Married Soon, AOS Stress

[BearAndKoala 16]

My fiancé and I are finally together and getting married this Friday! I wish it was as happy a time as it should be, but this whole Adjustment of Status thing is hanging over me.

 

Our deadline for marriage is the 26th of November, and I know we have to apply for the AOS before then. So we're getting our civil ceremony and marriage certificate appointment on Friday, the 21st of October. What happens if they don't give me the certificate by then?

 

And these fees are killing me. I make a good wage but I live in California, so I don't actually make a good wage. I'm supporting my aging Father after he lost his job, so I'm worried that I might not have the funds for the fees in time. I've seen lots of talk about people filing for an AOS very late, but still married before the deadline, and they seem okay. Is that possible or should I start panhandling now? 😅

 

Thank you all for your help and please be kind, I know I probably sound like a dope who's way over his head 😂

[SteveInBostonI130 3,454]

Requirement is to marry within 90 days of entering on a K1.  The AOS can technically be filed anytime afterwards.  However, after 90 days your spouse will be out of status until you file the I-485.

 

The sooner you file, and especially file the I-765 along with it (it is free if filed with I-485), the sooner your spouse can get an EAD card and hopefully get a job to help out with the financial situation.

 

Last year someone posted a horror story about being two weeks beyond the 90 day deadline and having the paper forms all complete and ready to be mailed, only to get into a minor car accident.  The responding police officer checked their immigration status and they ended up being sent to jail and having to go to immigration court.

Edited October 18, 2022 by SteveInBostonI130

[Verrou 1,962]

As long as you legally married before 90 days, no issue. Now to get the marriage certificate itself might take a while in Ca. It will stated the day u are married 

[Nat&Amy 623]

As someone who's "been there, done that", my first advice is: take a deep breath. AOS is a long, long process. I know how expensive it is to live in California (with only one income, no less), and I will tell you that these coming months are going to be tough. So start right now by adjusting your expectations and doing some real financial planning.

 

You don't have to file as soon as you get your marriage certificate in hand. Should you? Yes, especially if you are already assembling the package and will have things ready to go when the certificate comes in. There is no advantage in waiting. Even if your spouse is still within the 90 days, one month of delay filing means one extra month your spouse remains unable to work and help relieve the financial burden of your household. Huge, huge disadvantage of coming here on a K1 that tends to get overlooked all the time, and it puts a huge financial and emotional burden on both sides. After 90 days, if you have not filed for AoS, your spouse will have no legal status or authorized stay. Marriage alone offers no legal protection. Your spouse will be out of status and you don't want to live with that kind of stress.

 

While there is no guarantee that filing as early as possible will get your spouse an EAD/ GC faster than others (no consistency as to how or why some cases take 4 months, and others 10, for example), at least you will know you did what you could. I would recommend "panhandling" now and be done with it rather than waiting for finances to improve and risk other less than ideal scenarios.

 

Good luck!

Edited October 18, 2022 by Nat&Amy
Clarification

[Crazy Cat 41,884]

52 minutes ago, BearAndKoala said:

And these fees are killing me. I make a good wage but I live in California, so I don't actually make a good wage. I'm supporting my aging Father after he lost his job, so I'm worried that I might not have the funds for the fees in time. I've seen lots of talk about people filing for an AOS very late, but still married before the deadline, and they seem okay. Is that possible or should I start panhandling now? 😅

I assume you did your research before starting the K-1 process.  There are absolutely no benefits in waiting to file a proper I-485 package.  Delaying filing just delays being able to work, being able to travel outside the US, and filing for citizenship.  It also exposes the new entrant to the possibility of detention and removal from the US.  Just last week a new member reported that he/she had not filed an I-485 and he/she had to urgently leave the US due to an Emergency.  Leaving after 6 months overstay incurs a 3-year ban. I would borrow the money from family, friends, or a bank and file a proper I-485 before the K-1 entrant's I-94 expires.  

Good Luck.

Edited October 18, 2022 by Crazy Cat

[Mike E 11,739]

2 hours ago, BearAndKoala said:

What happens if they don't give me the certificate by then?

If you don’t have a marriage certificate when you file I-485 your case will be denied.  
 

Do a Utah zoom wedding instead. You will get an emailed certificate the same day of marriage service and you can send that. 
 

File I-485 before the 90 days are up. Otherwise this can happen:

 

 

Edited October 19, 2022 by Mike E

[BearAndKoala 16]

Thank you so much for all your help, it's really making things clearer for us.

 

If it takes too long to get certain paperwork, what should I do then? File without it just so I get it in on time?

