F1 to H4 (Visa stamping vs COS)

[frozen_angel]

Hello, 
I am from India, currently on H1B visa in the US (I-140 filed and approved). My fiancee is from Poland. She came to the US in 2014 on J1 Visa and in 2016 we changed her status to F1. We moved in together in 2016 (in a relationship from 2015) and have been living together from then. Now we are ready to take the next big step and get married. We are planning to do a simple court marriage in November with just two us and 2-3 close friends.

With the research I did online I was able to find out that there are two ways to get her H4.
1. Visa stamping in Poland (preferred by us personally): After marriage during Christmas we go to Poland which will allow us to spend some time with her family and take an H4 Visa appointment there.
2. I-539 Change of Status (convenient): After the marriage, we can file for the change of status from F1 to H4 just like we did from F1 to J1 earlier with the required paperwork.

We have the following questions:
1. Is option 1 feasible or am I missing some legal details?
2. Which one is the more preferred way to do this or is it a personal preference. One of my concern is that if we do visa stamping in Poland and for some reason, it gets denied then she will have no way to come back to the US since she doesn't have F1 visa stamp on her passport. With the change of status, we have a safety net of remaining in the US on F1 till our green card gets done. 
3. For H4 do we need to show proof of relationship which leads to marriage or just proof of marriage? If we need proof of relationship, our relationship existed way before we filed for J1 to F1. Should we show proof of that in our application since the F1 visa is non-immigrant and a relationship might be seen as an intent?

Please advice. 

Thanks.

[pontevecchio]

1. If you are absolutely sure of your credentials and you work for a known company, you "may" get the H1 visa in Poland . Contact the Embassy and ask them if they will stamp your H1. Look up their web site . They do encourage people to apply in their own country though any body legally present in Poland may apply.

2. See 1. A COS will take quite a few months as opposed to the visa .

3. Proof of Marriage and proof of your valid H1 status.

Run your idea by your company HR/ Your supervisor about getting a visa stamp in Poland.

 

I would suggest getting your H1 visa stamped in Canada AS A FIRST STEP.

[frozen_angel]

Thanks for reply @pontevecchio

I already have H1B visa stamped on my passport. We are planning to do a court marriage here and go to Poland for Christmas and get her H4 stamped there. The only visa stamping which we will need on Poland will be her H4. 

Also, when we sign our marriage certificate we will be changing her name. We will not have sufficient time to change her name on her passport here (Poland passport name changes takes 4 months). Now when we apply for H4 we will apply with new name whereas the passport will be in old name.

Is this possible to do or will it cause issues?

Thanks. 

[pontevecchio]

It should not cause any issues. You do realize there is no harm in retaining the maiden name? What's in a Name?

[frozen_angel]

I don't care but she wants to change it :/ The world we are living in now!

[pontevecchio]

What has this got to do with the world we are living in?  You can have her take any name she wants as permissible at the ceremony.

[frozen_angel]

On 10/29/2017 at 7:49 AM, pontevecchio said:

What has this got to do with the world we are living in?  You can have her take any name she wants as permissible at the ceremony.

Just the process of name change.

 

Will it be possible to do the following:

1. Get married here in US and then get the marriage certificate (the name on it will be new surname)

2. Go to Poland with the passport which has old surname. 

3. Attend visa interview there to get H4 stamped and while filing DS-160 we specify the new name.

4. Get the H4 stamp with new surname on passport which has old surname

5. Travel back to US on the basis of above documents?

 

Will this be possible to do ? 

 

Thanks. 

[pontevecchio]

1. Possible

2. Yes

3. Yes

4. Yes. Check polish law and get a passport with the married name if possible.

5. Yes