I'm dv2009 winner with case #africa 10XXX. I'm married according to our traditional customs. We came here 3 years ago on F-1 visa, on the spring semester this year we were surprised when my wife discovered that she was out of status. On the fall semester (last year) the international student adviser had adviced/authorized her to take 10 credit hours ( this was the last classes remaining before she could join a 4 year college). She applied for reinstatement but to date no communication has come forth. Because of her complicated case being the principal applicant we have decided that I pursue it alone.
This is very strange. Why would the international student advisor adviced her to take less than 12 credit hours and yet your wife is out of status. You are allowed to drop below the full time credit hours as an International student once for the entire length of study. Did she filled out a "Reduced Course Load Request Form" when She was adviced by the advisor? If not, you might want to ask the international advisor why wasn't she given the form. If she did filled out the form then She should not be out of status. The form should have given her authorization to take below the full time credit hours. It also should have been stated in the back of her I-20 that She did that. Understand your rights in as an international student in the U.S.
If she is in progress of getting reinstatement, that means her status is "Reinstatment pending." Her status should be OK as long as she keep taking full time classes after last fall. Keep up with the reinstatement process, it might be long, but if she could get back to her F1 status before your CN become current, you don't need to discard her from the DV process.
One more thing. For an international student who is Out of Status in the U.S, one of the way to get back in Status is to get a new I-20 and leave the U.S, and re-enter the U.S with that new I-20. This would bring her back to the F1 status when She comes back to the U.S. If her F1 visa is still valid, She might want to consider this option. It is risky because there is a possiblity that She will be denied entry but since you are going to go out of the U.S to do CP, it is something to considering.
I will be doing CP and on the form ds 230 part 1, we have decided to fill that my spouse will join me later. Will be required to take a marriage certificate with me even in her absence during the interview? Will I be expected to explain details to the IO as to why she couldn't accompany me?
You will have to make a marriage certificate even when She is not comming to the interview. Whatever you put on your initial application and the DS-230, you have to be able to prove it.
Filling the DS-230 and saying that "my spouse will join me later" means that you still want to include her in the DV process but She will not comming to the U.S with you at the same time. If you want to pursue this by yourself, you can not put your wife name in there. Just say you are married to her (leave 21a and 21b blank).
It will be very suspicious for the conuslar when He/She is interviewing you and your wife is not comming with you. You are married to her, she is in the U.S studying, but you don't want to include her in the DV process. Consider this carefuly. How would you say to the consular why your wife who is studying in the U.S don't want to migrate with you. Either way you choose to include or not to include her, you are risking of exposing your wife case to the consular. The consular might not ask you, but you need to always be ready to explain if the questions about your wife comes up.
During the duration of my study I had an an academic year- off for medical reasons, and I was a round will this jeopardise my case?
I'm yet to send the filled forms back to KCC, should I include a letter explaining this, or 'spouse to follow later to usa' is enough.
I will appreciate your response.
Best regards to all.
You took a medical off for a year or a semester? Did you left the U.S or were you in the U.S during your time off. If you left the U.S, you should have no problem but if you were in the U.S during your time off, it could cause a problem. Check with your international advisor and ask about your SEVIS record. The SEVIS system is made to monitor every international student. If you did something that broke a regulation, it will say in your SEVIS record. You might want to check if you have clean record and no flags on it. My international advisor told me that the only way the Departement of State and the U.S Custom and Border Protection can see if a student follow the regulations or not is through the SEVIS system.
No need for a letter, just filled out the form without saying that your wife will come with you to the U.S. You can not say that your spouse is to folow you at a later date. Remember, the DS-230 is not designed only for the DV applicants, it is also used for everyone who is applying to be an immigrants, regardless of the visa type. In a DV situation, usually when you say in DS-230 that your spouse will join you later means that you and your spouse is processing the immigrant visa in a different place on a seperate time. For example, you do AoS in the U.S while your wife will do CP in the home country on a later date after you finished with the AoS.
Think carefuly before sending the forms. I can't tell you for sure if your wife case would affect your chance of getting that DV visa.
Good luck!
