Mission CRITICAL!!! HELP!!!

G

gfresh

New Member
I'll(US Citizen) try and make my question short...
  • Wife came to the USA (in August 2000) on an F1 visa.
  • Attended College and graduated in May 2005.
  • Applied for and subsequently received an Employment Authorization Card or OPT. (the OPT card was valid for 1year... from May 2005 to May 2006)
  • She got a job with a Wireless Network company as a Account Manager. She was however hired on as a contractor (common with new hires) with potential to become a permanent employee.
  • We got married in April 2006 (but have lived together since 2005)
  • Her F1 Visa, OPT, and I-20 are all expired.
  • She's never been questioned by Human Resources so she still currently works with the same company.
  • We never got around to applying for her paperwork because she needed additional documents, etc from her home country... plus she kept putting it off.. not good!:mad:
  • We just started the application process and have hired an Immigration Attorney to see us through the process.
TWO Questions:
  • Are we going to face any difficulties in the application process due to the fact that she worked with an expired OPT even though we got married before it expired?
  • She is up for hire at her job as a fulltime/permanent employee. Will the Company be able to hire her since we just started the GC paperwork,... but have yet to get a new EAD? Or is she better of declining the fulltime offer and keeping a low profile as a contractor.(tough choice)

Thanks for your time. I do appreciate your ideas and advice.
NB: I have brought this quesion up to the Attorney but I'm willing to hear other ideas and thoughts.
 
gfresh said:
Are we going to face any difficulties in the application process due to the fact that she worked with an expired OPT even though we got married before it expired?
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No. Since she's married to a US citizen, she'll be forgiven without penalty.

Will the Company be able to hire her since we just started the GC paperwork,... but have yet to get a new EAD? Or is she better of declining the fulltime offer and keeping a low profile as a contractor.
Click to expand...

They cannot legally hire her until she has an EAD.
 
Two Answers:

1) Most things (overstays, illegal work, etc) will be pardoned because she married you (US Citizen)
2) She can not legally work until she gets her EAD through the Adjustment of Status process which can take up to 90 days. She can do as she chooses.

ps: Fire the lawyer, your case is pretty straight forward. No need to spend thousands on immigration lawyers.

ps2: file your forms before July 30th, they fees will go higher that day.

ps3: welcome to the forum.
 
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