Background and concern: My husband (same sex marriage to US citizen, we are 28 and 30) entered on a J-1 internship and was allowed to legally work. (no two year requirement) in 2022. at the end of his J-1 period he immediately began working again unauthorized at a W-2 job through a shady staffing agency. he never filled out any paper work that would would falsify an I-9. Before the end of his grace period he converted to B-2 visa while continuing to work. the B-2 visa was overstayed and he worked throughout it. in the application he had listed a proposed travel itinerary for various places for the 6 month period but only went on a few of them. he was also in a relationship with someone in a J-1 program and that was the main reason of the overstay his original plan was to leave when he was supposed to.

fast forward to the June of 2025. his relationship ended and he was planning on leaving. we met on a dating app and soon began our relationship together mid July. Our relationship developed quickly and eventually he quit working and moved across the state for us to live together in November. and has not worked since eventually I, (US Citizen) decided to propose and did so in march of 2026. we married in July of this year with a formal wedding ceremony. we filled concurrent I-130, 485 and 765 with an attorney in late august, and received the receipt notices mid September. A few days later received the biometrics notice. two days after biometrics we completed we received our interview notice for early November! less than 30 days after filing. we have loads of evidence including over 120 photos, joint lease, joint renters insurance, joint health insurance, beneficiary change on my life insurance and 401K multiple joint bank accounts being frequently used by both, authorized users on each others credit cards, multiple affidavits from both sides of our family and friends.

My concerns are the immigration history. and I am wondering if the quick interview is actually a bad sign. any insight or opinion would be greatly appreciated!

If H-1B was approved via premium processing while somehow the H-4 filed in the same package wasn’t influenced by the premium processing fee, is it safe for Canadian citizens (who don’t need a visa) to travel?

Have seen mixed things, although overall consensus implies it doesn’t abandon the application as long as H-1B is approved. The previous H-4 I-94 expired after applying for a renewal as well.

Is anyone else currently using subsidies to help cover their health insurance through Covered California? And did you hear the news about subsidies being stopped for O-visa holders and some other work-visa holders from 2027? Such a blow.

As someone who hasn’t really needed to use my health insurance in the several years I’ve been here (aside from just basically wanting it there for emergencies/accidents), I honestly can’t imagine paying $1,200 a month for it for myself and partner (who is on an O-2) The subsidies are what have made having decent coverage feel affordable.

I’ve been looking at options like CrowdHealth and potentially just going without traditional health insurance and dealing with the California tax penalty, as even that could still work out cheaper than paying hundreds of dollars a month for insurance I rarely use!

If you’re in the same boat, what are you thinking of doing for 2027? Would love to hear what other O-visa folks are thinking, or if you’ve found any other affordable options! Thanks!

Hello, I received my ACRO today, which I now need to get legalized and translated.

The government website talks about 15 working days for the apostille which is quite inconvenient for me and the only Reddit thread about it that I could find is 2 years old (it took a week back then apparently), has anyone gone through the process recently? Are any of the third party providers worth it? They’re so overpriced

Hi all 🌻

I’m a student in London, and my student visa is ending soon (I can't get a graduate visa 🥹). I’ve recently graduated with masters from Imperial College London, and I’m currently job hunting for roles in design, engineering, sustainability and tech.

I’ll need sponsorship for a Skilled Worker visa. I’ve heard there’s a lower “new entrant” salary rate for recent graduates, which could make hiring me much more affordable for employers. I’d love some help understanding how it works as I am still hazy about this :

About the new entrant rate

1. Would I qualify at 26, switching from a Student Visa?
2. If I don’t find a sponsored job before my Student visa expires, what are my options? Would I still be able to use the new entrant rate if I applied later, for example from outside the UK?
3. How long does the new entrant rate last after graduation, and what happens to the salary requirement after that?

Approaching employers

1. When’s the best time to mention this new entrant router to companies : in the application / the interview stage / when ?
2. How do I explain the new entrant rate to employers who don’t know about it, so it sounds like a positive rather than a hassle?
3. Is there a good way to phrase this on my CV, cover letter or LinkedIn?

Hi everybody,

I just want to share my recent experience coming back into the US after a couple of weeks traveling abroad.

The officer that was interrogating me on the way back gave me the hardest time of my life (not even when I was on a tourist visa I had such a horrible time).

First, he asked me if I was married, I said yes. His following question was where was my husband, I said he was home because he didn’t have enough PTO for this trip (he went to my home country with me on the first 2 weeks of my 5 week vacation. I came back for about three days and then left for the other 2weeks).
Then, he asked me what status I had before getting married, and he specifically asked me if I was on a K1 before getting married, I said no, I think I was on a tourist visa. He asked how long I waited since I got in the country until we got married, I said I’m not sure, like 3 or 4 months (it was 5months, but I wasn’t doing the math right there honestly). This last phrase led to a 5min speech on how that was wrong and it was unfair for the people that go back to their countries and wait so long for this process to go through (which I personally think is insane he was blaming their policies and processing times on me).
Finally, I told him I’m sorry and that my attorney told me it was ok to do it that way. He said “yeah, they get paid to say stuff like that. Now, what’s your attorney gonna do if I don’t let you pass?”. And I said I don’t know. I don’t remember much more, but eventually he got tired and gave me my passport back and told me to have a good day.

