This is attorney territory. I don’t know what date matters for the status. I would think it should be fine as long as it gets approved (if it gets rejected then you are immediately out of status) but given the complexity it may be worth to talk to an attorney.
You are getting a lot of fun and casual answers. But since this is in India: there are two ways you can get legally married in India as a Hindu (I am not claiming you are Hindu but the vermillion indicates your BFs family may be). One is through the Hindu marriage act and one is through the special marriage act. The Hindu marriage act is when you get married in the “traditional Hindu way” and then register your marriage showing that the traditional ceremony happened. You do this by showing the officials the marriage invitation, pictures and get witnesses (it may also include something from the priest officiating the wedding, I am not sure). The special marriage act is the non religious way to get married, at the courthouse or equivalent. What your Bfs mom did “could” be considered a valid marriage under the Hindu marriage act if you try to register it with a couple of witnesses. No one can register a marriage on your behalf, you need to be at the registrars office and sign stuff. Till then you are not married.
What your Indian BFs mom did is to absolve her guilt of baby out of wedlock by doing something that satisfies her mental requirements. Unless you are beholden to those beliefs you can ignore it and nothing happens.
But you are probably going to get some emotional torture (or your BF is or both).
There is some truth to the sentiment. For an immigrant born in India (and China to an extent) if they get a H1B today (say with a US masters degree with a Ivy League college) and get in the green card queue, it would take 100+ years for them to get a green card or even an unrestricted EAD which is like the step before getting a green card. Till then they are dependent on an employer to have legal status, cannot change jobs unless they find another employer willing to sponsor and cannot change job fields.
An Indian crossing the southern border claiming asylum will get an unrestricted EAD in 180 days. (while there can be legitimate cases, 99% of asylum requests from India are not genuine cases because India is not a war torn country or anything like that).
So a legitimate Indian immigrant who follows all the rules to the dot, is ready to pack their bags to prevent even one day of illegal stay, it feels unfair that someone illegally crossing the border and misrepresenting their case gets an advantage. To add insult to injury the USCIS is adding an asylum processing charge to its fees for handling legal immigration cases.
(My personal opinion on this is immigration is too nuanced to discuss in a Reddit comment)
Train: get out off the station, go to “Park” station which is diagonally across the street (look up google maps). Get on the electric train going towards Tambaram, get down at Manbalam station. Get out of the station and you will literally be in Ranganathan street (ask which side is R street. But it should be relatively easy - you will see the crowds).
To be safe carry proof of job. This can be last couple pay slips and/or employer letter. Carry your I797 also. I have travelled on H1 like 20 times. Have never been asked anything other than the passport. But know a couple anecdotal cases where the officer asked for some of these.
This is an old story. Karnataka has always had Kannada mandatory. I remember conversations about it in 1990s as a supporting argument when the then DMK government wanted to make thai mozhi kalvi mandatory till 5th. For all our Tamil pattru our kids can complete their 12 years of school education without learning a single word of Tamil.
My bet is this will never change.
India is not bad. India is amazing*. But as you get older you want to settle. I have been in the US for more than a decade now. My kids grew up here. Moving to India would be great for me as a person but would be very difficult on the kids. I don’t have any energy left to handle the stress.
*except work life balance. In the US I get to see my kids most evenings and play with them outside.
Read up on indias foreign policy over the years. No matter which party is in power in India this would have been the exact same move.
One thing about Indian politics is the foreign policy doesn’t change no matter who is in power.
Militarily the US has never been Indias ally. 1971: From https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh_Liberation_War#US_and_USSR:
[the US] he sent the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise to the Bay of Bengal,[147] a move the Indians deemed a nuclear threat. Enterprise arrived on station on 11 December 1971. On 6 and 13 December, the Soviet Navy dispatched two groups of ships, armed with nuclear missiles, from Vladivostok; they trailed US Task Force 74 in the Indian Ocean from 18 December until 7 January 1972.[148][149]
…
[the USSR] gave assurances to India that if a confrontation with the U.S. or China developed, the USSR would take countermeasures. This was enshrined in the Indo-Soviet friendship treaty signed in August 1971. The Soviets also sent a nuclear submarine to ward off the threat posed by USS Enterprise in the Indian Ocean.[150]
See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh_genocide
1999: in the Kargil war Israel provided military support to India (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kargil_war)
Quality of life not much. Peace of mind would improve like 200% though. Not easy being on a temporary visa for 10+ years, having kids and family, no way to take a mental break and in a perpetual state of stress seeing those layoff news.
Is he in sales? 2k/month is almost min wage. He can probably get paid better at a McDonald’s and still get free food.
While you mat have not meant it that way, this sounds like “slaves were pretty much taken care of, provided medical attention and were fed”. There are true but more akin to how livestock are fed and taken care of. The medical attention in a people context and medical attention in a livestock context are very different.
Good luck. I am not trying to discourage.
No one knows when/if things will get better. Note if you are planning to get a degree then you don’t care about the market today. You care about the market in 2 years. Abt L1 - if you can find an employer that can do L1 and sponsor GC it is not a bad idea. Or come here on L1 and find a company to do GC which is more difficult. You cannot change jobs on L1 so if another company is ready to sponsor GC they need to wait till you get your GC (or 1 step before the final step).
In 2023 and 2024 almost zero. Till 2022 this was relatively easy. If the market gets better this may get easier. No one knows if/when the market will get better.
H1B lottery is the same. No GC backlog = current priority date = GC in 2-3 years (if they find an employer willing to sponsor) = completely skip the H1B lottery with a STEM degree.
Understatement of the century :-D. It is more like 50-100 times.
Other than what you already told I don’t have any other ideas. Wish you the best.
Trichy is good as is. Flying under the radar. Leave it alone :-)
Your plan of getting a green card in 3-4 years (assuming without H1B) will only work if you get a STEM degree, a job immediately after graduation and a company that would apply for your GC in the first year. You get 3 years and typically the process seems to be taking 2 years end to end for non backlogged countries.
Your spouse will be in status if you receive the receipt. Till then their status is in limbo. If the extension gets rejected they get out of status immediately. We don’t know why you did not get the receipt yet. The safest to do is to go to your home country and get a stamping. It also depends on availability of visa appointment slots in your home country. If you have kids here or other critical situations then you can request an emergency appointment stating that as a reason. It may or may not be approved. If you do not get the receipt in 90 days they should travel. This is because any out of status stay for more than 90 days triggers a 1 year ban to enter US (which will affect next time they travel out of country and return). If it goes to 180+ days it would trigger a 5 year ban. These bans are not worth it and every future visa application and entry will be weighed down by this. If I were you or them I will start looking for visa appointments in my home country, travel before 90 days hit and request an emergency appointment once I am in home country.
For future reference note that H4 extensions do not have premium processing but if they are submitted together with the H1 application in premium (H1 has premium) then in a lot of cases they get approved in the premium timeline. This is true for H4 EAD applications as well if applicable.
2L - 4L is a reasonable amounts for an emergency fund and emergency fund should stay in easily accessible place which is a savings account.
This brings me hope. I bought probably the same one from Costco in 2013? We still have it, on top of the fridge (wouldn’t fit in any drawer) and my wife gives me grief every once in a while. Amazing quality foil and I suspect I will never get used to the “regular” wraps and my wife will never let me buy this again.
What’s a product in most people’s lives that actually sucks but people use it anyways?
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