Do we have all of the documents needed?

[speedsteryou 1]

Good evening VisaJourney community,

 

My wife and I are working on filing some documents for her to obtain a new visa and remain the United States. We went to school together, and she is currently on a temporary post-grad work visa (F-1 I believe). This visa is finished in early July, and she's technically supposed to be leaving the country 60 days after that date. She is currently employed. We got married quite recently, and are working through the massive amounts of paperwork to avoid lawyer fees, etc. etc. Which leads to my main question: who has been in this situation, and can help me make sure I have everything needed/can help me predict some bumps in the road ahead?

 

Here's the list of what we're working on:

1. I-130
2. I-130a
3. I-131
4. I-765
5. I-864
6. G-1145

Please help! I'm struggling to find forums about people in this exact situation!

 

Thanks so much.

 

TL;DR: Are the documents listed above needed for a recently married person on a student work visa?

 

 

 

[payxibka 10,047]

I485 

[USS_Voyager 1,972]

24 minutes ago, speedsteryou said:

Are the documents listed above needed for a recently married person on a student work visa?

You’re missing the most important form, the I-485. The approval of the I-485 grants her the green card. The I-130 by itself does nothing for her.

[Ontarkie 14,394]

Are you wanting her to stay and not leave? I ask because we have a section for just that situation. If she would like to go home to process we have a section for that too? Please let me know and I can move this thread to the proper forum for you? 

[speedsteryou 1]

Quote

29 minutes ago, USS_Voyager said:

You’re missing the most important form, the I-485. The approval of the I-485 grants her the green card. The I-130 by itself does nothing for her.

 

Yes we do have this! I left that out of the original, but I see it here now.

[speedsteryou 1]

25 minutes ago, Ontarkie said:

Are you wanting her to stay and not leave? I ask because we have a section for just that situation. If she would like to go home to process we have a section for that too? Please let me know and I can move this thread to the proper forum for you? 

Yes, I absolutely want her to stay. The plan is for her to stay, we file paperwork, she takes a couple months off of working while she waits to become approved...something to this effect!

[AOSFairfax 111]

11 minutes ago, speedsteryou said:

Yes, I absolutely want her to stay. The plan is for her to stay, we file paperwork, she takes a couple months off of working while she waits to become approved...something to this effect!

Hi! I’m also adjusting from F1 OPT. Those are the correct documents along with the I 485 as others have said. I did want to make sure you were aware though that she wouldn’t be taking “a couple months” off work. Current EAD processing times are 6.5-8.5 months so you should be planning at least for that long..

[Ontarkie 14,394]

12 minutes ago, speedsteryou said:

Yes, I absolutely want her to stay. The plan is for her to stay, we file paperwork, she takes a couple months off of working while she waits to become approved...something to this effect!

Thank you, I've moved your thread to the right place for this process.

 

~~Thread moved to AOS From Work, Student & Tourist Visas, from K1 progress Reports~~

[payxibka 10,047]

17 minutes ago, speedsteryou said:

Yes, I absolutely want her to stay. The plan is for her to stay, we file paperwork, she takes a couple months off of working while she waits to become approved...something to this effect!

Prepare yourself for more than a couple months 

[AffableAndy 107]

Those forms + the I485 + all the evidence requested for each form (this is the most time consuming part of it, she will potentially need documents that her family will have to send from home).

 

I am in the process of doing the same thing (AoS post-graduation), and I *VERY FOOLISHLY* listened to my DSO who said "oh don't bother with OPT, it takes 3 months anyway and you'll get an unrestricted EAD in the same amount of time"; the EAD timeline can take up to 8 months. If she can, she should really look into getting OPT, just my $0.02.

[USS_Voyager 1,972]

25 minutes ago, AffableAndy said:

 

I am in the process of doing the same thing (AoS post-graduation), and I *VERY FOOLISHLY* listened to my DSO who said "oh don't bother with OPT, it takes 3 months anyway and you'll get an unrestricted EAD in the same amount of time"; the EAD timeline can take up to 8 months. If she can, she should really look into getting OPT, just my $0.02.

Your DSO was right. It’s the same form I-765 for OPT and for the EAD and ordinarily they take similar time to approve.

[heartlandprarie 2]

Doesn't OPT require you to state that you have no intent to immigrate?  My husband and I filed the I-485 after getting married while we were in graduate school (he was here on an F1) and our attorney who helped us apply strongly advised against OPT once we were married, since it might appear that he did intend to immigrate and jeopardize his eligibility for adjustment of status once OPT expired.

[AffableAndy 107]

Welp, that makes me feel much better! I was trying to get OPT pre-graduation, but it was for a job I didn't really want and I was pretty burnt out. 

OP - it IS a long wait to get an EAD, just be prepared. 

[AOSFairfax 111]

1 hour ago, heartlandprarie said:

Doesn't OPT require you to state that you have no intent to immigrate?  My husband and I filed the I-485 after getting married while we were in graduate school (he was here on an F1) and our attorney who helped us apply strongly advised against OPT once we were married, since it might appear that he did intend to immigrate and jeopardize his eligibility for adjustment of status once OPT expired.

I think your case was different since you were already married and in that case, I can see USCIS arguing that applying for OPT given that your husband was married to you (USC), would violate the terms of your husband's F1 visa. It seems though that OP's wife started her OPT before they got married and that's totally fine. 

 

OPT specifically would not jeopardize an AOS process. The entire F1 visa that OPT is part of is a non-immigrant visa and you have to demonstrate your intent to not immigrate upon graduation in order to get the visa in the first place. But especially if you've been living in the US for a bit, things happen, people fall in love and adjust status from F1 (assuming a relationship is legit) and that's not really an issue

[heartlandprarie 2]

19 minutes ago, AOSFairfax said:

I think your case was different since you were already married and in that case, I can see USCIS arguing that applying for OPT given that your husband was married to you (USC), would violate the terms of your husband's F1 visa. It seems though that OP's wife started her OPT before they got married and that's totally fine. 

 

OPT specifically would not jeopardize an AOS process. The entire F1 visa that OPT is part of is a non-immigrant visa and you have to demonstrate your intent to not immigrate upon graduation in order to get the visa in the first place. But especially if you've been living in the US for a bit, things happen, people fall in love and adjust status from F1 (assuming a relationship is legit) and that's not really an issue

Agreed. I was referring to Andy’s suggestion that OP’s wife apply for OPT. Since she’s now married to a USC, she shouldn’t go that route and unless she’s eligible for a STEM extension, it sounds like she’s already using her OPT from before the marriage anyways.