If you get an RFE...

[sudhany]

If you get an RFE after submitting your application, are you considered to have "filed" for adjustment of status, or are you considered to have filed only after you submit and they accept the further evidence required? The reason I'm asking is that my current status (F1) expires as of 8/31/06 and I haven't really made arrangements to extend it. At the rate things are going now -- what with my misplaced birth certificate and my husband's expired US passport (which he finally remembered to tell me about today!) -- we're not sure we'll be able to get things in till about the middle of August. With my F1 status ending at the end of August, I'm really concerned that I might be out of status for some time, especially if they don't accept the application right away and send us an RFE. So, I guess my question is basically this: when, after sending your I-485, I-130 etc in, are you considered to have filed for adjustment of status? (I take it that once you've filed for AOS, you can't really be out of status.)

Thanks so much for all your help, and good luck with your applications!

[patty579]

As soon as you have received your receipt notices for I-485 and I-130 you have a pending AOS, which is a legal status.
I'm not sure if you will need F1 to be able to study further, so maybe you should ask your college about that.
But status-wise, you are legal.

[sudhany]

Thanks, Patty579. Just to clarify: in your own case, you were said to be pending AOS at least as of March 29, your ND (or as of your RD, which was perhaps a few days earlier). Am I right?

[patty579]

Yep, that's right. Not sure if it's the RD or the ND, but it's one of the two.
I didn't know it either until I asked about overstaying. My B2 Visa expired on 31th March. I thought I was overstaying, but I wasn't, because I continued to have a legal status from the 29th March.

[pianoplayer]

Originally Posted by patty579

As soon as you have received your receipt notices for I-485 and I-130 you have a pending AOS, which is a legal status.
I'm not sure if you will need F1 to be able to study further, so maybe you should ask your college about that.
But status-wise, you are legal.

Correct. And many schools will accept you as a pending permanent resident. You will need to provide them with a copy of your I485 receipt. Usually you do not need to get a new I20 or extend the old one, because you are no longer in F1 status really. However, some schools do not know much about this, and misinformed schools may refuse you or insist on issuing you an I20. If they want to do this, and they can successfully do it, I guess let them make you a piece of paper to keep them happy. But USCIS would not care about any future I20's they generate for you.

Best wishes