Out Of Status

[truffles 2]

Hello,

Just wandered if i would be out of status - i arrived in usa 7/21/07 married 07/28/07 and have been settling down to changes - had a daughter stay with me for a month or so just visiting. I have been leisurely going around then i realised i have a I-94 which expires on oct 19.

I have now gathered all the paperwork for AOS and EAD to send - when i send it on Monday (oct 8) will that be ok? will i be considered out of status until i get the paperwork completed ? or when they send notice of receipt of the paperwork will that keep me in status.

Thanks for all your help...i feel really bad for letting this slide like this....

[Shub 78]

You're expected to marry within 90 days, which you did, so you're fine. While applying for AOS as soon as possible after marriage is recommended, you need not worry about anything. You will not be out of status.

[sunandmoon 450]

You're expected to marry within 90 days, which you did, so you're fine. While applying for AOS as soon as possible after marriage is recommended, you need not worry about anything. You will not be out of status.

agree, you'll be fine. my wife's AOS was submitted after her I-94 expired. now has her green card.

[YuAndDan 153]

FAQ: http://www.visajourney.com/faq/k1k2visa-aos.html#6.1

[Sand 5]

[Jasman0717 9]

You meet the requirement of the K-1. you and file for AOS just about any time but it is always good to do it quickly to acquire LPR status. Good luck

[pushbrk 12,883]

Hello,

Just wandered if i would be out of status - i arrived in usa 7/21/07 married 07/28/07 and have been settling down to changes - had a daughter stay with me for a month or so just visiting. I have been leisurely going around then i realised i have a I-94 which expires on oct 19.

I have now gathered all the paperwork for AOS and EAD to send - when i send it on Monday (oct 8) will that be ok? will i be considered out of status until i get the paperwork completed ? or when they send notice of receipt of the paperwork will that keep me in status.

Thanks for all your help...i feel really bad for letting this slide like this....

Your status will change October 20th, to "pending AOS without AP". You'll be legal but without AP, (advanced parole) you'll not be able to reenter the US, if you leave.

No worries. You're handling things just fine.

[JoeCanuk 3]

Thanks for asking this. It's good to know that you are still legal as it means I am still legal too. I came to the states on July 21 as well and my visa expires on the 19th too. I am sending the paperwork in this week.

Good luck.

Hello,

Just wandered if i would be out of status - i arrived in usa 7/21/07 married 07/28/07 and have been settling down to changes - had a daughter stay with me for a month or so just visiting. I have been leisurely going around then i realised i have a I-94 which expires on oct 19.

I have now gathered all the paperwork for AOS and EAD to send - when i send it on Monday (oct 8) will that be ok? will i be considered out of status until i get the paperwork completed ? or when they send notice of receipt of the paperwork will that keep me in status.

Thanks for all your help...i feel really bad for letting this slide like this....

Your status will change October 20th, to "pending AOS without AP". You'll be legal but without AP, (advanced parole) you'll not be able to reenter the US, if you leave.

No worries. You're handling things just fine.

On my paperwork I put "K1 visa-I485 pending" for my status. That's fine eh? It's the same thing, in different words.

[ChristinaM 0]

Your status will change October 20th, to "pending AOS without AP".

That's not true, I'm afraid. Technically, once the K1 expires you are out of status if you have not filed for the AOS. You only become "Pending Adjustment" once the papers have been received at USCIS' end. Until then you're (get this!) an illegal immigrant!! If you don't file the AOS within 180 days of the K1 expiring, don't leave the country. Those days are technically overstay days.

Is it going to cause you problems? Very unlikely. It certainly will not cause you problems with the AOS itself, providing (as you all seem to have done) that you married within the 90 days.

[John & Annie 0]

Your status will change October 20th, to "pending AOS without AP".

That's not true, I'm afraid. Technically, once the K1 expires you are out of status if you have not filed for the AOS. You only become "Pending Adjustment" once the papers have been received at USCIS' end. Until then you're (get this!) an illegal immigrant!! If you don't file the AOS within 180 days of the K1 expiring, don't leave the country. Those days are technically overstay days.

Is it going to cause you problems? Very unlikely. It certainly will not cause you problems with the AOS itself, providing (as you all seem to have done) that you married within the 90 days.

You are mostly correct. You are not illegal. You are 'out of status'. You are only illegal if you have entered the country under false pretenses or evaded inspection.

