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**cmn** · 01-07-2004, 12:11 PM

Hi-

I have a GC(~3years) and my fiancee is on F1- We intend to marry soon(next month).

1: I know I can file for her GC but will that
terminate her F1 status and not permit her to
study? What will be her status in the interim? will she still be considered an international student?
2: if the above is true i.e her F1 is terminated and she cannot go to school then-
When we get married should I not file for
her GC and wait on the GC filing till I get my
Citizenship in ~2years- so till then she can
keep her F1 and go to school?

I am a little confused on the above can someone guide me there? we plan to get married next month and I wanted to start the paperwork- but
do not want her MS program to be affected due
to Visa issues-

If I need to wait to file for her GC till I become a citizen I can do that- but am not sure
if it there is some rule that forces us to File as soon as we marry? is there something like that?

Ideal would be that I file for her as soon as we get married and she can go to school and continue with her MS.

Thanks--

**AliBA** · 01-07-2004, 01:56 PM

I'm not a lawyer, so check with one. From what I've read, since you've already got your green card, you cannot marry your fiance and get her a green card very easily. Since she already has an F1, she may have a hard time leaving and coming back to the US after she marries you, because an F1 requires nonimmigrant intent.

**AliBA** · 01-07-2004, 01:58 PM

Just found this on another website:

Marriage after Green Card Approval

If the marriage occurs after the green card is approved, there is then a substantial wait before immigration benefits can be conferred to the spouse. In this event, the new spouse is a family-based (FB) preference relative, falling within category FB 2A. The permanent resident spouse must file an I-130 petition for the foreign national spouse and wait for the priority date to become current to apply for the immigrant visa or adjustment of status. The waiting time for priority date availability in FB 2A has historically been from five to seven years. This continues to be the case, as of October 2003. Therefore, there is an enormous difference between marriage before the I-485 is approved and marriage after its approval for employment-based applicants for the green card.

With respect to marriage timing, one situation we see with alarming frequency is that in which an individual goes abroad to marry while the green card case is pending. S/He is married and returns to the U.S. shortly thereafter to resume his/her job and get things ready for the new spouse. The new spouse remains behind to wrap up personal matters before coming to the U.S. The primary spouse goes through the mail that accumulated during his or her absence and finds an I-485 approval notice that pre-dates the wedding. At that point, there is a serious problem. We urge people to plan ahead to avoid this situation. Of course marriage arrangements and timing are no simple matter, but things must be done well in advance of the date when a decision on the I-485 application is imminent. Given the slow pace of I-485 adjudications, this should be a manageable priority. However, one should not just rely on slow adjudications on the I-485s. A particular service center could always speed up the processing of these cases if they make I-485s a priority.

**Lucy** · 01-07-2004, 03:30 PM

As an F-1 student, I can claim some knowledge in this matter.

SInce you are just a GC holder, and not a citizen, your wife will not be eligible for an immigrant visa right away. From the article above, it it evident that several years will pass from the moment you apply for her immigrant visa (by filing I-130) and until the moment when it is approved and she can finally apply for adjustment of status.

In these years she will have to maintain her F-1 status by enrolling full-time in school. If she leaves the country while I-130 is pending and does not already have a multiple entry F-1 visa, she will not be granted a new F-1 visa, since she proved her intent to immigrate by filing I-130. She will be stuck in her home country until her I-130 is approved. She will not be granted any non-immigrant visa in this case. She may be able to get a work visa (H1), since it has dual intent (non-immigrant and immigrant).

Once you get citizenship, you have to amend your case to expedite it (not sure how it is done, you will find the information on www.uscis.gov), since as soon as you become a citizen, your wife will be immediatly eligible for immigrant visa without any quotas. Please read www.uscis.gov very carefully.

Another way is to wait until you become a citizen (as far as I understand it will take about 3 years from now -- 2 years until you can apply and about a year to go through the interview and tests). Then you can file for her immigrant visa (I-130), concurrently with her application for adjustment of status and work permit. She will not have to maintain her F-1 status after she applies for Adjustment of status. Then, about a year or 1.5 years later, she will get an interview and a green card.

If you are married less then two years by the time of this interview, she will get a conditional GC, and this condition will have to be removed two years later (which involves more paperwork, waiting and waiting). Takes about a year or more.

So, it will be better if you have been married for more than two years by the time she interviews. You can marry at any time, but it's your choice whether you want to file for her GC before you get citizenship or after. If you marry, though, and she needs to leave the country and she doesn't have the visa, she will have trouble getting it.

Any questions?

**cmn** · 01-07-2004, 04:09 PM

Thankyou all- I really appreciate the help to my
querries:

From the answers I understand the best solution
to my case would be-
1: Get married
2: File for her GC now, ammend it to be expedited when I get my citizenship.
3: Filing for her GC will still retain her
F1 status, F1 will remain valid till either she
finishes school or GC comes through.
4: Her F1(multiple) visa has a validity for the next 4 years so as long as she is still in school we should be ok, and she will still continue as F1 till then.

Am I correct in the above? any concerns in doing
the above?

Thanks again-

**malf** · 01-07-2004, 05:41 PM

To Answer your questions cmm,
"1: I know I can file for her GC but will that
terminate her F1 status and not permit her to
study? What will be her status in the interim? will she still be considered an international student?"

If you as a GC holder marries someone with an F1 visa and file I-130 for her, then her status remains F1 (international student) as long as the F1 is valid and she has not adjusted status. Now, if she needs to renew her F1 status/visa then she will most likely not be able to if the ajudicator knows of her marriage to GC holder and/or she has a pending I-130.

"2: if the above is true i.e her F1 is terminated and she cannot go to school then-
When we get married should I not file for
her GC and wait on the GC filing till I get my
Citizenship in ~2years- so till then she can
keep her F1 and go to school?"

Once you marry her, then she will have difficulty getting her F1 extended. Infact, she will also have difficulty reentering the US after travelling outside of the US once the fact that she is married to a GC holder is discovered by the immigration officer. In this case whether she has a pending I-130 or not is irrelevant. Immigrant intent is presumed unless you can show much greater ties to your home country than to the US, which will be difficult in your case. (I had a personal experience in this area).

In summary, there is no advantage to filing I-130 for her before you become a US citizen, since her adjustment of status will depend on your being a citizen. The obvious disadvantage of filing the I-130 before you become a US citizen is that you will have to have it approved (by sending letter along with copy of your Naturalization certificate) to the service center to move the petition from FB2A to FB1 category). This will be slower than filing I-130/I-485 et al at the local office. Once married, then your wife will have trouble extending her F1 and travelling outside of the US.

**Lucy** · 01-08-2004, 10:04 AM

Malf is right.

I do have a comment. If you are simply married, she will not have a problem extending her F-1 status while she is in the States, but she will have problems if she leaves the country and tries to come back.
As a matter of fact, BCIS recommends that an F-1 student maintain their F-1 status even when she/he already applied for AOS. Which nobody does anyway, since you get a new status "pending AOS".

I would advise you to get married right before you are eligible to apply for citizenship, since it will give you a couple of years of "married" status. Once you get citizenship, you file I-130 and adjustment of status papers for her (I-485) and about a year later she will interview. If the marriage is more than two years old - she get an unconditional GC. Which is good for both of you.

All Malf's advice about travelling applies in this case. However, your wife will be able to apply for advance parole (travel document) at the same time with adjustment of status, and when she gets it - she will be able to travel home.

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