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  • Immediate travel abroad after marrying US Citizen

    Hello,

    I am currently F1 visa holder, that graduated with master's degree in May 2016, working full-time on my OPT. My work authorization (through OPT) expires on Jun 12 and I will be relocating to London to continue working for the same company. My fiance (who is US Citizen) and I will be getting married later this month (so 2-3 weeks before my relocation) in New York City.

    Immediately after getting married my fiance will file for green card, work authorization and travel documents for me. My question is - can I travel outside of United States and back while my travel documents are pending? I cannot stay in United States while my travel documents are in making (I need to work - my employer has strict continuity of employment policy) so I will probably not be filling for AOS (unless advised here otherwise). The plan is to get married, for me to relocate to London and come back (relocate back to NYC) once I have work authorization and travel documents issued (my employer is supportive to transfer back to New York).

    I have two questions connected to the situation:

    1. Ideally I would like to visit New York and my fiance once or twice over the period when travel documents and work authorization is pending. Is that even possible? (I don't know if it helps that I am also B2 visa holder until 2020. Can I enter as a tourist to US while my GC, work authorization and travel documents are pending?).

    If travelling into US after relocating to London will not be possible then ok - we can survive those 3-4 months apart until my work authorization and travel documents are issued, although it's not ideal situation (especially that we wanted to look for a new apartment together)

    2. In situation as described above - we get married in US, but then I relocate from US to another country and we don't apply for AOS, can my fiance even file for GC, work authorization and travel documents for me? How are they going to be delivered to her/me? if they are going to be delivered to her - how can I enter US? Does she need to mail them to me to London / bring them to London or is there another way for me to enter once the work authorization and travel documents are issued?

    Thank you very much for all the help in advance!

    Best,
    Pete

  • #2
    Pete,

    Work authorization and travel privileges are applied for in connection with adjustment of status. If you're not adjusting your status in the country, you will not apply for those things. Instead, you would apply for an immigrant visa through the consulate in London. When you first travel to the United States on that immigrant visa, you will be admitted as a permanent resident, and you will already be authorized to work (for yourself, for others, or not work at all if you wish)

    If you applied for adjustment of status after you get married, it will take about 4 months to get Employment Authorization & Advance Parole. You don't have that much time, because you intend to leave. Obtaining an immigrant visa at the consulate abroad will take longer - perhaps a year - but you don't really have a choice if your job comes first

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    • #3
      Originally posted by inadmissible View Post
      Pete,

      Work authorization and travel privileges are applied for in connection with adjustment of status. If you're not adjusting your status in the country, you will not apply for those things. Instead, you would apply for an immigrant visa through the consulate in London. When you first travel to the United States on that immigrant visa, you will be admitted as a permanent resident, and you will already be authorized to work (for yourself, for others, or not work at all if you wish)

      If you applied for adjustment of status after you get married, it will take about 4 months to get Employment Authorization & Advance Parole. You don't have that much time, because you intend to leave. Obtaining an immigrant visa at the consulate abroad will take longer - perhaps a year - but you don't really have a choice if your job comes first
      Understood. Is applying for work authorization, travel privileges and adjustment of status and then leaving US (after having applied inside US) and not coming back until documents are issued an option? Or would me leaving United States after applying for adjustment of status violate the process in any way?

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      • #4
        Your adjustment of status application will be deemed abandoned if you depart the United States before advance parole is approved

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        • #5
          Originally posted by inadmissible View Post
          Your adjustment of status application will be deemed abandoned if you depart the United States before advance parole is approved
          Thank you for the response!

          What about K3/K4 visa? What if I leave to London ,my fiance applies for that K3 visa for me, I enter US on that visa, get married with her in New York City and then return to London for 3 months of work? According to what USCIS site states - K3 visa allows the spouse of US Citizen to enter USA to get married and then leave US without abandoning the Green Card and work authorization applications if I understand correctly what is written on USCIS website.

          Is my assumption correct that this could be a way for me to relocate to London and work there while my i130 is being processed and simultaneously get married in United States and have the GC and work authorization applications processed by USCIS not by US Embassy in foreign country ?

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by Pete_B View Post
            Thank you for the response!

            What about K3/K4 visa? What if I leave to London ,my fiance applies for that K3 visa for me, I enter US on that visa, get married with her in New York City and then return to London for 3 months of work? According to what USCIS site states - K3 visa allows the spouse of US Citizen to enter USA to get married and then leave US without abandoning the Green Card and work authorization applications if I understand correctly what is written on USCIS website.

