I have recently gotten engaged to a green card holder. We are making plans for our wedding, very likely to happen this year. However, the following questions arose:
1. Does the fact that I already hold another Master and a Ph.D. degrees accelerate my green card application? I understand that the backlog is of 5-6 years, but I wonder if my advanced education will assist my application.
2. My H-1B application last year was approved, but I did not use the visa, as I decided to go back to school for (yet!) another degree. Will the approval of the H-1B be looked at favorably, unfavorably, or will it not make a difference?
3. I am currently an F-1 holder. If I marry my fiance' this year, may I simply maintain my Visa independent of his? I am eligible to an OPT after I graduate (to happen this year or in mid-2010) and I am certain I will be able to obtain an H-1B afterwards. Therefore, I do not depend on my fiance' to keep a legal status in the country. Is it legal (or advisable) to keep my Immigration records separate from his?
4. How about when we file for taxes, after the wedding happens? May we file separately, or do we need to declare we are married?
My wife and I got the I-485 approval email notice in June 2007. We filed the I-485 in April 2007. The LC was done by another law firm and I switched to Rajiv and filled the I-140 and I-485. The I-140 was approved in one week under Premium Processing and I-485 was approved in less than 3 months. I told our company HR to switch to Rajiv S. Khanna and we are processing our employee’s H1B and GC through Rajiv. During the GC process, our company was sold and Rajiv and Mathew helped to resolve this issue, rather than starting the GC process from scratch. Mostly I dealt with Prerna Mehta and Mathew Chacko. Both provide me excellent help and support during the process. I dealt with Rita Dhakal for a short period of time and she helped me in great deal. Mathew called me on my cell phone to answer my questions, and he was polite, fast and correct. Also, I praise Prerna for checking my documents and forms thoroughly (I did not get any RFE) and providing correction/feed back immediately. I found the Rajiv’s immigration forum would be one of the best places for gaining more knowledge, and I would recommend every one to read and learn more.