Apply for EAD right away or wait until after marriage?

[SalishSea 17,827]

3 hours ago, Oakmen said:

Of course it costs, I could be working, creating value and paying taxes and be a productive member of society.

Instead I have to sit here completely idle, there's a huge loss there for both the individual and society as a whole.

It is not a realized loss.  The net result is the same as if you had remained in Sweden.  I get what you're saying though.  My husband is getting really bored, although he has been hard at work doing projects at home.  We are two months into filing for AOS/EAD/AP.  

[SalishSea 17,827]

2 hours ago, FluffyBalls said:

Don't you need the EAD to get an SSN? My wife got her SSN along with her EAD/AP card. Saved a potentially lengthy trip to the SS office.

 

The whole K1 process is a total deal nowadays. 9-12 months to get the K1, 90 days to marry and file AOS, and then back of the line for the I485, which can take 12+ months in some areas. And then ROC two years later. Worst part is if someone needs to take an emergency trip out of the country before they get AP, the whole process will be reset. 

 

What irks me is that there is literally zero benefit to doing things the "right" way by going the K1 route (vs AOS-ing from VWP/B2/F1 etc.) At the very least EAD/AP should be issued with the K1 visa. Or K1s should be given priority in the I485 queue.  

Nope.  Husband applied for SSN the day after POE, before our wedding even.  He received it before we filed for the EAD et al.

[Oakmen 22]

So glad I made this post so half of you could get on your high horses and yet again say what an idiot someone is seems to be the thing to do around here. 

 

I am not in any way saying that the system is unfair or that I couldn't have looked up every processing time and detail beforehand but I still think that it is an incredibly dumb and inefficient system. It isn't good for society as a whole or for the individual but it is what it is I guess.

[SalishSea 17,827]

2 minutes ago, Oakmen said:

So glad I made this post so half of you could get on your high horses and yet again say what an idiot someone is seems to be the thing to do around here. 

 

I am not in any way saying that the system is unfair or that I couldn't have looked up every processing time and detail beforehand but I still think that it is an incredibly dumb and inefficient system. It isn't good for society as a whole or for the individual but it is what it is I guess.

People are genuinely trying to help you here.  There is no 'high horse,' but years of first hand experience, and you would do well to develop a thicker skin when it comes to advice.  VJers don't generally sugar coat things.

 

The best piece of actual advice I have seen for you is to do an immediate courthouse wedding, while keeping your February wedding plans intact.  You need not even disclose this to family.  One would think this would also be preferable if you're able to be added to your spouse's workplace medical insurance also. 

 

[Oakmen 22]

That's why I said half, some of you are genuinely helpful and half are just having fun feeling superior and adding nothing of value at all.

[payxibka 10,045]

15 minutes ago, Oakmen said:

I still think that it is an incredibly dumb and inefficient system. 

To be expected.   It's a government run system,  everyone will agree on those points 

[Sellamalola 222]

5 hours ago, Oakmen said:

I just came to the US three days ago, December 30th on a K1 visa and I of course wanna be able to start applying to jobs as soon as possible.

We have set our wedding date to February 16th. 

 

With my K-1 folder I got a pink piece of paper with info about entering the US and it said that I could file a I-765 form to be able to work right away but now that I look into it a lot of websites are saying that the processing often takes 45-90 days so I wouldn't get it until likely after our marriage in February anyway. 

 

Are there any benefits to filing the I-765 right now or should I just wait until we're married?? 

It’s better if you wait until after you’re married and submit you adjustment of status because not only you’ll have to pay for the EAD application but EADs are taking up to 6+ months to be processed anyways by the time is approved you’ll be out of status and out of $500 approximately aaand your EAD would have expired if by any lucky strike, you get it before your 90 days are up. Your safest bet is to just do it with the AOS, fee is waived and valid for a whole year while you get your green card. Have in mind that the EAD alone is taking up to 6-7 months so I recommend you to start looking for some sort of volunteer work cause if not you’ll go insane waiting...welcome to America 🎉 congratulations on your upcoming wedding 🥳good luck 🍀

[Roel 7,192]

8 hours ago, Oakmen said:

Of course it costs, I could be working, creating value and paying taxes and be a productive member of society.

Instead I have to sit here completely idle, there's a huge loss there for both the individual and society as a whole.

Well, that's your own "fault". No one forced you to do K1 route, after all. No point to complain about immigration rules or government now, the rules are clear.

4 hours ago, Oakmen said:

That's why I said half, some of you are genuinely helpful and half are just having fun feeling superior and adding nothing of value at all.

If by feeling superior you mean doing more research and knowing your process, then yeah, I guess. 

[Going through 5,671]

I see you just got here 3 days ago or so?   Welcome to the US! 

 

Curious why the K1 was applied for instead of doing the CR-1 if your intention was to begin working immediately, then?  Regardless of the reasons, (or lack of research beforehand) what's done is done, unfortunately, so I won't reiterate what others have said about the differences between the two processes.  

 

Others have given good suggestions---and I would also restate what Boiler mentioned about perhaps working on getting a job offer to get the EAD expedited.  In the interim you can still look for employment, refine your resume, get settled into your new surroundings, and I'm sure there's still wedding preparations to take care of---time will pass by more quickly if you can keep yourself busy.

 

I wish you the best here.

