Arvada, CO Immigration Law Firms & Lawyers

To become married, you can simply register before the civil registrar in your municipality or go through a religious ceremony. Regardless of which, you should have photographs taken of the occasion. When you later file for your wife's paperwork, an immigration officer will likely wish to see the pictures. If you have a religious ceremony, you should have the official certificate of marriage from the state before filing for your wife. Finally you should ascertain whether she is subject to a two-year foreign residence requirement because of her acceptance of a J-1 visa. That can be ascertained by examining both her visa and her form DS – 2019. If subject, the visa will say "subject to section 212(e) or the DS – 2019 will have checkmarks in the lower left section as to whether she is subject by way of a skills list or governmental financing. Being subject to a two-year foreign residence requirement means that your wife would not be eligible to file for final immigration either in the U. S. or overseas at an American consulate or embassy until she has either been overseas for 2 years or has obtained a waiver of the foreign residence requirement. We note that Peru has an extensive skills list (a listing of those skills that a country designates as wanted back). If she is subject, the first step would probably be to approach Peru’s consulate or Embassy in the U.S. to request a no objection statement to staying in the U.S.  

Your spouse should file an I-130 petition the same time you file the I-485 adjustment of status application. The filing fees are $1490 for the two together. If you file an I-131 application for advance parole, you can travel if it is approved while the adjustment application is being processed. Otherwise, you should stay in the US even after your F1 status expires, until the adjustment is approved.

Separating or getting divorced can greatly effect a marriage based permanent residence process. You should consult with a qualified immigration attorney to understand all of your options.