US Citizen married to an F1 student. Q relates to intent.

D

diavon

Registered Users (C)
Ok here is the time line.

1) March 2006 - I brought my girlfriend here on F1 visa. At the time, I was a LPR.

2) August 2008 - I became a US Citizen.

3) September 2008 - We got married.

During the 2.5 years she has been here, we have pretty much lived together except for a few months in the beginning. She has maintained her F1 status, changing schools two times (as I moved around). Also she went for a trip abroad in late 2006 for about three months.

At this time, what is the best way to apply for her permanent residency? My primary concern relates to her intent when she initially came to the US. If I look back now I think it was ambivalent. She wanted to come to the US to experience life in another country and could have just as easily gone back. But I am sure we both thought that we could possibly get married someday.

Any suggestions.
 
diavon said:
Ok here is the time line.

1) March 2006 - I brought my girlfriend here on F1 visa. At the time, I was a LPR.

2) August 2008 - I became a US Citizen.

3) September 2008 - We got married.

During the 2.5 years she has been here, we have pretty much lived together except for a few months in the beginning. She has maintained her F1 status, changing schools two times (as I moved around). Also she went for a trip abroad in late 2006 for about three months.

At this time, what is the best way to apply for her permanent residency? My primary concern relates to her intent when she initially came to the US. If I look back now I think it was ambivalent. She wanted to come to the US to experience life in another country and could have just as easily gone back. But I am sure we both thought that we could possibly get married someday.

Any suggestions.
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Diavon, there is nothing wrong with your storyline. I am in almost the same position: I met my wife after a Christmas party; she came here on a F-1 student visa with an intent to become a doctor and then we got married.

If you read some of the posted threads with the similar subject, you'll get some good insight how to file the AOS for her. There is nothing wrong with your wife's initial intent; she did not come here illegally and you did not get married immediately after her arrival.

The most important fact you should keep in mind, I think, is that you shouldn't ever mention to an IO that you brought your girlfriend on a F-1 visa here. That's not a good idea. Other than that, file the AOS for her with no worries. The USCIS website has all the necessary info about AOS filing.
I think other more experienced bloggers will agree with me.
 
Thanks zuzkin, did your wife get her Green Card or are you guys still in the process?
 
diavon said:
Thanks zuzkin, did your wife get her Green Card or are you guys still in the process?
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I am waiting for my oath letter and then I'll apply for her AOS. BTW, not sure if you know, but, in case you'd want to, your wife does not have to go to school starting the day you received the confirmation of the AOS submital.
 
TheRealCanadian said:
He didn't. She brought herself to the US - he was not a party to the F-1 at all.
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diavon's comment: "1) March 2006 - I brought my girlfriend here on F1 visa. At the time, I was a LPR."

When applying for an F-1 visa, students have to file the Affidavit of Support (among other documents) and indicate their source of income to finance their studies in US. If diavon was the sponsor then it complicates things; if not it's like you've said. That is my opinion on it, based on my 3 years of experience dealing with F-1 issues.

BTW, that was just a remark and not an advice.
 
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diavon said:
I did not file her AOS. I believe my dad did. :eek:
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If I were you, I'd talk with a good lawyer; just in case. Otherwise, your wife will need a good explanation of why your father has sponsored her to come into this country and then she married you. I don't think it is a problem. I think you'll need a solid explanation for her non-immigrant intent when she's gonna talk with an IO. Remember, she was under the oath when she talked to the embassy official and told him that she does not intent to immigrate to US; just wants to study here.
 
hi,

My situation is similar... I came to the states already engaged with US citizen under student visa since I needed improve my english. I am actually studying and we got married on march 26th 2010 in USA and in April 17th 2010 in my country. I am actually in the process to sending everything to immigration, I already filled the I 485 I130 I131 forms etc...
My concern is that I want to quit school since we already got married and we want to save a bit of money. My husband works but I m not working because students cannot work. I went to my school, and they told me the following: " you cannot quit school, is very risky, you gotta receive first your green card, because immigration doesnt care about what lawyers say; we have had a lot of situations like that and immigration has called us asking for the record of the student's attendance, if you quit school that would be a bad record; SEVIS ( the one who make the I20 forms for students) is very different from immigration and you should listen what we say, because we take care of our students."

When I do really stop school?
I have heard about receive first the receipt from immigration and then stop school. is that true?
is true that immigration can ask for my student report while doing the process of greencard?
which status Ill be once I stop attending school and waiting for my greencard?
I do really appreciate your help... I need an urgent response... thanks
 
joanna29 said:
My situation is similar... I came to the states already engaged with US citizen under student visa since I needed improve my english. I am actually studying and we got married on march 26th 2010 in USA and in April 17th 2010 in my country. I am actually in the process to sending everything to immigration, I already filled the I 485 I130 I131 forms etc...
My concern is that I want to quit school since we already got married and we want to save a bit of money. My husband works but I m not working because students cannot work. I went to my school, and they told me the following: " you cannot quit school, is very risky, you gotta receive first your green card, because immigration doesnt care about what lawyers say; we have had a lot of situations like that and immigration has called us asking for the record of the student's attendance, if you quit school that would be a bad record; SEVIS ( the one who make the I20 forms for students) is very different from immigration and you should listen what we say, because we take care of our students."
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When did you last enter the US? How long have you been attending school? If you've only been attending for less than a year, and then you get married and quit school, that smells of immigration fraud; it appears like the student visa was just a pretense to get into the US so you could immigrate, and it could land you in hot water in the green card interview.

I have heard about receive first the receipt from immigration and then stop school. is that true?
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Technically you can stop attending once you get the I-485 receipt. But as I mentioned above, that can land you in other problems if you've been attending for a short time.
 