Overstay does not equal illegal!!!!

Please do not spread this kind of false information.

You can remain 'out of status' for as long as you want, it is a legal limbo.

Edited October 8, 2007 by John & Annie

[ChristinaM 0]

Just as a matter of terminology clarification, John; please can you explain to me why "out of status" is not "illegal" - after all, we are dumping all of the tourist visa overstayers who have been here for many years in with the 11 million illegal immigrants? I'm curious to see how the USCIS explains the difference and I'm not entirely sure where to look.

Thank you

Edited October 8, 2007 by ChristinaM

[ChristinaM 0]

These are the best I can find, but perhaps I'm not looking in the right place.

Visa overstay enforcement is one of the most prevalent domestic security problems the U.S. now faces. A visa overstay occurs when a foreign national visiting the U.S. fails to comply with the exit terms of his or her visa and, instead, stays on in the country illegally. The Department of Homeland Security estimated the number of visa overstays in the U.S., as of January 2000, to be 2.3 million.

From here; and

But perhaps most important is the issue of visa overstays. (Strictly speaking, it is not the visa itself, issued by the State Department, which expires and turns the foreign visitor into an illegal alien, but rather the length of stay granted the alien by the immigration inspector at the airport or land crossing.) Estimates are that as many as 40 percent of illegal aliens are overstayers, who entered the country legally but did not leave when their time ran out, representing perhaps 4 million or more people.

From here - as said by MR. Mark Krikorian, Executive Director, Center for Immigration Studies.

I always understood "out of status" to be the same thing as "unlawful (or illegal) presence".

[scy 0]

Your status will change October 20th, to "pending AOS without AP".

That's not true, I'm afraid. Technically, once the K1 expires you are out of status if you have not filed for the AOS. You only become "Pending Adjustment" once the papers have been received at USCIS' end. Until then you're (get this!) an illegal immigrant!! If you don't file the AOS within 180 days of the K1 expiring, don't leave the country. Those days are technically overstay days.

Is it going to cause you problems? Very unlikely. It certainly will not cause you problems with the AOS itself, providing (as you all seem to have done) that you married within the 90 days.

You are mostly correct. You are not illegal. You are 'out of status'. You are only illegal if you have entered the country under false pretenses or evaded inspection.

Overstay does not equal illegal!!!!

Please do not spread this kind of false information.

You can remain 'out of status' for as long as you want, it is a legal limbo.

Having no legal status while remaining in the US means your presence is illegal. It is a deportable offense. Being out of status is not "legal limbo". You can certainly be deported even if you entered with inspection by violating the status of your visa. I can find you many examples of people who overstayed their tourist visas who are then deported years later. And yes, a K-1 is similar to a B-1, B-2 in that it is classified as a nonimmigrant visa.

INA section 237 outlines the classes of deportable aliens

http://www.uscis.gov/propub/ProPubVAP.jsp?...fb0686648558dbe

[pushbrk 12,883]

Your status will change October 20th, to "pending AOS without AP".

That's not true, I'm afraid. Technically, once the K1 expires you are out of status if you have not filed for the AOS. You only become "Pending Adjustment" once the papers have been received at USCIS' end. Until then you're (get this!) an illegal immigrant!! If you don't file the AOS within 180 days of the K1 expiring, don't leave the country. Those days are technically overstay days.

Is it going to cause you problems? Very unlikely. It certainly will not cause you problems with the AOS itself, providing (as you all seem to have done) that you married within the 90 days.

Yes, it is true but I took the OP at her word, indicating she would file AOS before her I-94 expires. The K1 visa was dead and its expiration date meaningless, once she used it to enter the US. At that point, her I-94 expiration date gives her 90 days of in country status. Since she married and will file AOS before the expiration date of the I-94, she continues to derive status from the I-94 until October 19. As I said, on October 20, her status becomes "pending AOS".

Does that clear up your confusion?

[ChristinaM 0]

No. She does not become "pending" anything until she has filed the paperwork to become "pending".

That's like saying your status is "pending driver" before you've applied for your permit.

Once she has filed, she becomes "pending AOS" regardless of whether she has time left on her I-94.

The point of clarification was less for the OP than for the other people in the thread who said "I haven't filed yet and my I-94 has expired".

Edited October 8, 2007 by ChristinaM