F1 visa - Married - AOS help

[MATTOB 0]

Hi guys, you're all great for putting in this kind of help for folks like us.

I'll get straight to it, I need help and I have been doing my research but I cannot find a straight answer to this:

I am on an F-1 visa, i happened to marry a USC and now we want to AOS my F-1 to get me a Permanent resident green card.

I am assuming we can skip all the K-1-2-3 etc visa things as I am in the country already under a lawful Visa that doesn't run out until end of this year. Plus, we're already married.

My main question is help on the two main forms for AOS - the i-130 and the -i485.

Do we need to do one or the other first? It looks like we can do both but they seem to cross over a lot of the same stuff. I'm not sure why i need to do a i-130 when it looks like i-485 covers it all?

Do i need both? If so, together or one at a time and in which order?

I'm also confused about where to send. It says the Chicago office for one, the USCIS local office for the other, and if both at same time then Chicago OR local USCIS office!!??

You can see why I am confused.

Thanks for your help in advance

[YuAndDan 153]

There is a guide for your situation,

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...page=i130guide2

[Kez/JWolf 6]

Welcome to VJ....

Yes you need to do both the I-130 and the I-485 and they go together in the same packet to the Chicago lockbox... have a read of the guides as the above post has listed... please remember that all the fees are about to go up on July 30th so you will want to get everything sent before July 29th if you can....

Kez

[MATTOB 0]

Thank you, yes i've read through that guide many times and have all the right forms, I'm not one to just jump straight into the forum and post, i know how frustrating that is for the regulars who answer same question many times. My only confusion was what they both DID, and why I needed them both. The literature in the guide doesn't make it clear to a first timer that you need both, just that the two files exist simultaneously. I'm guessing this is because everyone's situation is unique. I know i need them both in reality, but what each does if written very strangely. I just needed to know that both can be filed same time and sent to the chicago drop box. Thank you ever so much. Sorry if i caused frustration because of that, i am just someone who likes clear concise info, which you guys always manage to give on the forum.

Here goes everything!

[Kez/JWolf 6]

The I-130 form is to get a you approved as an immediate relative and make an visa number available to you so that you can do the AOS... the are both adjudicated at the time of your AOS interview....

I know what you mean about the forms asking for the same information... but just make sure you send everything asked for even if you need to send 2 or 3 copies of the same thing....

Kez

[MATTOB 0]

Thank you, your help is most welcome. I hope this can help other people also.

[Sarah08 0]

Thank you, your help is most welcome. I hope this can help other people also.

Thank God I finally found someone else in the same situation! My fiance is in the US on an F-1 right now, and we are going through the steps to get all these papers filled out as much as we can before we get married. I was just wondering about the I-130 as well. I read on here that not everyone needs to file it, and if you do file it when you aren't supposed to, the whole thing will get shot down. So I'm like "ok, what do I do?!" lol

But anyway, it's nice to know that there is another F-1 going through this too! I hope we can keep in contact! Good luck with everything!

-Sarah

[Sarah08 0]

Thank you, your help is most welcome. I hope this can help other people also.

Thank God I finally found someone else in the same situation! My fiance is in the US on an F-1 right now, and we are going through the steps to get all these papers filled out as much as we can before we get married. I was just wondering about the I-130 as well. I read on here that not everyone needs to file it, and if you do file it when you aren't supposed to, the whole thing will get shot down. So I'm like "ok, what do I do?!" lol

But anyway, it's nice to know that there is another F-1 going through this too! I hope we can keep in contact! Good luck with everything!

-Sarah

[burke 0]

Thank you, your help is most welcome. I hope this can help other people also.

Thank God I finally found someone else in the same situation! My fiance is in the US on an F-1 right now, and we are going through the steps to get all these papers filled out as much as we can before we get married. I was just wondering about the I-130 as well. I read on here that not everyone needs to file it, and if you do file it when you aren't supposed to, the whole thing will get shot down. So I'm like "ok, what do I do?!" lol

But anyway, it's nice to know that there is another F-1 going through this too! I hope we can keep in contact! Good luck with everything!

-Sarah

I am changing my status from F-1 too!

[Sarah08 0]

Thank you, your help is most welcome. I hope this can help other people also.

Thank God I finally found someone else in the same situation! My fiance is in the US on an F-1 right now, and we are going through the steps to get all these papers filled out as much as we can before we get married. I was just wondering about the I-130 as well. I read on here that not everyone needs to file it, and if you do file it when you aren't supposed to, the whole thing will get shot down. So I'm like "ok, what do I do?!" lol

But anyway, it's nice to know that there is another F-1 going through this too! I hope we can keep in contact! Good luck with everything!

-Sarah

I am changing my status from F-1 too!

Nice! There are a few of us at least! How's it going so far?

[MATTOB 0]

hey guys, well it seems like if you're an f-1 you're pretty blessed. You don't have to go thru all that k-1 rubbish and petition and all that stuff, as long as you came over to the US to legitimately go to school and not to marry which i did, just happened to find my wife!

Yes, as long as you're f-1 filing the i-130 shouldn't be any problem, just wish it was ONLY that and not the darn i-485 as well, that one sucks!

Lets all keep posted on how we're doing, right now i'm collecting info and all the stuff we need to send these two files off. I've been trying to do this for months little by little i have very little time though as i'm full time school and have to work with my family to pay for sponsoring.

I knew there were others out there!

[Silke 1]

I'm adjusting from F1 as well. Let me know if I can be of any help

[primeminister1 0]

My wife adjusted from F-1 status and just got her Greencard on Saturday. It was a very quick and easy process for us. We got married on March 3rd; submitted the AOS packet on March 18th... and she already has her Greencard. The whole process for us only took a bit over 2 months. The main thing is to submit everything that they ask for, and submit everything in a nice organized manner within the packet. We constructed nice cover sheets on each section of our packet and copied everything that we submitted to keep within our own records. At our AOS interview our interviewer commented on the organization of our packet.

Good luck to everyone; the process looks a bit daunting at first but this board really helps out a lot! And, it seems that from what I've seen on this board and from our experience; F1's seem to get processed a bit faster.

[Sarah08 0]

hey guys, well it seems like if you're an f-1 you're pretty blessed. You don't have to go thru all that k-1 rubbish and petition and all that stuff, as long as you came over to the US to legitimately go to school and not to marry which i did, just happened to find my wife!

Yes, as long as you're f-1 filing the i-130 shouldn't be any problem, just wish it was ONLY that and not the darn i-485 as well, that one sucks!

Lets all keep posted on how we're doing, right now i'm collecting info and all the stuff we need to send these two files off. I've been trying to do this for months little by little i have very little time though as i'm full time school and have to work with my family to pay for sponsoring.

I knew there were others out there!

Thsi is nice to see all these F-1s coming forward! lol Right now we are filling out all the papers...we still have to get married, which we want to get done this summer so we can start this process before we start up with school again in the fall. Our church wedding isn't going to be until next May though. My mom and dad are now supporting the courthouse wedding thing (my mom's a pastor, so she was trying to talk us out of it at first!), but at first they didn't understand why it is important to get moving on this now. I have a really good feeling about this though! My mom keeps asking "what if he doesn't get it?" and i just say "he WILL!" lol .. There is no other option! How is everyone else doing?

[MATTOB 0]

He will get it, and we were in the same situation. Last Nov 06 my now wife and I were going to get a courthouse marriage, but we noticed we had time so we got married at church on st patrick's day, march 17th! And wow @ the two month processing time!! That means I could have my green card by september! Oh i can't wait to not feel like an alien here in the US and finally be able to work and earn an income.

Keep posting, i'm not sure how to make a timeline yet...?