Noorah101

This reminded me of my mom, back when I was 18 and had decided to move in with my college boyfriend. She was not happy about it. When he and I decided to get married 4 months later, she was visibly relieved! LOL

Rene

Maste

Maybe we might head the same way!

Maste

We are up in Chicago for the weekend. I spoke to them both together, then we all sat and spoke.

They see why we want to for the love side and emotional side, but obviously financially they want to know more. They want us to send them details of how much the visa costs, and potential earnings income from us being married and me working vs me being on a student visa and only working part time. So we will make a spreadsheet of potential income etc.

Also, would I potentially be able to qualify for in state tuition rates?

Does anyone have any info on costs etc that we will incur? I want to make this as in depth as possible, and pursaude them into it!

Noorah101

There won't actually be a visa involved.

For costs, go to www.uscis.gov and look up the fees for I-130, I-485 and biometrics (on the I-485 page). There will be the cost of a full medical exam. There is a list of doctors by zip code on the website, you can call around for quotes.

The cost of the wedding is up to you. Google marriage in your city or county, see if there's a fee for the marriage licence, justice of the peace, etc.... and then of course how fancy you want it is up to you.

Rene

Noorah101

Once you have your green card you might qualify for in- state tuition. Check with the school.

Rene

tom169

Tip for USCIS medical: your insurance may cover it. Also, if you have a HSA you can use that.

notaclue

Your pay two cheques, one for $85 (Biometric fee I-485) and the other was around $1400 for all the other forms together. The other cost is $250-300 for your medical, this is set by the place you use. It's not a big deal.

You can qualify for in state as soon as you send your application, most colleges are easy about this and may do it sooner. I actually changed my address whilst as an F1 and it automatically changed my rate to in-state so kept my mouth shut. Make sure you apply for scholarships too.

We had a JP do our wedding for $75. We told them strictly that it was a paperwork exercise only and that we wanted to do the real thing at a later date. Marriage license was small change in Kentucky.

As Noorah stated, this is not a visa you are applying for. You are adjusting status to permanent resident. You send these forms in one envelope then sit back and wait. Once you have sent them and receive a NOA (Notice of action - You should receive four of them) then you can use the case numbers and create a myUSCIS account online and monitor your application. It emails you/texts you whenever something is updated.

Noorah101

I suggest doing two checks, but in this way...

One for the I-130 fee
One for the I-485 plus biometrics fee

That way, it's one check per application.

Rene

tom169

Although my I-485 online case status broke and so did my (now) wife's I-129F.

Maste

Sorry, adjustment rather than visa I guess! We initially would do a quick courthouse wedding, then eventually have an unofficially ceremony/celebration with everyone!

Oh yes, that'd be awesome and useless, less than half what I pay now!

Awesome, thanks both of you!

So far, it's the cost of the marriage license and getting married, the cost of AOS and the cost of medical. Are there any other fees/costs I've missed out?

Her parents want to see and understand just how much better of financially we would actually be. It makes sense, I guess they want to see some logic and reason behind our thinking and that it's not spur of the moment, young hearts thing. They want to see we have done our research into it all etc, as it is a big commitment. It's only fair I guess, that they want to know all of this stuff before giving us their full blessing to go ahead!

Any other advice? Thanks guys!

Rete

I have to ask but I assumed you were in your late 20's early 30's. Are you both just out of your teens?

Her parents seem to be quite controlling. Are you ready for their interference in your lives so early on?

Noorah101

Not to my knowledge, but put in a buffer for incidentals, just in case (photocopies, mailing out the AOS packet, obtaining any docs from the UK you might need such as long form birth certificate, etc.).

Even without showing dollar figures, it would make sense that your financial situation will be better off with you having the ability to work part to full time, for any employer, without the restrictions on work that an F-1 visa brings.

You've been together a couple of years, and are currently living together. I'd hardly call that "spur of the moment".

Rene

Maste

Mid 20's! They're honestly not that controlling, I think they just want assurance we are doing the right thing, as this has never been mentioned before, then all of a sudden we bring it up! Probably caught them a little off guard.

My girlfriend and I know it makes more sense from financial perspective etc, but my girlfriend's parents don't know anything about visas and immigration etc. They don't understand how restrictive my current visa is, and how much more freedom marrying would give me and us as a couple. We played the financial side a lot, because that's the main reason to get married sooner than we would like. So now they just want us to help them understand my visa restrictions and why we would be better off if we married and I could work anywhere I wanted.

I think we might have caught them a little off guard too, as no such thing has ever been mentioned before, then we came out with it yesterday! lol

notaclue

One thing I would emphasize to them is they will not be out any money financially, they are sponsoring you *should* you become a burden on the public purse. Remind them that after a couple of months you will be able to work full time and bring in money yourself - That may ease them somewhat in being your sponsor.

Maste

I think you've probably just hit the nail on the head actually, maybe they're worried I'll become a financial burden and my girlfriend/them will become liable for me, per se. That's probably why they want more info from us on the financial side of things.

My girlfriends income is enough to be my sponsor, so I feel maybe that's the concern, that they don't want their daughter to become liable and want to know more about that stuff. Understandable of course!

Good point