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  1. #1
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    Oct 2014
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    Question Marriage of a F1 Student to a J1 Au Pair

    I'm an F-1 visa holder. I graduated from my master's in May and currently doing an OPT. Since I'm in a STEM field, I'll extend it for another 19 months next year.

    My girlfriend is a J-1 visa holder without the two-year home residency requirement. She came to the States in May as an au pair and still has a few more months of her program left. The contract with her au pair agency forbids entering new contractual relationships (marriage included) while in the program.

    Now, we want to marry and adjust her status from J-1 to F-2 from within the U.S. so she can quit the au pair program and still be legally allowed to stay with me throughout the duration of the OPT.

    What is the proper timeframe for doing that? My concern is that when we apply for a marriage license or certificate, her au pair agency would get notified, cancel her J-1 visa, and make the whole adjustment of status impossible to go through because she'd be out of status. Any thoughts on the matter?

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Marriage of a F1 Student to a J1 Au Pair

    Who do you believe would contact her sponsoring organization about your marriage license? Is there actually a reason you believe that would happen? You didn't identify your state but, even if we assume that your state requires proof of lawful presence in the U.S. to issue a marriage license, it's difficult to believe that a clerk of the court would have any inclination to identify the program sponsor, let alone contact them with a copy of a marriage license, or that a program sponsor would immediately infer that the J1 visa holder is going to quit.

  3. #3
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    Default Re: Marriage of a F1 Student to a J1 Au Pair

    Hi Mr. Knowitall, thank you for the quick response!

    We are in California. There is no reason why sponsoring organization would be contacted. I just wasn't sure if the counties are connected to some kind of central system of immigration authorities where the information about her sponsor might be stored and it raises a red flag or something. (I honestly have no idea how these things work in real life, so I may very well be overthinking this.)

    So, you're saying her sponsoring organization would be notified only once we file the papers for adjustment of status, right?

    - - - Updated - - -

    It just came to my mind: won't the sponsoring organization get notified when I request a new I-20? I mean, it will have her name on it and all...

  4. #4
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    Default Re: Marriage of a F1 Student to a J1 Au Pair

    Quote Quoting loremipsum
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    It just came to my mind: won't the sponsoring organization get notified when I request a new I-20? I mean, it will have her name on it and all...
    Your I-20 has nothing at all to do with her DS-2019.

  5. #5
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    Oct 2014
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    Default Re: Marriage of a F1 Student to a J1 Au Pair

    Thanks everyone! I'll keep the thread updated in the future with what happens so someone out there might possibly learn something useful if he/she finds himself/herself in a similar situation.

    - - - Updated - - -

    An immigration lawyer with 18 years of experience actually told me a while ago one cannot adjust status during the 30-day grace period after the au pair program ends. I seem to remember her saying something to the tune of: "at that point, your program is complete, your visa has expired, and the grace period is just the federal government's way of tolerating you around here for a little while because you worked your ass off for a year".

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Marriage of a F1 Student to a J1 Au Pair

    If you enter lawfully, you can petition to adjust your status based on marriage to a citizen even if you overstay.

  7. #7

    Default Re: Marriage of a F1 Student to a J1 Au Pair

    Upon completion of a program under a J-1 visa, there is a 30-day grace period available to the visitor to either adjust status or depart the US. If she quits the program or is released otherwise, however, her J-1 status immediately lapses and she must depart the country; no grace period is available if that's the case. Depending on timing and how long you're willing to wait, it may be better to wait until program completion.

    Information about change of status can be found here.

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