got married on H-1B Denial grace period

[chloe621]

Hi,

in April 2015, my former employer filed i-129 for me, the decision of which was not made until 2/3/2016 - denial.

Luckily, my husband (U.S. Active military member, a citizen) and I were planning to get married back in the end of 2015 and was already planning to do so in Feb.

Things got hold up a bit so we got our marriage certificate early March.

According to my previous attorney who represented my former employer to submit i-129 confirmed that I do have 60 days of grace period.

So I have 4 questions.

1. To prevent being out of status, do I have to "submit" petitions to adjust immigration status (i-130, i-485, etc.) before the end of March 2016, or do I have to "receive" the receipt from USCIS of i-130, i485 are accepted for processing?

2. I heard (But could just be rumor) from someone (alien) whom married a citizen in Marine. She said that for military dependent, once received a military dependent card, she is eligible to stay in the US without being "illegal" or "out of status". Anyone knows if that is true? (I do know that there is some benefits for military personnel)

3. On almost every form that my husband and I have to fill out, they all asked me "Alien number/A-number". I do have an "USCIS#" on my EAD which was already expired in OCT 2015 ( I have stopped working since then , but i was told by the former attorney that I was legally stay to wait for the decision) Should I fill out the A- number section at all or should I just leave it blank? Do i even have an Alien number?

4. I do not even have a valid driver's license. my license expired when my OPT expired and since then I was waiting for my H1B case's decision. So will I need to submit some sort of doc (such as denial letter of my h1b, i-797c receipt of the h1b case) to let them know that I am not presenting here illegally??

Thank you for you time reading and helping! any information would help!

 

[newacct]

1. "Out of status" just means not having status. You've been "out of status" since your OPT expired. But that's not a bad thing. It's normal for people applying for extension of status or change of status to be "out of status" for a period of time.
2. For ALL people in the Immediate Relative category (spouse, under-21 child, or parent of US citizen), they do not have to be in status to file for Adjustment of Status. It has nothing to do with military personnel or anything. As long as you entered legally (which you did), you can file. It doesn't matter how long you've been out of status. You are authorized to be in the US while Adjustment of Status is pending, regardless of whether you have status.
3. Your A number for immigration is going to be different than the one for nonimmigrant EADs and stuff. You can put "none".
4. Driver license requirements differ by state. In most states, you will likely need to wait until you get an EAD or green card before you can get a driver's license. You can apply for EAD and Advance Parole for free at the same time as applying for AOS.

 

[chloe621]

1. "Out of status" just means not having status. You've been "out of status" since your OPT expired. But that's not a bad thing. It's normal for people applying for extension of status or change of status to be "out of status" for a period of time.
2. For ALL people in the Immediate Relative category (spouse, under-21 child, or parent of US citizen), they do not have to be in status to file for Adjustment of Status. It has nothing to do with military personnel or anything. As long as you entered legally (which you did), you can file. It doesn't matter how long you've been out of status. You are authorized to be in the US while Adjustment of Status is pending, regardless of whether you have status.
3. Your A number for immigration is going to be different than the one for nonimmigrant EADs and stuff. You can put "none".
4. Driver license requirements differ by state. In most states, you will likely need to wait until you get an EAD or green card before you can get a driver's license. You can apply for EAD and Advance Parole for free at the same time as applying for AOS.

Hi,

Thank you so much! I didn't expect that I would receive a response so soon.

I do understand that if once the green card application submitted (all kinds of forms), I would be able to stay here legally. But I am kind of worried about if my "out of status" status will affect me from acquiring a green card. If I was out of status when my OPT expired, then it means, I have been out of status for close to 5 months so far. Isn't that going to give me some sort of "accumulated illegal stay or whatever it is called"?

Is there necessary to submit a letter to explain why I have been out of status for this long?

Thank you!

 

[newacct]

Hi,

Thank you so much! I didn't expect that I would receive a response so soon.

I do understand that if once the green card application submitted (all kinds of forms), I would be able to stay here legally. But I am kind of worried about if my "out of status" status will affect me from acquiring a green card. If I was out of status when my OPT expired, then it means, I have been out of status for close to 5 months so far. Isn't that going to give me some sort of "accumulated illegal stay or whatever it is called"?

Is there necessary to submit a letter to explain why I have been out of status for this long?

Thank you!

Nope. It is not at all relevant for your Adjustment of Status.

By the way, while your change of status was pending, you were out of status ,but you were authorized to stay. Anyway, no need to worry about the specifics of that because whether you are or were in status or not does not matter for your AOS.

 

[chloe621]

Nope. It is not at all relevant for your Adjustment of Status.

By the way, while your change of status was pending, you were out of status ,but you were authorized to stay. Anyway, no need to worry about the specifics of that because whether you are or were in status or not does not matter for your AOS.

I have one more question, which was on my original post. My previous attorney who filed i-129 for me told me that I have 60 days grace period after h1b denial. So does that mean I would have to submit my petition within the 60 days (our time is a little bit insufficient at this point due to my birth certificate needed to be notarized and I have not started my physical examination yet)? If I submit the petition over after the 60 days grace period, will I possibly face the chance of being deported?

Thank you!

 

[newacct]

I have one more question, which was on my original post. My previous attorney who filed i-129 for me told me that I have 60 days grace period after h1b denial. So does that mean I would have to submit my petition within the 60 days (our time is a little bit insufficient at this point due to my birth certificate needed to be notarized and I have not started my physical examination yet)? If I submit the petition over after the 60 days grace period, will I possibly face the chance of being deported?

Thank you!

For AOS, you can submit years from now if you want; it doesn't matter; you will still be approved the same -- as long as you don't get deported first.

Normally, if a person just overstays their time on a visa or graduates and doesn't leave, nobody will go "look for them", at least for years. However, in this case, you applied for change of status and it was denied, and you are going to be out of status afterwards. In such a case, will they be more likely to come look for you to make sure you left? Maybe; I'm not sure. I am not sure exactly what this 60-day grace period is. Is it the F1 grace period, because the F1 status and OPT were extended while your H1b application was pending? Or is it just an amount of time when they won't consider deporting you? I am not sure.

Again, the only reason why you would want to apply sooner would be if you thought there was a chance they would put you into removal in the near future. Otherwise, for the AOS, it doesn't matter.