Married US Citizen, left country, then entered on J1

[pnr20]

Hi,

I married my wife (US Citizen) in summer 2015 in the US (I was on F1) and then we both immediately moved to the UK on Tier-2 visas. In 2016, I had the opportunity to come to the US for a 1-year program (J1) and I took the visa in good faith instead of applying for Green Card, since we believed, at the time, that we will return to the UK after the year. So I am now in the US on J1, and our plans have changed and we want to stay here in the US. What are our options? Can I simply apply for a green card using I-130, I-485 etc. etc. ?

Thanks!

[inadmissible]

Yes, IF your J-1 is not subject to the two year home residency requirement

[pnr20]

Yes, IF your J-1 is not subject to the two year home residency requirement

Thankfully I am not subject to the 2-year rule. I have confirmed this from my visa, my DS-2019, the immigration officer at my university and an immigration lawyer.

Is there anywhere in my application where I should clarify that our plans changed?

I was offered the 1-year position at Princeton at rather the last minute in 2016, so I didn't have enough time to do the whole green card application timeline and chose the J1. At any rate, the plan (at the time) was to return to the UK after the year (fall 2017). Otherwise I would never have applied for J-1, and directly used the green card route. Our plans are now different, hence the GC application.

Thanks for your advice!

[inadmissible]

I don't anticipate that you will face any issues. adjustment of status was crafted by congress for people in your situation