Next Step?

[juanpablo 0]

Hello everyone! I can not believe I am finally at this step!! I arrived to the United States with my K1 Fiance on March 8 after a long 9 month process to get the K1 visa. That same week we went ahead and got married. The wedding turned out to be quite expensive wich is why I have not gone to the next step and send in my I-485 packet. Here are my questions....

1. Is there a time limit for me to submit my I-485 packet? We recieved our visa in Bogota, Colombia on the 9th of February and entered the states on the 8th of MArch and were immediately married that same week of arrival. My wife's visa (K1) that placed in her passport to enter the states expires on the 8th of August. I am going to need at least another 3-4 weeks were I can submit all the paperwork(I-485 Packet). Does anyone know if I can wait another month or does it have to be filed immediately?

2. My next question has to do with the medical exams. I remember during our K1 process a series of exams were done for the embassy. Does she have to get this all done over again? I could not help but notice this when i was looking over the packet.

3. My final question is does the I485 package all have to mailed in together? Or can I mail what I can afford at the moment and then send the others as soon as i can?

I appreciate any info !

Thanks

JP

[Jasman0717 9]

You should apply for AOS prior to the expiration of the I-94. Some have went longer without any problems. For Claudeth I took her to a civil surgeon and had the supplemental vaccination form completed. She also had to have a tetanus shot. You don't have to mail the applications (AOS, EAD, AP) together.

Good luck

[senyorita80 1]

I have talked to more than a couple of USCIS officers on the phone and there is actually no deadline for filing AOS. The most important thing is to GET MARRIED before the K1 visa expires.

[chiggins 0]

1. You'll probably want to get it done before the K-1 visa expires just to be on the safe side, which is 90 days after entering the U.S, but technically there is no time limit for filing.

2. If you submit your AOS application within a year of your overseas medical, then you don't need another one. You will however need to get the vaccination supplement done by a U.S. civil surgeon, which you will want to submit with your application if you can. Check the USCIS website for a list of surgeons in your area, and call around to get prices, as they can vary greatly. Don't let them talk you into getting another exam though.

3. You should mail it all together if you want your EAD and AP as soon as possible. You can mail your EAD and AP later if you want, but you will need to submit your AOS first, and wait for the receipt to arrive in the mail as you need to submit a copy with the EAD and AP applications.

[Kajikit 65]

To answer your questions, no there is no definite timelimit for filing AOS - they recommend that you do it as soon as possible after you're married. The time your K1 visa expires and the date that it was originally issued is irrelevant now - it's a one-shot document and the date on it just showed you how long you had to use it before it expired. What matters more is the date on your spouse's I-94. Ideally you should file your AOS before the expiry date on the I-94 so they're still legal the whole time...

If your wife entered on the 8th March you've still got plenty of time to get your application organised before her 90 days runs out.

And yes, you have to mail you entire application together... if anything important is missing they'll either send it back to you as invalid or give you a RFE. But I'm sure you'd agree that it's better to avoid that by having everything organised and together at the beginning.