Info on changing status from H1(240 day grace period) to K Visa

[rishabh.o]

Here is our situation, any advice will be helpful -

1 - Arrived to US from India on H1b Visa in Oct 2014. Since then went through 2 successful extensions in March 2015 and March 2016.
2 - The previous extension was from March 2016- March 2019
3 - My employer filed for extension this year in March. It resulted in a RFE in June, to which me and my employer responded in the same month.
4 - Since March 6th 2019 I am on 240 grace period which ends Nov 6th.
5 - Upon not hearing from USCIS for 6 months on the extension petition I requested my employer to convert the petition from regular to premium in September this year.
6 - The premium processing result came on Sept 25th on USCIS website which state my I-129 petition is denied and we are waiting to receive the notice in mail with the denial reason.

My partner (US Citizen) and I are engaged and now in a situation where we have time only till Nov 6th. We are wondering what would be the process while we both are in the US to adjust to a fiancee visa. Given our situation with me being in 240 day grace period we dont know what's best, any advice will be helpful.

[scientist2016]

The more straight forward path would be to get married and file for AOS. It does not matter if you are out of status, since you are in the immediate relative of a US citizen category. So you do not have a "Nov 6 deadline". A K visa is for someone outside the US to come to the US to get married (virtually immediately) and file for AOS. It does not pertain to your current situation.

[Mike E]

There is no such thing as adjusting to a K-1 visa.

If you want a K-1 visa you have to leave the USA. K-1 visas are only issued at consular offices. If you go that route it will about two years before you can work in the USA again.

Your best option is to get married now and file an I-130 and I-485, as well as the forms for the EAD and AP. Get a lawyer for all this so that you follow the correct steps to avoid being considered out of status. And because it might look like green card marriage fraud the lawyer can advise you on how to show the marriage is bonafide.

Get married only where you can get your marriage cert in less than a week. LA county is taking 3 months. Vegas is same day. Santa Clara County is 48 hours. And those places don’t care if you are an alien or not. Some states and counties do. Know the rules before you pick a county to get married.