Hi everyone,
I am an international student currently on a F-1 visa. My husband (a US citizen) and I recently got married (purely based on love) and it was a small ceremony in a courthouse with my sister and his brother as witness and the only attendants, we are going to have a big wedding and reception in a couple years when we have enough money. Unfortunately we are both still students and he is going to dental school in Boston this fall while I just started a graduate program in Chicago. We are probably going to be living apart for at least 4 years, but will see each other every break/holiday.
We recently opened a joint bank account, and I changed my last name to his (still waiting for the marriage certificate to officially change my name at the social security office and DMV). So I think we have enough proof to show we have a real marriage, except that we aren't living together.
I want to apply for permanent residency soon because we are both busy students and I don't want us to stress out about it too much. I hope someone can answer these questions for me:
1. Will living apart affect us in the interview process, even though we have legitimate reasons for it and we can't do anything about it?
2. Is the fact that we haven't done a big wedding going to hurt us?
3. My friend is going to be my financial sponsor (since both my husband and I are students), but she just started working (recently out of college). Can she show her paystubs and a letter from her employer instead of previous tax returns and W2s?
4. Can we choose which city to have the interview, Boston or Chicago?
I am an international student currently on a F-1 visa. My husband (a US citizen) and I recently got married (purely based on love) and it was a small ceremony in a courthouse with my sister and his brother as witness and the only attendants, we are going to have a big wedding and reception in a couple years when we have enough money. Unfortunately we are both still students and he is going to dental school in Boston this fall while I just started a graduate program in Chicago. We are probably going to be living apart for at least 4 years, but will see each other every break/holiday.
We recently opened a joint bank account, and I changed my last name to his (still waiting for the marriage certificate to officially change my name at the social security office and DMV). So I think we have enough proof to show we have a real marriage, except that we aren't living together.
I want to apply for permanent residency soon because we are both busy students and I don't want us to stress out about it too much. I hope someone can answer these questions for me:
1. Will living apart affect us in the interview process, even though we have legitimate reasons for it and we can't do anything about it?
2. Is the fact that we haven't done a big wedding going to hurt us?
3. My friend is going to be my financial sponsor (since both my husband and I are students), but she just started working (recently out of college). Can she show her paystubs and a letter from her employer instead of previous tax returns and W2s?
4. Can we choose which city to have the interview, Boston or Chicago?
Last edited by a moderator: