Proving “authorized stay” to rent an apartment

[Matrix13 131]

I hope someone with a similar experience can help me.

 

Here’s my problem…USC living in Jacksonville, FL apartment with the following requirement to stay there:

Non US Citizens: Applicant must provide a valid Passport and must include at least one (1) appropriate U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) document, as specified below. 

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) documents (must be a valid unexpired document) as follows: 

Certificate of Naturalization, Certificate of Citizenship, I-551 Stamp contained in valid foreign passport, Alien Registration Receipt card (Resident Alien Card), Temporary Resident card, Employment Authorization card, Refugee Travel document, Foreign students with an F1 Visastatus must show USCIS document I-20 and verification of current enrollment in a US school.

In addition, INS Form I-94 Arrival/Departure record must be accompanied by a passport and visa from the applicant’s home country. 

My K-1 fiancée will be here soon, and I will add her to the lease when she arrives. Marriage and AOS will follow. Since it will be many months before she is able to attain any of the highlighted documents listed above (the EAD would probably be the first to arrive), I have asked the apartment admin if they would grant an exception for our K-1 situation. They said that they would give us 90 days to come up with “proper documentation.” 

 

I think the only documentation I will have in that 90 days will be the NOA1 for our AOS. My plan is to hand them the NOA1 and official reference that says clearly that I-94 & I-485 NOA1 = authorized stay. Can anyone help me track down that official reference? 

 

Or, does any have any better ideas on how to handle a lease situation like this?

 

Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance

 

 

 

 

[givionte 138]

People run into often, best thing to do is try to rent in your name only if your credit is good enough. Later, add your spouses name once they have an SSN or other document they can run a background check on.

 

Otherwise, look for a less strict apartment for the time being.  Might live in a crummier place, but it won't be long until she can have some verifiable information.

[K1visaHopeful 2,814]

ICE considers your I485 Noa1 receipt notice as proof of authorized stay. Surely Mr. Furley will too.

[Zach2015 211]

Maybe just add her as an occupant instead?

[DennisMN 12]

Add as occupant maybe an answer.

But I think any 4th year law student, could do housing discrimination complaint or case as their "yellow" list is not complete on documents for being here legally. 

 

 

[Crazy Cat 41,844]

6 hours ago, Zach2015 said:

Maybe just add her as an occupant instead?

Occupants must pass background checks, also........in my experience..

[arken 4,197]

35 minutes ago, DennisMN said:

Add as occupant maybe an answer.

But I think any 4th year law student, could do housing discrimination complaint or case as their "yellow" list is not complete on documents for being here legally. 

 

 

yeah and also for listing the impossible-to-get documents, Certificate of Naturalization and Certificate of Citizenship for Non-US Citizens.

[rrobin0609 387]

I added my now-husband as an occupant to my lease before we got married. My office was pretty cool about it. They were super excited to hear about us getting married, and were mostly just happy that I didn't move him in under the radar. I think they just used the actual visa as his "authorized stay" proof. We offered them the i-94 and a few other things, but they said it was unnecessary.

 

Since you already spoke to the admin about the 90 days, get that in writing from them. EAD isn't going to show up in 90 days unless you're real lucky. Tell them what documents you will be able to get within that time and see if they will work with any of those. I agree with K1VisaHopefull that I485 NOA1 should be sufficient. But it doesn't matter what we think, just want your landlord does.

Edited June 17, 2019 by rrobin0609

[Matrix13 131]

11 hours ago, Zach2015 said:

Maybe just add her as an occupant instead?

That's not really an option. As @missileman said, she will need to comply with the apartment rules regardless of how we add her.

14 hours ago, K1visaHopeful said:

ICE considers your I485 Noa1 receipt notice as proof of authorized stay. Surely Mr. Furley will too.

This is my thought, too. The challenge is convincing the apartment admin of something that is accepted as a fact by the DHS. I think I could make a pretty strong case if I could find an official reference.

 

 

I appreciate everyone trying to help. Please keep those good ideas coming

 

[Naes 12,205]

13 hours ago, Matrix13 said:

That's not really an option. As @missileman said, she will need to comply with the apartment rules regardless of how we add her.

This is my thought, too. The challenge is convincing the apartment admin of something that is accepted as a fact by the DHS. I think I could make a pretty strong case if I could find an official reference.

