Hi All,
I am a citizen of India currently on H-1 visa and my fiancee is a citizen of Lithuania, presently on her F-1 visa. We are getting married this summer and soon after the wedding, my fiancee intends to apply for change of status from F-1 to H-4 (due to finanical reasons). She also wants to get her last name on passport changed to my last name, and as such, she needs to send the passport back to her country, which is a 4-6 months process.
We have following questions:
1. We will be applying for Change of Status immediately after getting married. My fiancee would then apply for a new passport, with her last name changed. Does that affect her Change of Status in anyway? I mean, her Change of Status will be issued based on her last name ABC and then she will get a new passport with my last name as XYZ. Does the Change of Status still stay valid with her original ABC last name written on it?
2. We understand that only copies of passport pages are required to apply for Change of Status from F-1 to H-4. As such, can she simultaneously apply from Change of Status and also for her Passport Last Name change? This would mean that for 4-6 months immediately following the Change of Status application, she would not be in possession of her original passport since it would be sent back to Lithuania, to get her new passport issued. Is it safe to do so?
3. Can she get her H-4 stamped in Canada after receiving her Change of Status notice AND getting her passport last name changed? We intend to visit India for about 2 weeks after receiving her Change of Status approval and the Consulate in India has an Appointment lead-time of ~ 75 days! As such, getting her Visa stamped in India seems improbable.
And if she can get her visa stamped in Canada, will she have any troubles because by then her last name on Passport won't match with her Change of Status notice? Or would a Marriage Certificate suffice as a proof?
We would highly appreciate someone's reply. Thanks so much in advance for all the help.
I am a citizen of India currently on H-1 visa and my fiancee is a citizen of Lithuania, presently on her F-1 visa. We are getting married this summer and soon after the wedding, my fiancee intends to apply for change of status from F-1 to H-4 (due to finanical reasons). She also wants to get her last name on passport changed to my last name, and as such, she needs to send the passport back to her country, which is a 4-6 months process.
We have following questions:
1. We will be applying for Change of Status immediately after getting married. My fiancee would then apply for a new passport, with her last name changed. Does that affect her Change of Status in anyway? I mean, her Change of Status will be issued based on her last name ABC and then she will get a new passport with my last name as XYZ. Does the Change of Status still stay valid with her original ABC last name written on it?
2. We understand that only copies of passport pages are required to apply for Change of Status from F-1 to H-4. As such, can she simultaneously apply from Change of Status and also for her Passport Last Name change? This would mean that for 4-6 months immediately following the Change of Status application, she would not be in possession of her original passport since it would be sent back to Lithuania, to get her new passport issued. Is it safe to do so?
3. Can she get her H-4 stamped in Canada after receiving her Change of Status notice AND getting her passport last name changed? We intend to visit India for about 2 weeks after receiving her Change of Status approval and the Consulate in India has an Appointment lead-time of ~ 75 days! As such, getting her Visa stamped in India seems improbable.
And if she can get her visa stamped in Canada, will she have any troubles because by then her last name on Passport won't match with her Change of Status notice? Or would a Marriage Certificate suffice as a proof?
We would highly appreciate someone's reply. Thanks so much in advance for all the help.