The issue with this recommendation is not only the time it will take for the spouse to eventually get the GC via the family based route, which yes is quite significant; it is also quite expensive. Plus the husband will be lying when they apply for the F1 visa, since one is not supposed to be harboring an immigrant intent when applying for a NIV.
Hi Mom, thanks for the feedback! The thing is, my husband can't suspend his trip. I'm wondering if I could submit my case right now without my husband's form?
That’s correct, and it also brings a lot of risk to the table. That’s why I suggested the family-based approach to her, to illustrate that the best option, as you recommended, is to stay in the country and apply together for this opportunity without complicating matters. Additionally, if her husband applies for Advance Parole, he will lose his F1 status.
Your husband does not have to travel back to extend his visa? when is his i94 valid until? if his authorized stay is expiring soon he can file i539 for extension of status within the country without having to leave. Most F1s as I understand are for duration of stay without a specified end date though (Allowing them to stay till the end of their program then a grace period)
Yes, you can go ahead and file alone in that case. However, if your husband must travel (and the trip cannot be postponed until after Sept. 30th), he should be prepared declare his immigrant intent when applying for a new F1 visa at the embassy, as it is likely to come up.
@weiwu - just want to make sure you understand the potential implications of what mom is saying. There is a chance, maybe even a very high probability, that the embassy refuses to issue him a new F1 visa because of immigrant intent. That means he is stuck in your home country (because there will almost certainly not be time to process follow to join for DV) until he can get a green card through you via the spouse of LPR route. The current wait time for an immigrant visa under that route is around 3 years. Presumably he can forget about completing whatever he is doing on his F1 visa too.
Correction, if he uses advance parole he loses F1 status, but its probably moot as he almost certainly won’t get AP issued before whenever he plans to leave in August.
Thanks for the help on elaborating! Can you help me understand how the embassy might refuse to issue my husband a new F1 visa? Our home country embassy doesn't require an interview for F1 visa renewal. In the submitted documents, there's no question about immigration intent either. Will the embassy be able to see that his spouse (that is, I) has a pending case of GC and then assume he also has immigrant intent?
Can you explain again why he is going home to renew it rather than file i539? When does his authorized stay expire? You do understand his visa expiry doesn’t matter anymore if he is still within his authorized period of stay in the US?
Do I understand correctly you got married in the US? and changed her name in the US? What makes you think the US won’t see that as an official name change just because some documents haven’t been updated?
Yes got married and changed her name in the US but passport and her visa and EAD, her DV lottery case number, and other docs are still in her previous name. So when we fill documents out, we are filling everything based on the previous name. Is that wrong?
The form should be correct as at the date you fill it in. If her name has changed, use the correct name as of the date of the form. After all, you have the marriage certificate with changed name to prove it is the same person.
If your wife intends to use your last name as her last name going forward, she should list the new last name in Q.1a. Under Q2a. is where she will need to list her maiden name which is the name on her passport and other documents she currently has. Doing so ensures the GC gets issued in her new last name. Her marriage certificate makes the new last name official. And if she has to travel after getting her GC, and before getting a new passport in her new last name, she just needs to have her marriage certificate on her to show as official document for the change of name.
Congratulations and thanks for returning to inform us. A lot of folks come to the forum to ask for guidance on issues they’re dealing with but never return to update the forum once the issue gets resolved. So I appreciate your giving us this update. Wish you the best in your new life.
Thanks so much
That’s super helpful thank you so much