 

 

I appreciate everyone trying to help. Please keep those good ideas coming

 

Maybe print out the USCIS page that says I-485 noa shows authorized stay. (I am not on a computer to find it at the moment but I know I read it before.. so it should be on the website- and maybe even on noa1)

[Nouchigang 200]

Just addin to what other people said: From reading other K1s experience, I would apply for her SSN within a week of her arrival and BEFORE you send the AOS package, because if you wait too long it will be too close to the I-94 expiration date. You can use the search option on VJ to give you more details on the process of getting her a Social.

Having her SSN, copy her visa + I-94 should suffice in my opinion for a beginning and then afterwards the NOA can be added.

Listing her as an occupant should be easier  but Some apartment complexes are really picky, I think they want something in case something goes "wrong" during the lease but in your situation it is quite complicated.  I feel you, we had that issue when I first moved here.

 

Hopefully they accept what we suggested.

Good luck

[magicant 11]

I hope this isn't considered hijacking the thread since I believe it applies, but does anyone have the location where it officially shows that the i-797c (for the i-485) allows authorized stay?  I have searched for a while but could not find anything official.  Just websites or posts confirming that this is the case.  Thank you.

[Crazy Cat 41,844]

27 minutes ago, magicant said:

I hope this isn't considered hijacking the thread since I believe it applies, but does anyone have the location where it officially shows that the i-797c (for the i-485) allows authorized stay?  I have searched for a while but could not find anything official.  Just websites or posts confirming that this is the case.  Thank you.

It does not......."Authorized stay" is current policy directed by the US Attorney General"......Authorized stay is not a legal status..........A person can be out of status, yet authorized to stay while the I-485 is being adjudicated. 

Edited June 21, 2019 by missileman

[Matrix13 131]

12 minutes ago, magicant said:

I hope this isn't considered hijacking the thread since I believe it applies, but does anyone have the location where it officially shows that the i-797c (for the i-485) allows authorized stay?  I have searched for a while but could not find anything official.  Just websites or posts confirming that this is the case.  Thank you.

That's the million dollar question. I was hoping the VJ community could provide a solid source document. No luck yet. I did find something that supports the idea, but it's in a Department of State manual written under the topic of "INELIGIBILITY BASED ON PREVIOUS REMOVAL AND UNLAWFUL PRESENCE IN THE UNITED STATES."  Seems like enough to keep someone from getting deported, but not strong enough to prove to a private agency (like my apartment admin) that someone is here lawfully.

 

https://fam.state.gov/FAM/09FAM/09FAM030211.html

Guidance is detailed in 9 FAM 302.11-3(B)(1)(b)(6)

-EXCERPT-

b.  (U) Period of Authorized Stay In General: For purposes of INA 212(a)(9)(B), unlawful presence will not accrue during a "period of authorized stay," which includes:

(6)  (U) For aliens who have properly filed an application for adjustment of status to that of a lawful permanent resident (LPR), the entire period of the pendency of the application, even if the application is subsequently denied or abandoned, provided the alien (unless seeking to adjust status under NACARA or HRIFA) did not file for adjustment "defensively" (i.e., after removal proceedings had already been initiated)

[Crazy Cat 41,844]

4 minutes ago, Matrix13 said:

That's the million dollar question. I was hoping the VJ community could provide a solid source document. No luck yet. I did find something that supports the idea, but it's in a Department of State manual written under the topic of "INELIGIBILITY BASED ON PREVIOUS REMOVAL AND UNLAWFUL PRESENCE IN THE UNITED STATES."  Seems like enough to keep someone from getting deported, but not strong enough to prove to a private agency (like my apartment admin) that someone is here lawfully.

 

https://fam.state.gov/FAM/09FAM/09FAM030211.html

Guidance is detailed in 9 FAM 302.11-3(B)(1)(b)(6)

-EXCERPT-

b.  (U) Period of Authorized Stay In General: For purposes of INA 212(a)(9)(B), unlawful presence will not accrue during a "period of authorized stay," which includes:

(6)  (U) For aliens who have properly filed an application for adjustment of status to that of a lawful permanent resident (LPR), the entire period of the pendency of the application, even if the application is subsequently denied or abandoned, provided the alien (unless seeking to adjust status under NACARA or HRIFA) did not file for adjustment "defensively" (i.e., after removal proceedings had already been initiated)

One more thing:  Although the I-797 doesn't specifically say "authorized stay", the receipt number gives a reference number which can be used to verify that the person has authorized stay........