Rete

Have your AOS interview and be approved after your second wedding anniversary.

BritishGuy36

Is this common? It doesn't seem to me that it would be likely to take this long, at least not at the moment.

ian-mstm

This was *exactly* my circumstance! I arrived on a K-1 and did not adjust status until after our 2-year wedding anniversary. The practical upshot... I got a 10-year GC without first having a 2-year GC. The deciding factor is *when* you adjust status... nothing else.


Yes, it happens all the time... especially if you have a common name, or come from a part of the world with which the US has issues!


All things being equal... it shouldn't take that long. But, as you well know... all things are not equal.

Ian

BritishGuy36

So can you get EAD without starting AOS? Otherwise it seems you are in no man's land...can't work, can't travel abroad...can't really do much except exist.

ian-mstm

What? No... of course not! I applied for AOS, EAD, and AP at the same time. I renewed EAD and AP three times before my AOS was approved.

Ian

BritishGuy36

That's what I figured. So unless one doesn't need to work, you need to apply for AOS immediately. And these days, AOS doesn't take all that long, so a 2-year conditional card would be the result. Yes?

meauxna

You have to get married within 90 days, correct?
To qualify for the K-1 adjustment, yes. But there are other ways.

Then adjust status (another few months)?
In 2003 it wasn't at all uncommon for AOS to take up to 3 years.

And on a K1 you can only get a 2-year conditional card.
Some say that is how the law is written, but it's not always practiced that way.

BritishGuy36

Ouch......

Noorah101

You can enter on a K-1, get married, and then your AOS can take so long that you will have been married 2+ years at the time of your AOS interview. At that point, you get a 10-year green card, because your marriage is 2+ years old. This is especially true of people who get stuck in security checks/name checks, and especially true back when AOS was taking 2 years to adjudicate. Just back in 2004, my husband (who entered on a K-1), had to wait 14 months for his AOS interview. Wasn't long enough to get him the 10-year card, but it could have been, if he had gone through lengthy security checks.

Rene

meauxna

The purpose of the K-1 Fiance visa is to bring the foreign fiance(e) to the US for the purpose of marrying the petitioning US citizen.
Not for working, not for studying, not for to-ing and fro-ing across the border but for living here temporarily while Adjusting Status to Permanent Residency.

All AOS applicants can apply for an EAD to tide them over while waiting for their AOS to complete.

Noorah101

No, you have to file AOS first. Along with that comes the EAD (work permission) and the AP (travel permission), which are renewable every year until you get your green card. My husband had just received his 2nd EAD when he got the notice for his AOS interview.

Rene

Noorah101

These days, that's true...AOS rarely takes that long right now. But you never know when that will change again, and end up taking 2+ years again.

Rene

BritishGuy36

Thanks for confirming my point. If you want to do anything useful, you need to adjust. And these days, it aint taking 2 years. That was what I was trying to clarify.