fine. Just note that you cannot leave the US (and return) from this point forward (Edit: meaning as of right now, not Jan.) until you obtain AP.

1. Once you properly file for AOS, you are granted authorized stay while the case is pending.
2. If you have a current, valid work authorization then you can continue to work on that. I'm assuming you do since you're on OPT. Once that expires, you are no longer permitted to work until you obtain an EAD. You would file for the EAD concurrently with the AOS application (along with AP to travel abroad!). Note that the EAD application is an initial application, not a renewal, and under the (c)(9) category.
3. Only once you have obtained AP (or the green card). If you leave without AP, your AOS will be abandoned and would need to go through the CR-1 process.
4. See the guide: http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide2
5. AOS: ~4-12+ months depending on office. Expect closer to 8-12 months in most cases, and be thankful if it's less.
   1. The 1017 shown above is way off.  Even then, AOS is hard to determine because there are many statuses that one can AOS from, and they are not all equal in timelines. You would be a concurrent filer, so your I-130 and I-485 need to be adjudicated, whereas a K-1 AOS applicant only has the I-485.
   2. What would be the basis for an expedite? In general, no....they don't expedite AOS.

Edited December 30, 2017 by geowrian

[Crazy Cat 42,626]

It appears that Advance Parole/EAD processing time is about 107 days on average as reported by VJ members.

[Jamz835 7]

Thank you both for getting back to us so quickly ! You have been super helpful

[CaroLeh 15]

 

On 12/30/2017 at 3:11 PM, Jamz835 said:

 

 

Where did you get this image from? I'd like to see the whole thing

 

[geowrian 22,338]

41 minutes ago, CaroLeh said:

 

Where did you get this image from? I'd like to see the whole thing

 

http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/aosstats.php?cfl=

[KNMI 1]

Note about that 1017 day wait in Chicago:

 

It seems a VJ user accidentally input the wrong year for the interview (October 2106 instead of 2016! It's visible in the timelines section if you sort by interview date). The script that reads the database and calculates average wait times doesn't catch this outlier of an interview date 89 years into the future. 

 

That 1017 day average is calculated with 40 data points. If we eliminate the outlier with an interview date 89 years away,  we get:

 

((1017*40)-(89*365))/39 = 210 days.

 

=)

[Jamz835 7]

Love the math thank you so much everyone !

[TM92 527]

On 1/5/2018 at 1:00 PM, N&K said:

((1017*40)-(89*365))/39 = 210 days.

Or instead of removing the outlier's incorrect value, the correct value can be substituted:

((1017*40)-33058+187)/40 ≈ 195 days