Questions about Wife's Status and adjustment

[JKFrancisco]

Hi folks, hopefully someone can help me out since this process is difficult to us. My wife came to this country two and a half years ago, not intending to stay. Halfway through her studies she met me and we were married a month ago, before I change to a new job which she will follow me on. We are filing for her green card, but have a few issues we want to check on to make sure she stays legal the whole time.

First off, her F-1 says it is out on May 19th, but she graduates on the 7th - actually, that's her last day of study. We plan to file all the documents to the Chicago lockbox this week after hopefully seeing a lawyer (as I want this to be perfect). We understand that you have 2 months after your F-1 expires (or is it end of study?) to stay in the country to "prepare to depart" and we want to know if that keeps her legal while we wait for receipt of the forms, which we are told can take up to 30 days. Basically, we are afraid that she will be under no status for a period of time despite the documents being mailed as we wait for the receipt.

Second, on the I-130 instruction form, (I'm doing the whole big package at once including advance parole) it asks for a lot of other stuff, like photos and marriage licenses. Are these included with the I-130 or is this stuff for the interview? Do they give these documents back to us at any point in time or do they keep these?

Part of the complexity of our situation is I have moved 2 weeks ahead of her, so we have to correspond back and forth (thanks skype!) until she gets here in 2 weeks. We are so very afraid that we are going to do something wrong here, or she might be out of status for a period leading to her being denied. Any advice on the above questions, or other ways to ensure her application is received properly, would be much appreciated.

Edit: I'd like to add that the 485 sucks. What the hell category is my wife? I'll ask the lawyer/preparer, but damn is this a pain.

[lionofafrica]

questions about wife status

YOU DON'T NEED TO WORRY ABOUT HER BEING OUT OF STATUS SINCE SHE IS MARRIED TO A US CITIZEN( IT WILL BE OVERLOOKED BY USCIS BY VIRTUE OF A BONAFIDE MARRIAGE TO AN AMERICAN).
YOU WILL NEED TO SUBMIT ALL THOSE DOCUMENTS AS REQUIRED BECAUSE IT WILL FORM THE BASIS FOR THE PRELIMINARY REVIEW OF YOUR ELIGIBILITY AND THE VALIDITY OF YOUR MARRIAGE.
LIVING APART FOR 2WEEKS OR EVEN ONE YEAR IS INCONSEQUENTIAL AS LONG AS YOU CAN EXPLAIN SATISFACTORILY TO THE IO/AD( IMMIGRATION OFFICER) WHY THE SEPARATION IS NECESSARY- YOU SAID SHE WAS IN COLLEGE FINISHING HER STUDIES( HOPED THAT THIS IS THE TRUTH NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH).
FROM WHAT YOU HAVE SAID SO FAR THERE APPEARED NOT TO BE ANY PROBLEM OR CONCERNS TO WORRY ABOUT.
YOUR WIFE STATUS WILL COME INTO PLAY IF SHE HAD VIOLATED HER STUDENT VISA, ADJUSTING ON EMPLOYMENT BASED GC OR MISREPRESENTED HERSELF TO USCIS.
YOU WILL ONLY SUBMIT PASSPORT PHOTOGRAGHS FOR NOW AND AT THE INTERVIEW YOU MAY BE REQUIRED TO SHOW OTHER EVIDENCE OF YOUR RELATIONSHIP AT WHICH TIME YOU MAY TENDER OTHER FORMS OF PHOTOGRAGHS. YOU WILL SUBMIT ONLY PHOTOCOPIES OF ALL DOCUMENTS REQUIRED/REQUESTED AND THIS WILL FORMED PART OF YOUR PERMANENT RECORDS, DO NOT SUBMIT ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS( YOU WILL NOT GET THEM BACK) UNLESS REQUESTED BY THE USCIS( ONLY THEN WILL IT BE RETURNED)

LIONOFAFRICA

[JKFrancisco]

Thank you!

No, she is not out of status, and USCIS said she was still legal for 2 months after the F-1 expiration, so we are cool there. I actually just started a job with the government, so I am sure they won't have a problem with that since she arrives here and I have to leave for training shortly after.

We have lots of documentation to prove it is a bona fide relationship, so I think we are ok there

Edit: When I say "moves here" I mean from her college location here in the States, to where I work now. I moved from there last week, and she is following me after her graduation.

[lionofafrica]

moving

Thank you!

No, she is not out of status, and USCIS said she was still legal for 2 months after the F-1 expiration, so we are cool there. I actually just started a job with the government, so I am sure they won't have a problem with that since she arrives here and I have to leave for training shortly after.

We have lots of documentation to prove it is a bona fide relationship, so I think we are ok there

Edit: When I say "moves here" I mean from her college location here in the States, to where I work now. I moved from there last week, and she is following me after her graduation.

Yes when you said move I understood you perfectly,because after college she will need to join her beau( which is you) at your new station-work. This short separation is inconsequential but still keep her college papers and evidence to explain the situation because we humans have different psychological make up, some IO may see themselves as Lord Protector of USA and looking for anything to use to deny the application, some see themselves as a Tin god and would do anything to frustrate you and some are angels there to welcome you to America.

Lionofafrica.

[JKFrancisco]

Thank you again

The process is very daunting, but not as paperwork intensive as I thought. We are doing all 6 forms together (485, 130, 131, medical, travel, EAD) and the worst one is actually the affidavit of support due to this occuring during the changing of my jobs, and tax forms showing a markedly different salary than I earn now.

The only problem I am concerned about is that we haven't filed her name change papers yet. For some reason, when the marriage was completed, he did not issue a name change although we said to. We plan to get it done shortly, but I think we have enough documentation to show that it is a real marriage.

This whole process is a lot scarier going into it than actually doing it, since information is rather sparse on some of the answers. Sites like this provide a lot of comfort!

Cheers