            Is my assumption correct that this could be a way for me to relocate to London and work there while my i130 is being processed and simultaneously get married in United States and have the GC and work authorization applications processed by USCIS not by US Embassy in foreign country ?
            K-3 is obsolete. You basically can't get it; you would get an immigrant visa instead. If you want to marry in the US and don't do Adjustment of Status and leave and do Consular Processing abroad for an immigrant visa, that's fine. Note that the whole process from I-130 filing to getting an immigrant visa takes around a year.

            This is my personal opinion and is not to be construed as legal advice.

            Comment


            • #7
              ok got it... I also just checked that K3 visa takes around 300 days to be processed (total time of filling for and getting accepted i130, i129 and K3 visa...) so that route wouldn't be in fact faster at all than Consular Processing, even if I managed to get that visa...

              I understand that the whole process when using Consular Processing takes around a year. My question is though - how long does the work authorization and travel documents take to issue when I do consular processing? And can I move to US and work legally only with those documents after they are issued?

              If it is not possible to obtain those documents without AOS - can I file for AOS via consular processing route and stay in London until I get work authorization and travel document and then move to United States and wait there for my immigrant visa to be issued?

              I am just looking for a way to make this a quicker process than a year and not be able to work in London over that time (instead of being unemployed in United States for 3+ months...)

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Pete_B View Post
                ok got it... I also just checked that K3 visa takes around 300 days to be processed (total time of filling for and getting accepted i130, i129 and K3 visa...) so that route wouldn't be in fact faster at all than Consular Processing, even if I managed to get that visa...

                I understand that the whole process when using Consular Processing takes around a year. My question is though - how long does the work authorization and travel documents take to issue when I do consular processing? And can I move to US and work legally only with those documents after they are issued?

                If it is not possible to obtain those documents without AOS - can I file for AOS via consular processing route and stay in London until I get work authorization and travel document and then move to United States and wait there for my immigrant visa to be issued?

                I am just looking for a way to make this a quicker process than a year and not be able to work in London over that time (instead of being unemployed in United States for 3+ months...)
                Work authorization and travel privileges apply to adjustment of status applicants. Adjustment is a process for aliens within the United States, to tide them over until they are granted permanent residency. With consular processing, you wait until you get an immigrant visa, and then you can travel to the United States with all the privileges of a permanent resident (including working, living, and traveling abroad)

                It looks like you have to choose between being unemployed in the United States for 3-4months, or employed but stuck abroad for a year.

                Comment


                • #9
                  got it...

                  I guess last question in the topic in that case. Me being unemployed for 3-4 months would cause sever financial damage to me (and I don't mean by me not earning my salary - I mean that I would lose rights to stock I have been granted by my employer that vests at 1 year of employment, which I will reach beginning of August. Mandatory requirement for that is continuity of employment (not necessarily in US - can be in any office of my employer) The value of the stock that will vest in 5 figures range).

                  Reading USCIS website I have found out that there is a way to obtain Emergency Advance Parole and one of the reasons an applicant might get is "Severe financial loss to company or person" which I think my situation qualifies as.

                  Since there is still 1 month until my work authorization expires maybe if I got a good immigration lawyer, prepared all supporting documentation upfront (so USCIS doesn't request any additional info or documents), then maybe I would be able to obtain such Emergency Advance Parole before June 12... I have seen cases in the Internet describing people getting Emergency Advance Parole in 1 month period even with additional inquiries from USCIS... Without additional inquiry from USCIS the process should be even quicker.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Pete_B View Post
                    ok got it... I also just checked that K3 visa takes around 300 days to be processed (total time of filling for and getting accepted i130, i129 and K3 visa...) so that route wouldn't be in fact faster at all than Consular Processing, even if I managed to get that visa...
                    No. Forget about K-3. You cannot get K-3. And it is not faster. They process the I-129F for K-3 together with the I-130. So the I-129F cannot get approved before the I-130, and once I-130 is approved, the I-129F will be cancelled as you no longer qualify for a K-3.

                    This is my personal opinion and is not to be construed as legal advice.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by newacct View Post
                      No. Forget about K-3. You cannot get K-3. And it is not faster. They process the I-129F for K-3 together with the I-130. So the I-129F cannot get approved before the I-130, and once I-130 is approved, the I-129F will be cancelled as you no longer qualify for a K-3.
                      Understood - what about Emergency Advance Parole (as I inquired in post #9 in this thread). I think that based on my situation (described in that post) I might qualify for that...

                      Comment

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