olliehm

Not your regular question.


I recently got laid off, I'm in the US on a media visa (been a photographer over here for 4 years) and I got married.

My wife is an american citizen. I need a job....can't sustain myself any longer.


What do I need to do, apply for a green card and then a work permit while I wait for it to be processed


Or... just apply for status change on my visa????



help please

Just Jenney

Since you are married to a USC, you should apply to adjust your status to permanent resident. Look up in the Wiki for how to do this, the forms you'll need, etc. That's probably the easiest way for you to stay here and get a work permit (EAD).

~ Jenney

Rete

As Jenney said, you need to apply to adjust your status to a permanent resident based upon your marriage to a USC.

When you file the petitions you also include the form I-765 for an EAD which takes approximately 90 days to receive. Then you are free to accept employment.

ian-mstm

It's possible that your visa became invalid the day you were laid off... so you'll want to keep track of the time from when that happened to when you file for adjustment and it is accepted. You don't want to let any possible overstay get past 180 days!

Ian

olliehm

Isn't it all made invalid anyway by me being married though? Or is that not the case?

Where is this wiki? I looked but couldn't find anything on it?

Which forms do I need to fill out I 485? What else?

Thanks again for your help.

Noorah101

Here's the Wiki link: http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Adjustment_of_Status

The AOS package includes:
I-130
I-485
G-325A
I-864
I-765
I-131
Full Medical

All forms and instructions can be found at www.uscis.gov, Immigration Forms.

Rene

Noorah101

No, just the fact of you being married to a USC did not invalidate your visa or status in the USA.

Rene

olliehm

Awesome somehow I missed the giant WIKI link at the top
Thanks for the links.



That's a ton of forms. UGH


May just hire an attorney to do this. Man they like to make things more difficult than they need to be...


As I only have just enough to pay for all this without an attorney, does anybody know if an attorney will pay for the whole thing, and then I can pay them in installments. Wishful thinking I'm sure.

Cheers again.

Noorah101

It's a lot of forms, but also a lot of the info is repeated. If you just take it one form at a time, be patient and attentive to details, you can do it.

Of course you can turn it all over to an attorney as well...but they will probably ask you to hand-complete the forms anyway, so they will have something to go by when they type them up. So it doesn't make your work a heck of a lot easier.

Most attorneys (I think) will let you pay their fee in installments, but I haven't yet seen one who will lump the Filing Fees in with that. The Filing Fees are usually separate. Filing fees for AOS are currently:

I-130 = $355
I-485 + supporting docs (including biometrics) = $1,010

Total = $1,365

Plus the cost of a full medical....a few hundred dollars, probably. Must be done by an approved USCIS doctor. You can find one in your area at www.uscis.gov.

Rene

jeffreyhy

ohm,

Who do you think is going to provide the attorney with all of the information that needs to be put on the forms? You're not going to escape the work!

You will hopefully escape making mistakes, but that may depend on how diligent you are in selecting an attorney.

Regards, JEff

olliehm

Awesome I may just try and tackle this with the misses then.

Only thing I'm stuck on is, how do I obtain a police record for myself. I have no criminal background and they did a background check when I obtained my "I" visa, so do I need to provide that again?

Apparently the Criminal Justice Bureau don't hand out reports for inderviduals.

Only thing I'm stumped on here.

Noorah101

You don't need a police certificate when doing AOS. USCIS will take your fingerprints and do their own security check on you.

Rene

olliehm

Hmm I don't quite understand the wiki, do I only need to supply information about a criminal record if I have one, and If I don't I don't need to supply anything?

Noorah101

See my post above, lol.

olliehm

Nice and quick again, thank you!

Well here goes nothing.