Zenith Blue

Sorry I should have updated this thread ages ago. The extension came through in the end with no problems, although it was about 5 days after my original stay expired, it was backdated to cover that time. I'm now back in the UK applying for an F1 visa to go to school, which may or may not be successful, I'll know one way or the other after my interview on Wednesday.

As far as the taxes thing goes, while I note the point, to be honest the tax implications of being married versus not being married are not really high on our list of considerations for getting married. And that's probably not the biggest disadvantage of using the b2 visa by a long way.

Zenith Blue

So another update. I went to the embassy on wednesday to have my interview for an F1 visa, to do a 2 year associate degree in San Jose. My first interview, where they check your paperwork and take your finger prints, went really well, since the girl was from San Jose. She gave me restaurant tips The second interview was pretty scary, the embassy guy was genuinely quite mean. He asked me about the situation with my OH, what he plans to do when his H1B expires, if there were any problems in our relationship, why I wanted to do an associate degree and not a full degree and what my plans were when I was finished. I really thought by his tone he was going to turn me down, but ultimately he says 'do you know your rights as a student in the US?' hands me a leaflet and says have a great trip! I was in there three hours total, and the place was rammed full of people, literally there weren't enough chairs.

So now I'm waiting for them to post the passport etc back to me again, and then I'll be heading back to California to go to school.

It goes to show, having an extension, or indeed having had a b2 visa, or having spent the majority of the last 18 months in the country, are not necessarily barriers to obtaining a student visa.

Another thing worth noting - I had to get a passport, as mine is due to expire in September. I had to put my old passport number on the visa application, because I hadn't received the new one at that point. I got the new one the day before, on a one day appointment at the Newport passport office, who were truly lovely, and so helpful. When I reported to my first appointment at the embassy, I explained this, showed I had the old and new passports, and they were fine, she just added the new details on the computer and hand wrote it on the top of my ds-160 receipt. No hassle at all.

So now I'm starting a new chapter, getting ready to go back to education after more than 10 years out of it. I can't wait!!

ian-mstm

Congratulations. For me it was 20 years between the end of my Bachelor's degree and the beginning of my Master's degree! You'll be fine! There are lots of non-traditional students at school these days!

Ian