Joe M.

Background:
My fiance and I first met 6 years ago while attending the same
university here in the US. At that time she was in school with a
student visa. Since then she graduated with a B.S in Finance from an
American University and was sponsored by a company for her H1B.

3 years later, she renewed her H1B through her company while awaiting
her labor certification for her green card. Her first application for
labor certification was denied. She reapplied immediately. A year
later, we decided to get engaged.

Recently, we received notice that she was denied AGAIN for her labor
certification. She now has 1 month to rebut it and 1 year left before
her 6 year H1B expires.

We we're planning on getting married next year, but now we might have
to change our plans.

I have a general idea of what we have to do after we get married in
order for me to sponser her, but I'm a bit concerned about how this
will look to immigration.

Questions:
Will the 2 denied labor certification attempts affect our chances of
getting approved?

Also, if we need to get married immediately (I read it's best to get
married 180days prior to h1 expiration), we'll need to get married in
court. Does a court marriage verses a religious marriage influence
our approval?

I apologize for the ignorant questions. I didn't think that she would
get denied twice and now we're a bit worried about her chances of
staying in the US (even with marriage).

Thanks for the help.

Shannon

Hi, I don't have answers to many of your questions but a court wedding is just as good as a religious wedding for AOS purposes.

Personally, I would doubt that the two prior refusals of another application would prejudice your AOS if you have evidence of a valid relationship (I have read about people with really terrible histories with INS getting approved for AOS).

Regarding the marriage, it makes sense to explain that while you had planned to marry in the future, the rejection of the green card process forced you to speed up your plans to avoid a seperation.

On what basis was the labor certification denied?

Shannon

Mrtravel

"Joe M." wrote:
    >

    > We we're planning on getting married next year, but now we might have
    > to change our plans.

If her H1B is valid for another year, why would you need to rush the
marriage due to the GC Labor Cert denial?
    >
    > I have a general idea of what we have to do after we get married in
    > order for me to sponser her, but I'm a bit concerned about how this
    > will look to immigration.
    >
    > Questions:
    > Will the 2 denied labor certification attempts affect our chances of
    > getting approved?
    >
    > Also, if we need to get married immediately (I read it's best to get
    > married 180days prior to h1 expiration), we'll need to get married in
    > court. Does a court marriage verses a religious marriage influence
    > our approval?

the location isn't going to be an issue, and it isn't going to matter to
INS if you marry now or next year.
    >
    > I apologize for the ignorant questions. I didn't think that she would
    > get denied twice and now we're a bit worried about her chances of
    > staying in the US (even with marriage).

The labor certification has no bearing on the spouse's adjustment of
status,
This assumes you have the normal proof of a valid relationship/marriage.

Mrtravel

Shannon wrote:
    >
    > Hi
    > Regarding the marriage, it makes sense to explain that while you had
    > planned to marry in the future, the rejection of the green card process
    > forced you to speed up your plans to avoid a seperation.

If the H1 is good for another year, there really is no need to get
married right away for immigration reasons. They aren't going to be
separated if they wait to get married while her visa is still valid.