I met my boyfriend, Mike, during the summer of 2008 (more of that story to come; its a good one!!!), while he was working in the US as a soccer coach. To be able to do this, he had applied for a visa, paid a (then) $100 fee, went to the London embassy for an interview, and was granted an J1 visa. This allowed him about 3 months of legal employment in the US. He was here from June until August 2008 as an J1 non-immigrant. Well, he met me, and we instantly fell madly in love …so when his visa ran out and he had to return home, we were devastated.
So he booked a flight to visit me the following October. To get into the country this time, he used the Visa Waiver Program (essentially used a “Visitor Visa”), which was available to him because England is one of the 35 countries whose citizens are allowed to visit the US for travel purposes for a duration not to exceed 90 days. Well, he spent about 2 weeks here, and then I spent 4 weeks in England with him for Christmas 2008 (and another 3 weeks for my extended spring break in 2009).
By the time October was through and he went home, we were both completely positive that we were made for each other and we decided that one of us would have to move. Being accepted into Medical School, I knew that person could not be me (at least for the time being). So Mike applied to work in the US, again as a soccer coach, but for a longer period of time-from March until November. He applied for his visa, paid the $100 fee, went to Belfast this time for an interview, got an H2B visa, and came over to the states in March 2009. This really wasn’t an ideal visa or job or situation, as he wasn’t making much money at all and we lived 4 hours apart. So we began looking into ways that we would be able to live together, you know, at least in the same time zone!
Through a stroke of luck, Mike made contact with the Owens Community College head soccer coach, who (after another international college applicant was denied a visa and had to defer his scholarship) offered Mike a place on the soccer team and a full scholarship to attend Owens. The only problem was the Visa…Mike needed a student visa to attend classes, and he would have to forfeit his work visa in the process. So we did a lot of research and decided, rather than waiting until his current visa expired and subsequently begin school in the fall of 2010, he would apply for a change of status. We filed an I-539 ($300 fee plus a $200 SEVIS fee). Along with the I-539, there were lots and lots of other things we needed to file, such as the I-20, proof of financial support, ties to England, and on and on. This adjustment of status is said to take 2-3 months…but instead it took 8.
By the time Mike became an official F1 status non-immigrant, he really wanted to go home; it had been nearly a year since he’d been there. Although Mike’s I539 granted him F1 status and he could maintain that status and live here until December 2012, under the rules of this change of status, if he were to leave the country, that I539 would become invalid; he would have to re-apply for an F1 Visa in his home country before returning to the US and continuing his studies. So what could we do? Mike wanted to go home, and there was no talking him out of it (even though I tried - as much work as its been to get him to stay here, I didn’t want to chance him leaving and forfeiting his F1 status and oh god, starting all over!).
So, of course, he went home, and applied for an F1 visa, paid the fees (now up to $130), traveled to London for his interview. But this time, his application wasn’t automatically accepted after the interview; it was put into “Administrative Processing”. This was baaaaaad news. Mike was meant to fly home on the 22nd, resume classes on 23 March, and it would have went perfectly to his schedule if his application was approved right away. But life doesn’t always work out the way we plan…So, Administrative Processing is said to take up to 90 days, and in some cases takes in excess of 6 months. Until his application is accepted, he can’t come to the US, even as a visitor (the US wouldn’t let him in because they would suspect he would return to his classes). So, Mike had to withdrawal from his spring semester, risk losing his scholarship, rebook his flight, and (i think worst of all) we had to spend an unknown amount of weeks apart. Nightmare.
With another stroke of luck, the Administrative Processing was finished in a few weeks, and Mike was on his way back to the US to continue his education by the beginning of April. The F1 student visa he has currently allows him to go to school in the US (and work a maximum of 20 hours per week in a work-study job) until December 2012, and he can stay in the country until June 2013.
June 2013, incidentally, is when I graduate from Medical School...so it all works out in perfect timing. We're hoping this will be the end of our US visa struggles, but we won't be naive (based on our experiences, we'll be lucky to make it through until 2013 without a few more government applications!).
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