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 H4 was expired and we realized about it one year after it has been expired. This has happened because my previous employer filed just my H1 and they never filed H4 for my wife. After realizing the situation my current employer filed through our company lawyer and H4 was denied. I have been looking around for another lawyer, who had success in handling this kind of case. I didn't find one single lawyer who can assure me of fixing my wife visa or who had success in the past. I sent an e.mail to Rajiv and surprisingly I got call from him the very next day and he told me about the success they had in the previous cases. We filed for my wife H4 along with my 7th year extension. Miraculously her H4 was approved by CIS. This has just happened definitely because of the excellent background work done by Rajiv and his team. The timely response from Rajiv,Jitesh,Ursula,Anna & Seth is extremely impressive. I recommend anybody to deal your immigration issue with Rajiv and his team. These guys are just awesome. Overall I am very happy that we chose Rajiv firm.