I-485 Thru Marriage but not living together yet

[JJBBKK]

All,
We are in a bonafide marriage but we are not living together due to some circumstances such as college and work (i graduated and got a job and she is still in school), we are in different states. My question is: once we get our interview and still not living together, will we have problems because of that ???? Can anyone advise what should be done to avoid any confusion. Thank you for your time.

 

[milpride]

Ok. There are two options that you can choose:

1. File I-130 in the state where your wife lives, get the approval letter and then file I-485/EAD/AP in the state where you live. This way you dont have to worry about living in different places. But this process takes more time, because you are dealing with two applications separately.

2. File everything I-130, I-485, EAD, AP in the state where you and your wife are planning to settle down eventually. It could be where you live or it could be where your wife lives. In this case, you have to show enough evidence and proof that your marriage is legitimate and you have to provide reasons for filing in the chosen state (which may be where you both plan to start your family/life together)

Again, this is my opinion. I came across similar situation few months back and i chose the second option.

Hope it helps.

-milpride

 

[LucyMO]

in both cases you will have to prove bonafide marriage. Do not go the first way, unless you are hoping I-130 is approved pretty fast and you can then go through consular processing. DO have intermingled assets/accounts/insurance, etc., even if you don't have the same place of residence.

Do submit all applications in one package in the state, where the USC spouse resides. If you are going to school in a different state, and he/she cannot find a great job there, it's considered a good reason. I have a friend who had to maintain J-1 status by going to school in one state all the way through the AOS interview, but her husband worked for the army as a civilian, so he was transferred every so many months from one state to another, so they only lived together for a couple of years and apart for about 4 years before AOS interview (yes, it's a long time, but there were HRR circumstances involved). BCIS didn't blink an eye.

 

[JJBBKK]

Thank you much for your feedback. Actually we already filed our papers 485 and all that in the state where i reside, because i graduated and got a good job there but she is still in school and will not graduate for another year or so. We do have accounts/insurance/credit cards/file taxes jointly together and the whole 9 yards but not living together. I was just worried that this might be an issue when the interview time comes and they start questioning us.