From visa B2 to J2, is it possible in my situation?

[tina2907]

Hello, Im new to this forum and not a native speaker so please forgive me any mistakes here. Also not sure if i post in right place...

At first let me shortly introduce my situation. Im a Polish citizen, who just got B2 visa. Im planning to do some traveling this summer and have a proper holiday because from October Im starting phd programe back in Poland which I know is going to be lots of work I am visiting and staying in at my very close friend who is in States on J1 visa also doing his phd( he is from China). He was visiting me in Poland before, we had a great time, but for just short amount of time. We also want to spend some time together to see how we get on in a longer term of co-existing in one place

I started to wonder, what if we would decide to get married and stay together? Although Im not assuming it now at all, because we just know each other for a few months. I just wonder what if, because everything is possible in life ;p Can we get married legaly in USA? I know as a spouse i would have to change for J2 visa so I can stay(but not work), is it possible to do it in America or do i have to go back to Poland to do it? How does it look like in general? Is it possible at all? Any advice how to do it the best way? What documents would I need? What's with the 2 years residence thing? Anything? ;p

Really any information would be higly appreciated. Im very curious about it, how it looks like for 2 non-citizens.
Thank you in advance for understaning!

[peace999]

yes, you can get married and change from B2 to J2 inside US. But you must apply for change of status before your B2 stay expires.
B2 stays are max given for 6 months and sometimes shorter 3 months , so you will have that much time only to decide what to do.
Do not under any circumstances overstay ( let your B2 stay expire) . Either leave US before the B2 date or apply for
change of status before the B2 date.

J2 can apply for work authorization ; EAD. And your status will depend on your spouse's J1. When his J1 status goes, yours goes also.
2 yr residency requirement varies with different J1 circumstances. You have to look at the visa and the IAP 66 or consult your attorney
to make the determination if 2 yr requirement is applicable.

[tina2907]

Im very sorry

Hello, thank You very much for Your answer!

However I just got to know I was kind of missinformed about visa type. It's all about F visa, question was supposed to be about changing from B2 to F2. Im very very sorry.
Does that change anything? Where is better to do it, in my homeland or in the USA?
Thanks

[peace999]

Applications for F2 in home country are frequently denied. So you can do it inside US after you get married. It should be pretty straightforward with
the marriage certificate from US.