F1 student on OPT marrying USC

[shad0w]

Hi,
I am a F1 student who just graduated from grad school and is on OPT. My girlfriend is a US citizen. We have been going out since 1 1/2 yrs. We were thinking of getting married so that I can start permanent work (its hard to find permanent jobs on OPT) and support her while she is in school (she still has 2 yrs to graduate). this is not intended for fraud as we are going to get married anyway. i really want her to finish school and wish to support her for the same. i am confident tht i will get a good job since i have masters and so i'll be able to support her thru school.

now i have some questions..
1. will they suspect this as fraud? (considering the whole situation and also the fact that we are of different races)

2. i heard that she has to sign a affidavit of support for me. the issue is that she is still in school and her income is less than required (around 10K) however ive been working and filing taxes since the past 5 yrs with around 12k income. However USCIS website says that "There is no need to submit a Form I-864 if the intending immigrant can show EITHER that the intending immigrant has already worked, OR can be credited with, 40 qualifying quarters as defined in title II of the Social Security Act ". So do I have to submit a form I-864?

3. Like I said, she is in school and has 2 more yrs to graduate. so, i will be moving to wherever i get a job (right now we are living together) since its not possible for me to find the right job in a university town. will this create a problem?

Will appreciate your reply.
thanks.

 

[sgsnathan]

Hi,
I am a F1 student who just graduated from grad school and is on OPT. My girlfriend is a US citizen. We have been going out since 1 1/2 yrs. We were thinking of getting married so that I can start permanent work (its hard to find permanent jobs on OPT) and support her while she is in school (she still has 2 yrs to graduate). this is not intended for fraud as we are going to get married anyway. i really want her to finish school and wish to support her for the same. i am confident tht i will get a good job since i have masters and so i'll be able to support her thru school.

now i have some questions..
1. will they suspect this as fraud? (considering the whole situation and also the fact that we are of different races)

I don't know why this would be considered fraud. In any case, that is something that the 2 of you will have to convince the immigration officer about when you have the actual interview for adjustment of status. For now, if you got married, she could apply for a petition for alien relative (I-130) and you could apply for the adjustment of status and apply for an EAD along with that. You could do all of this concurrently and you would have your EAD approved in approximately 2-3 months. You could continue to work on that EAD and renew that until you have the actual AOS interview where you will have to convince the immigration officer that you didn't marry just to get a GC.

2. i heard that she has to sign a affidavit of support for me. the issue is that she is still in school and her income is less than required (around 10K) however ive been working and filing taxes since the past 5 yrs with around 12k income. However USCIS website says that "There is no need to submit a Form I-864 if the intending immigrant can show EITHER that the intending immigrant has already worked, OR can be credited with, 40 qualifying quarters as defined in title II of the Social Security Act ". So do I have to submit a form I-864?

The last part of what you quoted means that you should have been working and contributing to social security for at least 10 years (40 quarters). Have you? If you are an F-1 student, I would think that you were paying your taxes while not contributing to FICA (medicare and social security) as you are a non-resident alien (with form 1040NR or 1040NREZ). In any case, you have only been paying taxes for 5 years. So you won't be qualified for that. Now, for the 2 of you, I understand that you will need to show proof that you make at least over $16K which is 125% of poverty line for 2 people. You can check this out by looking at the form I-864 which can be downloaded online. So your income at $12K may not be enough for this. You might want to get someone else to help out in this situation like her family or any of your relatives here in the US.

3. Like I said, she is in school and has 2 more yrs to graduate. so, i will be moving to wherever i get a job (right now we are living together) since its not possible for me to find the right job in a university town. will this create a problem?

Like I said , as long as you can prove that you didn't get married just to get a GC, but out of love and that your intentions were honorable, you should be fine, when you go for the interview.

Will appreciate your reply.
thanks.

You are welcome. Remember, I am not an immigration expert. Those are just from my own experiences and what I have read on this forum. Good luck!

 

[shad0w]

Hi, thanks for the reply.
Im not sure but doesnt it say on the site in caps that the immigrant has to show that EITHER he has worked OR he can be credited with 40 qualifying quarters? i might be wrong but it seems to me that you have to satisfy either of the 2 conditions (not both of them), isnt it?

also yea, i do understand tht we have to prove to the immigration officer about our intent, however wat i meant to ask is that is this a situation tht might lead him to suspect our intentions. does anyone here have had or know anyone in a similar situation?

thanks

 

[sgsnathan]

Hi, thanks for the reply.
Im not sure but doesnt it say on the site in caps that the immigrant has to show that EITHER he has worked OR he can be credited with 40 qualifying quarters? i might be wrong but it seems to me that you have to satisfy either of the 2 conditions (not both of them), isnt it?

What you quoted above is very clear. It means that you have either already worked for 40 qualifying quarters OR you can be credited with 40 qualifying quarters, which might be the case under some specific circumstances, which I wouldn't try to explain. Since you won't qualify for either, that is out of the question. Then again, if I am right, you may not have paid FICA while you were a student. The law says that you should have been putting in that 40 qualifying quarters "under social security act". That is the basic qualification for drawing social security benefits under US laws. I hope that clarifies it for you.

also yea, i do understand tht we have to prove to the immigration officer about our intent, however wat i meant to ask is that is this a situation tht might lead him to suspect our intentions. does anyone here have had or know anyone in a similar situation?

thanks

If you run a search on this forum, you will find that there are a lot of people who came to study in this country on an F-1 visa, fell in love with somebody, got married, and decided to stay on. So the only reason they would suspect your intentions is if you gave any indication that you were not serious about this relationship. That is why you are asked to show proof of the relationship like communications, joint bank account, insurance etc. Just about anything to show that you still love each other and have a strong solid relationship. Proof of a public wedding ceremony, possibly a trip to your home country etc. would help a lot too.