Panic stricken - AOS crisis or not crisis?

[Bill & Angel]

Folks, I received conflicting information today from a friend. Up until now, I thought I was okay in terms of schedule, but now I'm worried to the point of feeling sick.

 

Today I was told that the AOS paperwork must be filed before the I-94 expires. I thought that the rule was that we must be married before the I-94 expired (and we were). I thought that in the least, we had until the K1 visa expired before filing the AOS paperwork. The K1 visa expires 6 months from issue date, and the I-94 expires 3 months after arriving to the US.

 

I read the instructions for I-485, and could not find a definitive answer to my concerns.

 

The bottom line is that if the friend is correct, we only have 2 days to get the AOS in the hands of Homeland Security, because the I-94 expires in two days. Does it not matter that we are married? I don't see how it's possible for us to get the AOS forms in their hands, especially since we still haven't seen a civil surgeon (we're awaiting the results of titers testing to see if my wife needs the MMR vaccination).

 

I would really appreciate some help here. My wife is here on a K1, and our son on a K2.

[Randy W]

Folks, I received conflicting information today from a friend. Up until now, I thought I was okay in terms of schedule, but now I'm worried to the point of feeling sick.

 

Today I was told that the AOS paperwork must be filed before the I-94 expires. I thought that the rule was that we must be married before the I-94 expired (and we were). I thought that in the least, we had until the K1 visa expired before filing the AOS paperwork. The K1 visa expires 6 months from issue date, and the I-94 expires 3 months after arriving to the US.

 

I read the instructions for I-485, and could not find a definitive answer to my concerns.

 

The bottom line is that if the friend is correct, we only have 2 days to get the AOS in the hands of Homeland Security, because the I-94 expires in two days. Does it not matter that we are married? I don't see how it's possible for us to get the AOS forms in their hands, especially since we still haven't seen a civil surgeon (we're awaiting the results of titers testing to see if my wife needs the MMR vaccination).

 

I would really appreciate some help here. My wife is here on a K1, and our son on a K2.

 

 

You must USE the K-1 visa before its expiration 6 months after it was issued. You did that. Now it is good for 90 days.

 

You are required to get married in the 90 days. You may file for AOS whenever you get around to it - but after 6 months to a year, you may have to file an I-130 with it to ensure you don't get denied.

 

Bottom line - get the application in, but no 2 day rush job is needed. Many of us have filed after the 90 day K-1 visit expires, with no repercussions.

[Sebastian]

I had worried about this window as well - and when I looked, and looked hard, I could NOT FIND any regulations about durations for when to file the AOS package.

 

Relax.

 

Relax some more.

 

Relax until you can wake up from a good sleep.

 

Then , when you wake up, take a baseball bat to your 'friend's' shins - it will be useful !

[yuehan123]

Agree with what they said.

 

Look at it like this. "Somebody" has 90 days to get married and did, in fact, marry on the 90th day. It's practically impossible to meet your self-imposed deadline.

 

Nothing at all to worry about. More than a few on this site have reportedly filed after the 90 days with a nary a repercussion.

 

Please don't travel anywhere near a border patrol checkpoint after the 90 days until you have the AOS receipt in hand. Think about the I-10 corridor, primarily in the southwest.

[Bill & Angel]

FWIW: I actually called the DOS, and they told me that as long as we're married, that we do not have to worry about not filing the AOS paperwork before the I-94 expires. They warned against the obvious, such as wandering around the border patrol (basically, anywhere that they would check your passport). Other than that, he said just file the AOS paperwork when we could get all the proper documentation together, and we should be fine.

 

I know that this is what most people here have told me, but I wanted to let you all know that it's been confirmed by the State Department.

 

 

Folks, I received conflicting information today from a friend. Up until now, I thought I was okay in terms of schedule, but now I'm worried to the point of feeling sick.

 

Today I was told that the AOS paperwork must be filed before the I-94 expires. I thought that the rule was that we must be married before the I-94 expired (and we were). I thought that in the least, we had until the K1 visa expired before filing the AOS paperwork. The K1 visa expires 6 months from issue date, and the I-94 expires 3 months after arriving to the US.

 

I read the instructions for I-485, and could not find a definitive answer to my concerns.

 

The bottom line is that if the friend is correct, we only have 2 days to get the AOS in the hands of Homeland Security, because the I-94 expires in two days. Does it not matter that we are married? I don't see how it's possible for us to get the AOS forms in their hands, especially since we still haven't seen a civil surgeon (we're awaiting the results of titers testing to see if my wife needs the MMR vaccination).

 

I would really appreciate some help here. My wife is here on a K1, and our son on a K2.