[Mike E 11,739]

Just now, BearAndKoala said:

Thank you so much for all your help, it's really making things clearer for us.

 

If it takes too long to get certain paperwork, what should I do then? File without it just so I get it in on time?

What paper work?

[BearAndKoala 16]

1 minute ago, Mike E said:

What paper work?

What I'm worried about is the marriage certificate, but really any paperwork examples. Getting any government paperwork can take a lot longer than expected so I just want to be prepared for anything just in case.

[Mike E 11,739]

37 minutes ago, BearAndKoala said:

What I'm worried about is the marriage certificate, but really any paperwork examples. Getting any government paperwork can take a lot longer than expected so I just want to be prepared for anything just in case.

I told how to get a marriage certificate fast and cheap. 
 

You also need your birth certificate, your spouse’s birth certificate, I-94, spouse’s passport, 3 years of your tax return transcripts, 3 months of pay stubs.  You should already have all that. 

[Rocio0010 5,579]

When we got married back in 2019 I don't remember the marriage certificate taking longer than two weeks.

 

I assume you did your research on AOS while or before you guys did your K1. If so, you should have all your documents ready to go. You should always consult the guides here at VJ, but if I remember correctly the documents needed for the beneficiary (along with the forms themselves, of course) were:

 

• copy of birth certificate, translated
• copy of passport
• copy of most recent I-94
• marriage certificate
• prior divorce decrees (if there was a prior divorce)

From the petitioner:

• Three years of IRS tax returns
• Copy of birth or naturalization certificate.

I was here on an F1 student visa, so I already had my birth certificate with me. Other than that, which requires obtaining it from the registry in the home country, I can't think of any other documents that took that long to obtain. 

 

This is not going to be your last round with immigration, so here comes some (unsolicited) advice: be more proactive and have all the documents and money for the fees ready for when you need to file.

 

As others have said, the requirement is to marry within 90 days of arrival. AOS can be filed at any time, however, after the K1 visa expiration date, your now spouse will have no valid status, and this can have serious consequences.

 

[Scandi 4,166]

48 minutes ago, Rocio0010 said:

When we got married back in 2019 I don't remember the marriage certificate taking longer than two weeks.

 

I assume you did your research on AOS while or before you guys did your K1. If so, you should have all your documents ready to go. You should always consult the guides here at VJ, but if I remember correctly the documents needed for the beneficiary (along with the forms themselves, of course) were:

 

• copy of birth certificate, translated
• copy of passport
• copy of most recent I-94
• marriage certificate
• prior divorce decrees (if there was a prior divorce)

From the petitioner:

• Three years of IRS tax returns
• Copy of birth or naturalization certificate.

I was here on an F1 student visa, so I already had my birth certificate with me. Other than that, which requires obtaining it from the registry in the home country, I can't think of any other documents that took that long to obtain. 

 

This is not going to be your last round with immigration, so here comes some (unsolicited) advice: be more proactive and have all the documents and money for the fees ready for when you need to file.

 

As others have said, the requirement is to marry within 90 days of arrival. AOS can be filed at any time, however, after the K1 visa expiration date, your now spouse will have no valid status, and this can have serious consequences.

 

I don't know where OP is, but here in Los Angeles county the marriage takes 6-8 weeks to be recorded. It's not the printing of the certificate itself that takes long, it's the recording of the marriage that takes that long. The wait times were the same back in 2016 when we got married, but we were lucky and it ended up "only" taking 4 weeks. 

 

OP: This is another thing to do research on so you know when to get married in order to get the certificate on time. Because of the long wait times we decided to get married early in the 90 days. Have your marriage somewhere where you know you will get the certificate quick if needed.

 

Also, you can pay the AOS fees with a credit card. 

[BearAndKoala 16]

According to their website, the county clerk we have our appointment through takes two weeks to have the certificate available so I think it'll be fine on that.

[WeekendPizzaiolo 47]

In CT, we received our certified marriage certificate the next day. The lead time in CA depends on the county. My friend got his certificate within a few days earlier this year (Alameda County, California).

 

Since you are in a hurry, please try to triple/quadruple check every item and every question in your AOS packet. I assume you are following the guide here: 

 

It is never too early to prepare everything now and then make minor edits before your final print, check, and submit.

 

 

[Mike E 11,739]

2 hours ago, BearAndKoala said:

According to their website, the county clerk we have our appointment through takes two weeks to have the certificate available so I think it'll be fine on that.

Yeah I think two weeks is unacceptable, especially given the word “stress” is in the title of your post.