When applying for an F-1 visa, students have to file the Affidavit of Support (among other documents) and indicate their source of income to finance their studies in US.
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no, F-1 students are not required to have an affidavit of support. I had personal funds, for example. Then, I had an assistantship.
 
zuzkin said:
If I were you, I'd talk with a good lawyer; just in case. Otherwise, your wife will need a good explanation of why your father has sponsored her to come into this country and then she married you. I don't think it is a problem. I think you'll need a solid explanation for her non-immigrant intent when she's gonna talk with an IO. Remember, she was under the oath when she talked to the embassy official and told him that she does not intent to immigrate to US; just wants to study here.
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since it's been more than two years since she entered the US and about 2 years since they got married, and they still haven't filed for her GC, I think her intent has pretty much been non-immigrant. If she had entered, got married and filed for GC within 90 days - that screams immigrant intent.

Now, I'd file for AOS closer to the second anniversary of their marriage just to make sure she gets an unconditional GC.
 
joanna29 said:
hi,

My situation is similar... I came to the states already engaged with US citizen under student visa since I needed improve my english. I am actually studying and we got married on march 26th 2010 in USA and in April 17th 2010 in my country. I am actually in the process to sending everything to immigration, I already filled the I 485 I130 I131 forms etc...
My concern is that I want to quit school since we already got married and we want to save a bit of money. My husband works but I m not working because students cannot work. I went to my school, and they told me the following: " you cannot quit school, is very risky, you gotta receive first your green card, because immigration doesnt care about what lawyers say; we have had a lot of situations like that and immigration has called us asking for the record of the student's attendance, if you quit school that would be a bad record; SEVIS ( the one who make the I20 forms for students) is very different from immigration and you should listen what we say, because we take care of our students."

When I do really stop school?
I have heard about receive first the receipt from immigration and then stop school. is that true?
is true that immigration can ask for my student report while doing the process of greencard?
which status Ill be once I stop attending school and waiting for my greencard?
I do really appreciate your help... I need an urgent response... thanks
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You say you left the country to get married again in your own country. Did you reenter the country under the student visa?

If you did, then your AOS will be denied because your recent entry was that of a US citizen spouse and not as a F1 student. You must do consular processing instead.
 
hi thanks for your answer...

well my husband flew to my country to proposed me in october 2009. but I already had my student visa on september 17th 2009 to start english school on january of this year, I needed to improved my english. I came to the states on December 2009 and I've been studying since then. on april 14th I traveled back with my husband to celebrate the main wedding in my country and I left school just only for 4 days because of my wedding. In USA we got married on MArch 26th 2010.
why I want to leave school? because we are jjust newly wed.. so instead of keep paying the school I prefer to save that money while my documentation is ready since I am not working.
so what u you think?
 
. I got married here in US but i didnt process the AOS. as per I know, until you process the aos you are still under student visa. I went out under F1 student and I enter as student because I didnt process the I 485 by that time, even though I was married. it¿d any problem withj that?...

what is consular processing?
 
Larry572 said:
If you did, then your AOS will be denied because your recent entry was that of a US citizen spouse and not as a F1 student. You must do consular processing instead.
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For the immigrant intent issue, Immediate Relatives of US citizens are normally given leniency. However, that leniency is for when there are no other adverse factors, and it looks like there may be adverse factors in this case, especially the quitting school so soon.
 
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joanna29 said:
well my husband flew to my country to proposed me in october 2009. but I already had my student visa on september 17th 2009 to start english school on january of this year, I needed to improved my english.
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You only started in January this year? Then you better continue school until you complete a year or complete the program (if the entire program is less than a year), or your case will stink of student visa fraud and USCIS will put you through hell.

If you need to improve your English, the fact that you're trying to live permanently in the US means it's even more important to improve your English. So quitting would look more suspicious. In addition, when you apply for a student visa, you're supposed to already have secured the funding for the first year and show proof of it, so quitting in the first year for money reasons is not acceptable unless you're leaving the US soon after you quit.

You're normally not supposed to enter with an F-1 visa and then file I-485, because F-1 requires nonimmigrant intent. But after you're inside the US they usually don't have a big problem with most F-1 students doing this, as in most cases the F-1 students get married after already studying with the F-1 for years, and they get married to somebody who they did not meet before they started studying.

In your case, you already knew your spouse very well before obtaining the F-1 and got married not long after obtaining the F-1. So the suspicion level will be heightened if you follow through with the I-485 instead of using consular processing. Have you already sent the I-130 and I-485 to USCIS?

what is consular processing?
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Consular processing is when you complete the last stages of the process outside the US, and you interview for the green card at a consulate (most likely the same place you interviewed for your student visa). There is no immigrant intent issue with consular processing.
 
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joanna29 said:
I went out under F1 student and I enter as student because I didnt process the I 485 by that time, even though I was married.
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If the officer at the POE knew you were married to a USC, they almost surely would not have let you enter the US with the F-1 visa.
 
Leaving the US and filing for consular processing in your home country is always a possibility.

Think about the long term consequences of perceived visa fraud.
 
well... thats what I dont understand... if I wanted to get married just only for getting the papers quickly... why I reenter the country under student visa and I am still in school? I got married here in USa since march... and the papers for immigration will be sent next week to immigration... even though I wait for almost 3 months after i get married to start processing my AOS. it does make any sense? but its just I wanted to quit school just after i enter the paperwork to immigration.... since applying for the AOS means that you are quitting your student status....

5 lawyers had told me a totally different thing from you guys.... thank you so much
 
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