H1B (Indian) getting married to F1 (Polish) in India

[frozen_angel]

Hello,
I am an H1B Visa holder (Indian). My I-140 got approved a few weeks back and now according to the lawyers, we need to wait for the priority date. 

I have been in a relationship with a Polish citizen who came to the US on J1 Visa initially and last year did a Change of Status to get an F1 VISA. Currently, she is on F1 VISA pursuing her degree. As of now, she does not have an F1 VISA stamped on her passport and just the change of the status. So if she leaves the country she will need to take a visa interview and get the F1 visa stamped. 

Now we are planning to get married in March 2018 but the visa issue seems to be pretty complex since we both are from different countries and present in the US on different visas. We are planning to have our wedding ceremony in India and have few questions about visa regulations. Any help will be appreciated.

1. If we go to India in Feb she will be taking off in middle of a school quarter and will possibly end up not attending a quarter which will void her F1 visa. Is this correct? 
2. Once we go to India and get married. I have to get my H1B stamped in India (I don't have a stamp as of now). What visa will she need to apply for?
3. Can she apply it in India or she has to apply it in her home country Poland? 
4. Will leaving school in the middle of a quarter be considered as a negative impact on maintaining F1 visa status and can it affect the chances of getting another visa like H4? 
5. Since we are from different countries and on different visa status where should we get our marriage registered?

Thanks.

[shekar11#]

7 hours ago, frozen_angel said:

Hello,
I am an H1B Visa holder (Indian). My I-140 got approved a few weeks back and now according to the lawyers, we need to wait for the priority date. 

I have been in a relationship with a Polish citizen who came to the US on J1 Visa initially and last year did a Change of Status to get an F1 VISA. Currently, she is on F1 VISA pursuing her degree. As of now, she does not have an F1 VISA stamped on her passport and just the change of the status. So if she leaves the country she will need to take a visa interview and get the F1 visa stamped. 

Now we are planning to get married in March 2018 but the visa issue seems to be pretty complex since we both are from different countries and present in the US on different visas. We are planning to have our wedding ceremony in India and have few questions about visa regulations. Any help will be appreciated.

1. If we go to India in Feb she will be taking off in middle of a school quarter and will possibly end up not attending a quarter which will void her F1 visa. Is this correct? 
2. Once we go to India and get married. I have to get my H1B stamped in India (I don't have a stamp as of now). What visa will she need to apply for?
3. Can she apply it in India or she has to apply it in her home country Poland? 
4. Will leaving school in the middle of a quarter be considered as a negative impact on maintaining F1 visa status and can it affect the chances of getting another visa like H4? 
5. Since we are from different countries and on different visa status where should we get our marriage registered?

Thanks.

1. DSO should be able to clarify that question.

2. She can come on H-4.

3. She can apply from India.

4. No impact for H-4 visa.

5. You can register in India. Make sure what paper work is needed before hand to avoid last minute rush.

[frozen_angel]

4 hours ago, shekar11# said:

1. DSO should be able to clarify that question.

2. She can come on H-4.

3. She can apply from India.

4. No impact for H-4 visa.

5. You can register in India. Make sure what paper work is needed before hand to avoid last minute rush.

2

Thanks for your reply @shekar11# 

I just had few more clarification and will appreciate your reply. 

Quote

 

3. She can apply from India.

4. No impact for H-4 visa.

 

1. Once we get married in India and obtain our marriage certificate we will schedule an H4 visa interview for her just like any other Indian citizens or is the process different. I have few friends who got married in India and been through the H4 process and I am planning to ask them about the process. Will our process be the same even if she is from a different country and have been in the US on F1 visa? 

2. I remember from previous visa application for F1 there are questionnaire which asks if you have been to the US before and on what visa and stuff. When we will fill H4 visa I am assuming we will mention about F1. Will the VO poke into leaving the school and F1 status in middle to get married? Our plan is that she will continue the same course just on H4 so that we don't have to international student fee and will also be able to get H4 dependent EAD card.

 

Thanks.

[pontevecchio]

Cross Chargeability may apply to you which will speed up the PD. Hence be proactive and keep a lawyer in the loop, the existing one will do.

[frozen_angel]

Hello @pontevecchio 

Thanks for your reply. Yes, the lawyers have mentioned about it and that once I get married they can file my I-485 with my wife (polish citizen) as dependent and user cross charge on her country. As far as I know, the I-485 process under normal circumstances can take 3-6 months. I am trying to find out how she can come to US just after marriage. Any suggestions ? 

[pontevecchio]

Once you are married in INDIA, have her apply for her H4 visa. In fact the Interview can be arranged before hand for a date after the Marriage. H1 and H4 are dual Intent and she will not have any trouble given a genuine Marriage and your proof of valid H1 status.

Once she is back here the Lawyer can go ahead with cross chargeability and concurrent filing of AOS/EAD/AP for both. AOS can only be done while one is in the USA.

[frozen_angel]

Thanks for reply @pontevecchio.

She can apply for H4 and attend the interview in India itself after marriage or does it have to be done in Poland (her home country).

I also don't have an H1B stamped on my passport as of now and my plan is to get it stamped when we go to India for our wedding. Do you know if we both can attend interviews together or does she has to have an independent interview.

Also when we go to India in Feb end it will be in middle of her college quarter. This will void her F1 status as she will not be enrolled in minimum 12 credits required by the college to maintain status. We are planning to talk about this with the DSO at her college but was wondering will not maintaining F1 status correctly have any affect on getting H4 Visa. Especially, since when we will fill in the form for H4 there will be questions about have you applied or had any visa before etc.