elh12

Hi all,
I've seen a good deal of information on this site so far about this, but my situation is slightly different so I just wanted to confirm a few things. I'm an American citizen, and I'm going to marry a girl from the UK. Right now, she is on a J1 scholar visa, that ends on October 31, 2011. It does not have the 2 year residency requirement.

We are going to go to the Justice of Peace to get married so we can get the marriage certificate as soon as possible. She would like to continue working after her contract is up, so I'm assuming that it would be best to submit the I-485 and I-765 forms as soon as possible.

Is there anything else that I'm missing that we would need to take care of? From what I understand, my future wife will be able to stay in the US while all this paperwork is being processed. So as long as she doesn't leave, there shouldn't be a problem, from what I understand.

Thanks,
Eric

Noorah101

Hi Eric, Welcome to BE.

Sounds like you're on the right track. It takes about 90 days to get the Employment Authorization Document (EAD) in hand after filing Adjustment of Status (AOS), so she might not have it in time to make an immediate transition in her work. She might have to take some time off work between the time her J-1 contract ends and the time she has EAD in hand. But, you are right, better to do it sooner than later!

I'm moving your post to the Marriage-Based forum, since your questions will be dealing with her AOS after marriage.

Rene
Moderator

Noorah101

Make sure you do all your research on Adjustment of Status from a non-immigrant visa. There are more forms than the 2 you listed that need to be in the AOS package, plus she'll need a full medical exam done (the sealed envelope with the results needs to go in the AOS package).

Rene

elh12

Thanks for the extra information. I found the additional forms (I-130, I-131, I-864, G-325A) that need to be filled out.

One potential problem is that she doesn't have her birth certificate. She was originally born in Kuwait, and then moved to the UK at a young age. The certificate was lost by a doctor, so is there anything else that can be used in place of that? Perhaps some naturalization documents or some school records from the UK?

Noorah101

You'll have to read the I-130 and I-485 instructions to see if there's anything in there about using other documentation in lieu of a birth certificate. I believe it can be done, but you'll have to read the instructions for the exact details.

Rene

S Folinsky

Why would a doctor have had the birth certificate. That said, the Department of State has clear instructions on what to do found at this link.

Noorah101

I just re-read this post. In place of an unavailable birth certificate, Mr. F is right, you'll have to see what to do according to the Reciprocity Table at the Dept of State website he linked.

UK naturalization or UK school records, or any other document from the UK probably won't be proof of her birth in Kuwait (at least I wouldn't think so). Maybe she should check with her parents to see what they used for birth certificate (or something in lieu of it) when they immigrated to the UK.

Rene

Moonshadow_Girl

If she has a J-1, what did she use for a birth certificate during that process?

elh12

Thanks. I'll check that link.

elh12

When she applied for the visa it said she could use a birth certificate, and the visa said if it wasn't available, she could use a nationalization document. And on her nationalization document it states her DOB, country of birth (Kuwait), and date of nationalization (British citizenship).