Dating but how do we get married?

[Purplemelody7]

Hello there!

My boyfriend and I are in a bit of a situation..

He's been living in the US for 7 years (5 years under the F1 visa) and we have been dating for 6 years now. He graduated from a US university and has been working for a US company while under the OPT stem extension.

Problem?
His employer applied for an H1b visa twice but he didn't win the lottery. Now his F1 visa is expiring in June, so he has to stop working by then and would have to leave by August. His employer is able to relocate him to Canada and offered to apply for the H1b visa again (with again, no guarantee). So how does he come back?

Where we get stuck...
(1) We want to get married!! BUT if we get married now [while he is in the US] and start the green-card process here he will lose his job since it takes months to receive the EAD work authorization, which we don't want.
(2) So... is it possible for us to get married right now and start the green-card process LATER [while he's abroad and I'm still living in the US]? I can't leave because I'm currently in grad school. If we do this, we won't have time to live together, start a lease, open a joint bank account, etc. Only thing we have is proof that we have been dating for 6 years and we actually do want to get married!!

What should we do?
If you have any advice, we'd really appreciate it!!


Thank you

 

[luladvocat]

Hello there!

My boyfriend and I are in a bit of a situation..

He's been living in the US for 7 years (5 years under the F1 visa) and we have been dating for 6 years now. He graduated from a US university and has been working for a US company while under the OPT stem extension.

Problem?
His employer applied for an H1b visa twice but he didn't win the lottery. Now his F1 visa is expiring in June, so he has to stop working by then and would have to leave by August. His employer is able to relocate him to Canada and offered to apply for the H1b visa again (with again, no guarantee). So how does he come back?

Where we get stuck...
(1) We want to get married!! BUT if we get married now [while he is in the US] and start the green-card process here he will lose his job since it takes months to receive the EAD work authorization, which we don't want.
(2) So... is it possible for us to get married right now and start the green-card process LATER [while he's abroad and I'm still living in the US]? I can't leave because I'm currently in grad school. If we do this, we won't have time to live together, start a lease, open a joint bank account, etc. Only thing we have is proof that we have been dating for 6 years and we actually do want to get married!!

What should we do?
If you have any advice, we'd really appreciate it!!


Thank you

I am by no means an expert, but I have been through the GC process when marrying my US citizen wife. From my experience, you can apply for the greencard at any time you want. I did apply right away because I was on a F1 visa. Now, you can still have a joint bank account right now, and with him living abroad too. He can make online deposits and withdraws in this account over the internet. If you get a lease, you can have him as cosigner living abroad too.

I think you should also remember that USCIS is looking to prevent fraudulent marriages, and the explanation to this situation is a truthful statement of your condition. By the time you guys go to the GC interview, just be honest and explain what happened and why you (maybe not) have little evidence of living together. Lastly, if there is one thing I got from my interview, it is: be honest, be honest, and be honest.

Best of luck to you guys!