Affidavit of Support for Fresh out of College Grads?

S

stingg

New Member
Hi,

Long story short - we are looking to apply for GC for me in June 2014 because I don't want to risk overstaying my F-1 visa. I will be on the OPT post-graduation this December, and it lasts for a year.

We are going to be fresh grads from college starting December 2013, and I have a job offer lined up to start in AUGUST 2014 (the company has set start dates for incoming new hires...) whereas he will probably start working right out of college... so he will be working for maybe 5 months by the time we apply for the GC.

We're both going to be making 40-50K per year but I'm assuming that I can't use my 'job offer', I have to have actual income, which I won't start getting until August. Is his income alone enough for the Affidavit? Thanks!
 
40K-50K should be more than enough, so once he starts that job you can apply. Yes, you cannot use future job offers.

You know, on OPT, you cannot have more than 90 days without work. So if you expect to use your OPT, then between when it starts and August, you're still going to have to work somewhere. So you will (probably) have income of your own at the time you file.

If you want to be working in August, you're either going to still be on your OPT (which means you have to maintain your OPT, i.e. not exceed 90 days of unemployment), or you're going to need an EAD. EAD takes about 3 months to get after you file (It is recommended that you file for EAD with I-765 and Advance Parole with I-131 when you file I-485.). So if you want to use the EAD to work you will need to file before May.

I don't really get why you decide on June. It seems that you would apply either in the beginning of 2014, when your husband has a job, or in early 2015, when your OPT + grace period runs out.

Also, if your husband is a U.S. citizen, overstaying is not going to affect your green card application.

It seems to me that the best is if you apply when your husband gets a job, in early 2014, and don't bother with an OPT. The OPT costs money and you will have employment authorization on the green card application not long afterwards anyway. Plus it seems like you won't have work until August, so you won't be able to maintain an OPT.
 
Thanks for you help, newacct! On OPT, I believe the work can be unpaid as well, so technically I can volunteer as long as it's related to my field of study + minimum 20 hr/week ...but anyway, I am not too worried about having to find work until August for the OPT.

The main reason we decided upon filing later in 2014 is that my company will also file the H1-B for me, so I think we're just waiting to see if that works out. If it does, it gives us more time to build a stronger case to present for a 'bona fide marriage' because we will start cohabiting/joint finances after we graduate, right now it doesn't seem like we have much on paper in terms of leases/accounts etc.

But I like your suggestion of filing early 2015 - I think that makes a lot of sense, and is probably what we're going to shoot for regardless of whether I get the H1-B or not. Thank you!
 
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