Well read this with a caveat as I am a totally non-lawyer layperson... take it for whatever it may be worth.
I think that's pretty much a gray area when it comes to single-intent non-immigrant visa and AOS and I've read conflicting opinions everywhere. I personally believe, however, single-intent/dual-intent matters more when you apply for a single-intent non-immigrant visa (say, F-1) at the US embassies/consulates, when you are inspected at port of entry, and if one attempts to COS to single-intent non-immigrant status (say, from H1-b to F-1) after s/he shows immigration intent by applying for GC. AOS, on the other hand, is another story, because it's, well, literally "adjustment of status." I think your wife stays on F-1 till approval, unless she uses EAD or she travel out of the US on AP and reenters as a parolee.
See this, for example. This is from ICE/SEVIS.
http://www.ice.gov/doclib/sevis/pdf/Termination Reasons.pdf
At the bottom, it says:
It seems to read as saying that non-immigrant students remain on their student visa status (unless use EAD or reenter as a parolee) while their AOS are pending... as long as they fulfill the requirements for students status, of course.
I personally do not know people who did AOS of F-1 to GC, so I could be wrong. But I know some who did AOS of E to GC. E is not double-intent either, but they were on that status with AOS pending (one of them needed a business travel out of the US so reentered on AP with E invalidated). Perhaps there might be some differences between how they handle F and E, but I doubt it...
At any rate, though, as long as your wife is in the US, this does not seem to make much immediate difference, right? She now has AOS pending as your derivative, and whether F-1 or authorized stay on AOS pending, her stay is legal and either way she needs AP if she travels out and reenters. One reason to keep her F-1 would be as an insurance (should anything wrong happen to her AOS, she is in status if at that point she stays on F-1), but especially as a dependent applicant (with the primary already approved) chances are very slim she gets rejected, I think.
She may want to talk with her school DSO (I think schools may have received SEVIS's liaison Call Summary regarding this matter).
My 2 cents...
I think that's pretty much a gray area when it comes to single-intent non-immigrant visa and AOS and I've read conflicting opinions everywhere. I personally believe, however, single-intent/dual-intent matters more when you apply for a single-intent non-immigrant visa (say, F-1) at the US embassies/consulates, when you are inspected at port of entry, and if one attempts to COS to single-intent non-immigrant status (say, from H1-b to F-1) after s/he shows immigration intent by applying for GC. AOS, on the other hand, is another story, because it's, well, literally "adjustment of status." I think your wife stays on F-1 till approval, unless she uses EAD or she travel out of the US on AP and reenters as a parolee.
See this, for example. This is from ICE/SEVIS.
http://www.ice.gov/doclib/sevis/pdf/Termination Reasons.pdf
At the bottom, it says:
It seems to read as saying that non-immigrant students remain on their student visa status (unless use EAD or reenter as a parolee) while their AOS are pending... as long as they fulfill the requirements for students status, of course.
I personally do not know people who did AOS of F-1 to GC, so I could be wrong. But I know some who did AOS of E to GC. E is not double-intent either, but they were on that status with AOS pending (one of them needed a business travel out of the US so reentered on AP with E invalidated). Perhaps there might be some differences between how they handle F and E, but I doubt it...
At any rate, though, as long as your wife is in the US, this does not seem to make much immediate difference, right? She now has AOS pending as your derivative, and whether F-1 or authorized stay on AOS pending, her stay is legal and either way she needs AP if she travels out and reenters. One reason to keep her F-1 would be as an insurance (should anything wrong happen to her AOS, she is in status if at that point she stays on F-1), but especially as a dependent applicant (with the primary already approved) chances are very slim she gets rejected, I think.
She may want to talk with her school DSO (I think schools may have received SEVIS's liaison Call Summary regarding this matter).
My 2 cents...
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