Need an advise on this issue.

M

ManavSS

Registered Users (C)
This looks like a very interesting fourm. There are many knowlegable people around here. Hoping to find some solution to my problem.

Due to some unexpected developments my marriage is scheduled in Jan 2003 in India and unfortunately cannot be preponed. My Fiancee is an Indian and she never came to US before.

My I-485 was filed in Feb/02 in VSC, I received my EAD & AP and my FP was done. According to my company's new policy they activated my EAD after completing 180 days and I am working for the same company. As per my understanding this automatically cancels my H1.

Now I have two questions :

1. If I dont get my 485 approval till Jan end, how can I bring her to US ? Is there anything I can do to get her a H4 ?

2. If I get approval before my marriage, what are my options ?

Any answers will be truely appreciated.

Manav.
 
Some thoughts

What I think you can do is quickly go back home & get a registered marriage done & then file for the GC papers for the spouse...
Bcoz over here that is what they need proof of marriage, to them the date of ritual marriage ceremony does not matter.
 
Act quickly & Smartly

ManavSS,

I guess you are not properly informed about something or your question is not clear.

YOU CANNOT BRING YOUR WIFE ON H4 IF YOU GET YOUR CASE APPROVED.

1. So dont wish to get your case approved by January next year.
2. Like axrx suggested, get register married and get certificate of proof pictures and get her H4 visa well before January.
3. You have not mentioned about your H-1 validity and if it has already expired beyond 6 years, Contact a lawyer asap b'cos you are losing an option of bringing ur future wife on H4.

Now a days student visas are also very difficult.

So my friend act fast and smart. You are going to start playing with 2 lives from now on..

Good Luck..
 
Thanks axrx and BVRV

It is only three years on my H1 so far and my current H1 is valid till 04/03.

I wish I could get married earlier. But due to some legal issues, marriage cannot take place before January. (waiting for a divorce decree).

My question is after activating my EAD, what is the validity of my H1 ? Any ideas ?
 
Since your H1 visa is still valid and you ares till working for same company I don't understand the meaning of activatin EAD. Secondly, if H1 visa is still valid and you still work for same company for which you have stamping you can get H4 for your wife.But for H4 you must have court marriage in India and this all should be done before your approval. You must apply for your wife too before appoval or you wii have to wait for 4-5 years to get your wife here.
 
Your options

1. Do you work for Rapidigm Inc.? Because I have heard that they put employees on EAD after 180 days.
2. Your employer would put you on a EAD by asking to fill a fresh I-9 form in which under employment proof you would list your EAD# and its validity.

What you can do:
1. Explain your problems to your Company and request them to allow you to maintain your status. That should be possible, give it a shot.
2. This is a long hop, when you fill up a I-9 form and give it to your employer, he doesn't have to send it to INS, unless they ask for it (earlier he had to send it to INS). So in case your employer refuses to allow you to stay on H1, and you have to go on EAD, then get married after ur divorce decree, go to the consulate and show ur valid H1 visa and get ur wife in US on H4 visa.

But please note that I am not an attorney. I cannot guarantee, that the US consulate in India, will not check with ur employer and find out whether u r on H1 or EAD?

My suggestion, talk to a competent lawyer (perhaps your current attorney) and then decide on teh course of action.

Thanks
 
HI... Here is what I know

Hello,
Since u said u already used ur EAD, that manes ur no longer on H1B. This is what I have heard over time. Once u use ur EAD ur no longer on H1B.
If thats true, even if u r already married u can not bring ur spouse on H4.

So that rules out the possiblility of filing I485 for her. In order to file I485, she has to be physically in US and ur I485 should be still pending.

So the other option u have is, some thing called "follow to join", what it means is, u have to file a follow to join here once ur I485 is approved. And that will take abt 6 months from the date of ur approval. Then she will get an immigrant visa in India. At the port of entry she will be stamped with a temporary greencard in her passport. But the criteria here is "YOU HAVE TO BE MARRIED BEFORE UR I485 GETS APPROVED".

And the worst case option (I dont call it option) is if ur I485 gets approved before ur marriage. Then in order for her to come to us, it might take upto 5 yrs :(

Since even I was going thru the same phase myself. These are the options i found out from my lawyer.

Better consult ur employer and ur lawyer abt this asap.

HTH
Sudhi

PS: The easiest option would ahve been, if u guys could have done registered marriage right after engagement, that way u would be legally married.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Manav,

Sudhi_24 brought up a good point about you using your EAD for work already. I am hoping that you didn't as your H-1 is valid till beginning next year and renewing your EAD does not impact your travel or H1-B visa. I travelled to India using my H1-B I-94 even when I had parole visa as my visa was valid. I went to get married recently too.
As per things going on currently your 485 case might not be approved and you can bring your wife on H4 using your H-1 and do not mention abt 485 unless required till you bring her in to the country.

Say if you are working on EAD then try to approach your employer like sudhi mentioned or worst case get your marriage certificate HOWEVER before your approval.

Please contact a good lawyer to seek help and do not go by users like us as this is imp to your life.


Wishing you the best
 
Thanks all

Thanks bakshi, 180DaysGuy, Sudhi_24, BVRV.

I took an appointment with my lawyer on Tuesday. Hope I will find a way out. Thanks for all your advises.

Now the important question in my case is , after activating the EAD is my H1 completely cancelled or it can be used to get a H4.

I will let you know the developments. Any other advises are welcome.
 
As pointed by somebody else activiating EAD is filling out some kind of Form and if that is true then I guess you need to find out if your employer has notified INS about that or not. If not then your EAD is technically not activated and you can request your employer to hold it for a while till you return from India. If yes then technically your H1 is not valid at all.You are not supposed to travle on it or apply for H4 on basis of it.However it is pretty unlikely that US consualate will cross check it if you apply for H4 for your wife but just in case they do you are in trouble so if I were you I would avoid doing that...
As everybody else said your lawyer is the best advisor so let us know the outcome of your meeting.HOWEVER we all are sure about one thing that you must get married before your approval and that too registered not in a traditional way....
Good luck !
 
I had gone through the same problem. I filed my I-485 October 2001 and I got married in July 2002. Even in my case my employer forced me to transfer on to EAD. But, in my case I requested the employer to not cancel my H1. Since I had a valid H1 visa till Jan 03. I went and got married and came back. And filed for her I-485.

I did quite a bit research on this issue. There are some typical cases posted by Murthy at http://www.murthy.com/UDmar485.html

My suggestion would be just make sure before you travel, your employer didnt cancel your H1. You also have to take a sponsor letter from the employer to apply for her H4 in India.

Hopefully you will have better picture after your appt with lawyer.

Wish you good luck.
 
Thanks gcSaiRam

I am going to meet an attorney about my issue tomorrow.
Unfortunatly I did not think about this situation when my EAD was activated. The main question in my case is wheather my H1 is still alive or died.

Thanks for your comments.
 
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