Immigration Site

Hi everyone,

I am a US citizen (actually American and French dual-citizenship), my wife is French, she was a J1 trainee until we filed her AOS package. We have been married for 4 months and filed AOS around a month ago.
We have been dating for almost three years and lived together for more than one year.

We both met in college in France, got the same college degree in France, came here to the US to study for a year, she then got her J1 trainee visa and this is when we decided to get married.

My wife is not that worried about the whole process, but I on the other hand am pretty worried. I am just afraid that for some reason we wont get approved, or that we get a RFE. And I really dont want us to be separated.

I know I shouldnt have to worry since our wedding is bonafide, we have all the evidence etc ... But for some reason, I am still very worried.

Do all of you feel the same way? Am I overreacting?
Do people get denied even though they have a real marriage and all the documents?

We dont have a lawyer for now since people told me it was not absolutely necessary.

Thanks for your help!

I cant assure you that you will be fine, but since you have been worried, has anything positive or negative happened with your case? In short, worrying wont do anything to USCIS, but it will certainly shorten your lifespan by about 8 years. If you have solid evidence, dating for 3 years, and have joint documentation, I dont see why they will deny you. If she is denied, both of you can move to France, what is the problem here?

We both met in college in France, got the same college degree in France, came here to the US to study for a year, she then got her J1 trainee visa and this is when we decided to get married. When you say she "came here to the US to study for a year", was that on a different visa before getting the J1, or her "study for a year" was based on the J1 itself?

Does her J1 have a 2-year home country residence requirement?

Can you state the month/year for each of these, so we can see if anything could look fishy to the interviewer and suggest how you might prepare for that situation:

1. When she first entered the US after completing studies in France
2. If for #1 she entered the US with something other than J1, what type of visa was it and when did she switch to J1. Also did she switch to J1 within the US, or by obtaining a J1 visa outside the US and reentering with the J1.
3. If she entered the US with a J1 visa, did she mention that she had a US citizen fiancee on the visa application?
4. When did you (or she!) propose
5. When did she last enter the US.

When you say she "came here to the US to study for a year", was that on a different visa before getting the J1, or her "study for a year" was based on the J1 itself?

Does her J1 have a 2-year home country residence requirement?

Can you state the month/year for each of these, so we can see if anything could look fishy to the interviewer and suggest how you might prepare for that situation:

1. When she first entered the US after completing studies in France
2. If for #1 she entered the US with something other than J1, what type of visa was it and when did she switch to J1. Also did she switch to J1 within the US, or by obtaining a J1 visa outside the US and reentering with the J1.
3. If she entered the US with a J1 visa, did she mention that she had a US citizen fiancee on the visa application?
4. When did you (or she!) propose
5. When did she last enter the US. She actually came here the first time on a J1 Student visa for a university exchange program. No 2yr requirement. Place of entry was San Francisco on September 2009 ( this is the first time she ever entered the US). At that time, we werent engaged.

The program lasted until March 2010, she found an internship in the US in March 2010, so she went back to France to get a J1 trainee visa. So she left when her J1 student visa ended and came back in April 2010 on a J1 trainee visa ( this is the last time she entered the US). Place of entry was San Francisco again. Still no 2 yr requirement.

We got engaged in May 2010, so on the application for the J1 trainee visa, I believe she said she was single (the options were engaged, married or single I believe).

We got married early July and her internship ended late July. We submitted the AOS package in August.

Thanks a lot for your help, I really appreciate it!!!


Al Southner: So far nothing negative has happened to our case, besides very slow processing times and still waiting for the biometrics appointment letter. Moving back to France if we get denied would be a pretty big blow though, since we plan on living here! Thanks for your help!