 

 

[The_Empyrean 733]

Okay. You say it doesn't make sense to wait and do nothing in USA... Let me go ahead and explain to You why i think its the opposite.
There are many marriage frauds, who come in here to get married and work. I've read horror stories here when the fiance leaves the future husband for another IN THE AIRPORT. Meaning she came, texted him that officers didn't let her in, but when leaving, he saw her in another car, with another guy. Do You think it's fair if she got a right to work, live, etc right away? Of course no. K-1 is a b... for a reason. 
I look at K-1 as a "expedited" CR-1 issue with little "*" for terms and conditions. You get to skip the CR-1 Line, longer NVC stage, to get to USA quicker so you could get married and start planning. ~8months vs 12-16months (APPROXIMATELY). We did it just because after 4 years of long distance, we were so exhausted of the distance, that neither of us cared whether she can work or not, plenty of things to do apart that. Gym, learn new language, volunteer, shopping, finding new friends, you can even apply for college. That time waiting for EAD is like a tutorial for USA. You get to use most of the things that GC can, except the working part. 
K-1 In my mind is perfect as is, though processing time could be a little quicker. As i said, You get to enter a lot sooner, you get almost all things to do. You are legally in USA. You can start living with your fiance. You can start figuring out what you need for Your education (certificated, additional education etc). At the end, you are with Your fiance, isn't that what you came here for? As the petitioner, it was stressful for me as well, as i felt like i was taking her away from her family and friends, and if she started saying that she is upset that she can't work, or do this or that, that would genuinely make me feel even worse. 

Nothing personal, but explaining my view on the K-1.
Get SOCIAL SECURITY, NOW. DO NOT WAIT FOR MARRIAGE or EAD. We got ours in 4weeks from POE. It opens up a lot more doors.
Cheers my Scandinavian friend!

[dentsflogged 352]

16 hours ago, Oakmen said:

This whole process is just unbelievably stupid. 

Must cost society a fortune to have tons of people not being able to join the workforce for the better part of a year. 

It's one of the downsides of the K-1 process and there's dozens of threads dedicated to talking about the difference between K-1 and CR-1 all over this forum.  Time was the K-1 was much faster which is why it was preferred, but the last ~2 years there's only around 2-3 months difference processing and it saves a lot of time, money and frustration.  

Basically - everyone makes their bed and gets to lie in it.

[Daniela M_______ 410]

17 hours ago, Oakmen said:

This whole process is just unbelievably stupid. 

Must cost society a fortune to have tons of people not being able to join the workforce for the better part of a year. 

You didn't know about work authorization before filing for K1? Immigration is not easy or fast, those have been the rules since a long time ago, this is why everyone is supposed to research the whole process and not just stop at the part where you get off the plane at the US.

[Paul & Mallory 1,398]

Well, it isn't costing society anything, so don't worry yourself about that. Society isn't paying to keep them up (as the petitioner assumes financially responsibility of their beneficiary during this period), and immigration is a privilege, not a guaranteed right, so society in the US is made to function with or without impending immigrants working right away or not.

 

As others have already said - wait until after marriage and file when you file your AOS. The main reason is, it won't cost you anything extra if you do. If you apply for EAD and/or Travel Permit separate from your AOS application, you have to pay an application fee. If you submit them all together, you only pay for the AOS.

 

Others have also suggested getting legally married sooner and then have your planned traditional wedding later, which it seems you don't seem to be thrilled with. It's a valid and actually really good suggestion - many people do this. Myself and my husband included. He came here in May on his K1 but we wanted to plan a traditional wedding far enough out so his family from Sweden could come. So we planned it in October, then we went to the courthouse and got legally married about 2 weeks after he got here in May. It allowed us to go ahead and file all of his applications and get his SSN. Doing it this way granted him the ability to complete his AOS process entirely, all before our wedding date in October - he actually got his green card in hand in September, two weeks before the wedding. Honestly, it gave us more to celebrate and having all of that off our shoulders before the wedding allowed us to enjoy it that much more.

 

I wasn't crazy about having "two weddings" at first, but in hindsight, it's the best decision we could've made. To each their own, of course, and not everyone may prefer it as we did, but it's definitely something to consider, especially considering the wait to be able to work seems to be a high priority for you right now. You could go get legally married tomorrow and it wouldn't change a thing about the later wedding you're planning to have with family and friends. Honestly. Only change is that you don't sign any marriage license then, because you'll have already signed it and filed with the court.

[icanbenobody 187]

14 hours ago, Oakmen said:

That's why I said half, some of you are genuinely helpful and half are just having fun feeling superior and adding nothing of value at all.

Its not that we are having fun and feeling superior. We are just here to suggest base on our experience and what we read here in vj.. seriously if you did more research about the visa that you chose youll see alot of people who complain about it because of this "work away" plan..if you cant accept what other members might say in your thread you're not supposed to act like you are a perfect person. Its ok to admit sometime that the path that we chose is not the right path for us but instead you're upset because of other members comments..i felt like you have an attitude.. if you think you got some good advice you should show some appreciation but what you did is telling other members that they are having fun and feeling superior. Its time to face the reality.. you just got here few days ago and you have plenty of time to enjoy the time with your husband..dont act like you come here with k1 visa to marry America..its not a good choice.. anyway good luck to your upcoming LARGE  wedding. 

[PRC Rabbit 40]

The further I get in this process (K1 to AOS) the more sense it makes.