Maintaining F1 status while AOS pending

[leahy]

Good evening everyone!

I've been lurking on this forum but this is my first post. Thanks to everyone for all the insightful advice. I hope you guys can help me as well.

Long story short, I'm currently on F1 status but recently married a USC. We filed concurrently I-130 and I-485 and I just did my biometrics on 2/5. However, because of financial hardship, I need to take a temporary leave of absence from school. I'm aware that by doing so, I won't be able to maintain my F1 status.

What I've gathered from my research is that while the AOS application pending, I don't need to maintain the F1 status in order to stay in the US. Is this still true? I'm a bit nervous about this since there seems to be so much talk in Congress right now about immigration and I'm not sure if anything has changed recently.

Thank you for all your help!

[newacct]

Good evening everyone!

I've been lurking on this forum but this is my first post. Thanks to everyone for all the insightful advice. I hope you guys can help me as well.

Long story short, I'm currently on F1 status but recently married a USC. We filed concurrently I-130 and I-485 and I just did my biometrics on 2/5. However, because of financial hardship, I need to take a temporary leave of absence from school. I'm aware that by doing so, I won't be able to maintain my F1 status.

What I've gathered from my research is that while the AOS application pending, I don't need to maintain the F1 status in order to stay in the US. Is this still true? I'm a bit nervous about this since there seems to be so much talk in Congress right now about immigration and I'm not sure if anything has changed recently.

Thank you for all your help!

Yes, it's always true that while I-485 is pending, you don't need to maintain status. (And furthermore, in your category, you don't even need to main status before filing I-485.)

[Baspill0]

Good evening everyone!

I've been lurking on this forum but this is my first post. Thanks to everyone for all the insightful advice. I hope you guys can help me as well.

Long story short, I'm currently on F1 status but recently married a USC. We filed concurrently I-130 and I-485 and I just did my biometrics on 2/5. However, because of financial hardship, I need to take a temporary leave of absence from school. I'm aware that by doing so, I won't be able to maintain my F1 status.

What I've gathered from my research is that while the AOS application pending, I don't need to maintain the F1 status in order to stay in the US. Is this still true? I'm a bit nervous about this since there seems to be so much talk in Congress right now about immigration and I'm not sure if anything has changed recently.

Thank you for all your help!

I am in the same shoes as you. Except that I filed in October. I spoke with a representative and they said that once you apply for adjustment of status, you gain a status of its own and for that, you do not need to maintain a previous valid status. I did not go to School this semester because of financial hardship. So, I am sitting home waiting for my permit to work.

Good luck!

[leahy]

Yes, it's always true that while I-485 is pending, you don't need to maintain status. (And furthermore, in your category, you don't even need to main status before filing I-485.)

Thank you so much for the insight! I'm feeling much better now

- - - Updated - - -

I am in the same shoes as you. Except that I filed in October. I spoke with a representative and they said that once you apply for adjustment of status, you gain a status of its own and for that, you do not need to maintain a previous valid status. I did not go to School this semester because of financial hardship. So, I am sitting home waiting for my permit to work.

Good luck!

Thank you for sharing! I feel much better about taking the leave of absence. Hope you'll get the work permit soon. And all the best!