F1 Visa while I-485 pending.note

Source: /Volumes/X9 Pro/ObsNotes/YoudaoYunNotes/F1 Visa while I-485 pending.note.pdf Converted: 2025-12-10 12:17:09

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Questions:

My wife is here on a F1 Visa. I am a USC.

We are looking to submit the i-130 and I-485 but trying to understand what this means to her studies.

Primarily I want to know if she can drop her F1 visa once the I-485 has been filed and we have a

receipt?

Can she continue her studies as a "resident" under a pending I-485? We realize that if the I485 is

denied she wouldn't be able to reapply for her F1 and that the F1 would be null/void.

Our primary goal here is to reduce her coursework load and tuition costs as she only needs a few

more credits to graduate but the courses are spread out over 3 more quarters.

Her DSO seems to think that she can't be removed from SEVIS/F1 Visa until after the I-485 is

approved.

Answer:

Her F1 visa will become invalid once the AOS paperwork has been received by USCIS. She won't be

under an F1 status anymore, but she is legally authorized to stay in the US while her AOS is pending

until there is a formal decision on your application.

She is allowed to continue studying as normal while the AOS is pending, but the F1 restrictions

regarding full-time/part-time course load, for example, won't apply to her anymore, so she can drop

below full-time. However, if her AOS is denied, she would have to leave the US and re-apply for a

new F1 to come back and continue her studies.

She won't be getting state resident tuition rates until she is formally a permanent resident though, and

in most cases she would have to first live in the state for a period of a year or two as a resident

before she qualifies for in-state tuition.

International Student Advisers are usually not fully aware of the AOS process, and the whole limbo-

status F1/J1 students enter when they have a pending AOS is confusing to everyone. That's why the

DSO probably isn't sure about what to do with her SEVIS. My understanding has been that an F1

student's SEVIS gets cancelled automatically once AOS paperwork has been received by USCIS, but

I could be wrong. In any case, she can't really violate her F1 status in any way once her AOS is

pending - because she won't have an F1 status to violate anymore.

Case Sharing:

In PA there is a law that states that whoever has taken action to have a permanent resident status is

considered a resident for School purposes. I dont know if that law applies all over the United States

and/or for all schools but my comunity college had to abide by this.

Here is my interview experience:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/341947-pending-i-485-sevis-and-f1-visa/

I had a great experience, it ran very smoohtly.

We started our process on June 24th and on Sept 11th we had our interview. Everything was very

quick! Even the interview was quick, and we were approved on the spot! My husband jokes that

going through security took longer than the interview itself.

Our interview was scheduled for 1:45pm, Sept 11th 2013.

We tried to arrive early, but traffic and parking in Philly almost made us be late!! We got there right on

time. We were nervous because of that.

We were called in for interview less than 5 minutes after we sat down.

The IO was very nice, which made us feel relaxed.

He had us take the oath and proceeded in asking us the basic questions, name, address, etc.

Then he asked me(beneficiary) the yes/no questions. He asked to see our documents, birth

certificate, marriage certificate, passport, and right away took my I94. He said he had reviewed our

case prior to the interview and everything looked good.

He asked if I was still enrolled in school (I came on an F-1 Visa) and I told him yes. He did say I

should check with school because it seemed like I had violated the F-1 rules (I had taken my NOA1

and my advisor terminated my F-1 a few weeks before the interview so I could enroll as resident) but

he said that wouldn't be a problem for my AOS.

Then he asked for our joint bank statement (he didn't ask for any other papers - we even offered but

he said it wasn't necessary). After that he glanced through our albums, asked if we had met each

others families and that was it. We were approved!

He explained how to remove conditions and we left!

Half an hour later I got the email of status update.