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I am a LPR and will be becoming citizen in september 2011. My wife has F1 visa. Her visa expires june 2011. My I130 case was approved Apr 22 2011( -filed on Nov 2010) but on visa bulletin the priority date for F2A category is 01APR07 which means its going to take a long time to get GC through green card. I will be becoming citizen in September 2011.
1) What should I do after I get my Citizenship? Is there any way to apply for work permit until then because her student VISA expires in June.
What are my other options. Thank you for comments and suggestions.

I am a LPR and will be becoming citizen in september 2011. How do you know that? Youve already done the interview, and have an oath date in September? Or do you mean youre eligible to become a citizen in September, because thats the 5-year anniversary of your GC?

1) What should I do after I get my Citizenship? Is there any way to apply for work permit until then because her student VISA expires in June. If her F1 is for a university degree program, she should be able to get OPT. Note that there is a narrow window of time before and after graduation when she can apply for it.

Note that her F1 visa expiration doesnt control how long she can stay in the US. The visa controls when she can enter, not when she has to leave. Its her I-20 and study program that determines how long she can stay. When is her last day of classes before graduation?

Is your wife actually studying? Did she graduate yet?

How do you know that? Youve already done the interview, and have an oath date in September? Or do you mean youre eligible to become a citizen in September, because thats the 5-year anniversary of your GC?



If her F1 is for a university degree program, she should be able to get OPT. Note that there is a narrow window of time before and after graduation when she can apply for it.

Note that her F1 visa expiration doesnt control how long she can stay in the US. The visa controls when she can enter, not when she has to leave. Its her I-20 and study program that determines how long she can stay. When is her last day of classes before graduation? You are right, September 5th is my 5 year anniversary of GC. So I would be applying for citizenship after June 5th.
Her I-20 expired this month and her graduation is scheduled for Fall. The international student advisor told her that since she is graduating in fall she wont be able to apply for opt right now. Only if she had applied for graduation in spring she would have been eligible to apply for opt.

Is your wife actually studying? Did she graduate yet? as above.

so applying for another program of study is an option but I was wondering if there is any other way to get a work permit until then. Or would it be advisable to apply for dependent visa if she dosent want to attend college until she gets her GC(due to financial reasons-you know how expensive colleges are for international students) and I dont want her to be out of status.

Thank you for you reply Jackolantern and Concerned4us.