once married = can stay legally in US?

What is the name of your state? WA

I have a friend who is in US on H1 that will expires at the end of June. She is engaged and planning to get married to a US citizen in May.

Once she is married and the application (the greencard & adjusment of status) have been sent to USCIS, can she stay in US legally even after her H1 visa expires? Is a month enough time for her to get the visa number?

Thank you

Bellevuewa7 said:

What is the name of your state? WA

I have a friend who is in US on H1 that will expires at the end of June. She is engaged and planning to get married to a US citizen in May.

Once she is married and the application (the greencard & adjusment of status) have been sent to USCIS, can she stay in US legally even after her H1 visa expires? Is a month enough time for her to get the visa number?

Thank you

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Once her applications to adjust status (I-485) has been accepted (with the appropriate additional docs & forms), she has a new status: Pending Adjustment of Status. If her H-1 expires in that time, she still has the Pending status and is not in overstay. She would be legally present and can apply for work and travel permission.

If she is Adjusting from in the US, she will not be getting a visa number. However, spouses of USCs go to the front of the line and do not have to wait, except on the processing times (3 months to 2+ years depending on where they file).

Apply for H1-B while AOS pending?

Thanks for the reply.

Could you please help me with another question. She will be working with a new employer once her current H1-B expires. She is still planning to apply for H1-B visa in April for start date in October, in case if her work permit get delayed.

Now after she send her new H1-B application in April, and get married to USC and apply for GC/AOS/work permit, what will happen to her H1-B application? Will it be automatically rejected since she will fall into the immigrant category?

She still wants to do the new H1-B in case her work permit from the marriage get delayed or if there is some problem with the GC application. Can she has H1-B visa and the work permit both together?

Thanks a lot in advance.

Bellevuewa7 said:

Thanks for the reply.

Could you please help me with another question. She will be working with a new employer once her current H1-B expires. She is still planning to apply for H1-B visa in April for start date in October, in case if her work permit get delayed.

Now after she send her new H1-B application in April, and get married to USC and apply for GC/AOS/work permit, what will happen to her H1-B application? Will it be automatically rejected since she will fall into the immigrant category?

She still wants to do the new H1-B in case her work permit from the marriage get delayed or if there is some problem with the GC application. Can she has H1-B visa and the work permit both together?

Thanks a lot in advance.

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I'm sorry, my answering seems to have knocked Lana out of the answers. She is better suited to answer this question, if you want to repost it with its own header.
I don't know why there would be a problem with her GC app or EAD. If no EAD appears 90 days from her filing, she may go to her local office and get an interim EAD immediately. Depending on how she times it, she may not ever need the H1B (and she can free it up for someone else to use). However, I can see where the H1B would be a good safety net if she feels the marriage itself will not last the 3 or so years for her to get her GC via marriage.

Thank you so much for your answers. It helps a lot for sure.
I will repost it again under different title for Lana just to clarify.
Again, thx.