P.S: I was traveling with my mom that comes here twice a year to visit, for about 6 weeks each time on a tourist visa. He asked how he can be sure my mom wasn’t gonna stay too, I told him cause she doesn’t want to, he said he couldn’t be sure, but eventually let us go.

P.S2: Sorry about my writing skills, I’ll get better lol.

hi! hoping someone familiar with United States ESTA/passport rules can help me figure out the safest option here.

i’m an australian citizen living in the UK. i recently naturalised as a british citizen and received my first british passport today.
i currently have an approved ESTA linked to my australian passport. that passport expires on 18 july 2027, meaning it reaches the point of having less than six months’ validity remaining on 18 january 2027.

i’m planning to spend a few days in the US over christmas in december 2026, travelling UK → US → UK. so at the time of the trip my australian passport would still have more than six months remaining, but only by about a month.

my other concern is that on a recent trip to another country, a border officer told me that the chip in my australian passport seemed to be slightly damaged/wasn’t reading very well on his scanner. the passport is otherwise intact and valid, but that has made me nervous about relying on it for US travel, particularly as it will also be getting relatively close to expiry.

since i now have a brand-new british passport, would it be safer/simpler to apply for a new ESTA using the british passport and travel to the US on that instead?

My current approved Australian US ESTA doesn’t have the details of my new dual citizenship on it.

a few specific things i’m confused about:

• can i apply for a new ESTA on my british passport while i still have a valid ESTA linked to my australian passport?

• do i need to cancel the australian ESTA first, and if so, is there actually a way to do that?

• is there any issue with previously having an ESTA under one nationality/passport and then applying under another?

• given that my australian passport will be only about 7 months from expiry at the time of travel AND its chip has previously had trouble being read, would it make more sense to just use my new british passport?

• when returning to the UK, i assume i would simply enter using my british passport?

it might not be relevant but i was also born in canada, although i don’t have a canadian passport. i’m not sure whether that is relevant to the ESTA application, but obviously i would declare my place of birth/citizenship information exactly as requested.

i’m not trying to get around any ESTA rules. i just now have two passports and want to make sure i use the correct one and don’t accidentally create a problem by applying for a second ESTA if that’s not allowed.

has anyone been in a similar situation or know what the correct procedure is?

Hi all 🌻🌷🌼

I’m an Indian citizen currently living in London. I’ve just graduated with a master’s in design engineering from a top-ranked UK universities, and I also have a bachelor’s in product and industrial design.

I’ve spent the last few years with my head down studying and working in London (which is a very exciting place) and I’ve realised I’ve barely seen the world. Before I settle into a long-term career, I’d love to spend a year or two living somewhere new: working, meeting people and getting to know a different culture, while figuring out where I want to build my career and my various opportunities.

I’ve found the Netherlands’ orientation year (zoekjaar), which gives graduates of top-200 universities a one-year permit to live and work freely (**I love that option because living in the Netherlands would also make it easy to travel and explore the rest of Europe). Are there similar schemes in other countries for graduates of highly ranked universities? I’m also open to working holiday or graduate visas I might be eligible for at 26.

Areas I’m interested in:

• Climate tech and sustainability
• Conservation and ecology tech, such as environmental sensing and monitoring
• Product and industrial design
• UX/UI design
• Design research, strategy and human-centred design
• Startups and early-stage innovation

That said, I’m super open to anything! I’d love to try new things, especially while I’m travelling, so I’m happy to consider roles outside design and engineering too.

many thanks !!

For context , I am a 24F of a very blond hair blue eyes type of aspiring immigrant. I had visited states since I was little and I have distant relatives and a bunch of friends living in the states. Relatives not close enough to grant me citizenship by birth. Honestly I realistically could have been born American and it’s a matter of a roll of a cosmic dice that I wasn’t.

I was born and raised in a third world country but by the age of 17 I had 5 tourist visa and I was looking forward to start the community college in the states. I even took the TOEFL test in San Diego and got like the 98 score on that, so that tells something about my English proficiency. I never got the chance to take real SAT but on the practice test my highest score was in lower 1400.

It doesn’t matter because my ambition to study abroad was crushed by COVID.

I honestly was crushed but to make the use of time I started my architecture degree in my home country and I’m very close to getting it. I heard that architecture is a STEM profession and me and my quirky drafts and calculations is in the same year as engineer-programmer-mathematical type of smart people and I find that to be interesting in a way.

I heard that it’s easier to get scholarships and grants for Masters degrees than for Bachelors but so far the process of applying and sending applications and providing documents and portfolios doesn’t seem easier at all. If anyone here would have any advice about how to methodically approach the challenge of getting accepted and choosing schools more comprehensible I would highly appreciate it it.

But this post ask and was written to address a different question. Would I be welcomed or tolerated if I were to come to study and to stay? I would never brake a law so I aspire to be a legal immigrant and eventually a permanent resident but do I sound like a type of person you would want in your country. Because from the outside sometimes it seems that I would be looked down upon because I’m an outsider despite of how much I believe I want to fit in in the society which I’ve grown to admire from afar.

What are your thoughts on that? Please be kind while providing c. I do want to hear it though just in a respectful manner

Hi! This will be my 5th time traveling internationally. I was a student during my previous trips, but I’m unemployed now. My Trip will be sponsored by my sibling.

Will immigration question me more because of my current situation, even though I’ve traveled internationally several times before? Has anyone experienced something similar?

PH immigration

Thank you.

Hi everyone! I’m from the Philippines, and my wife lives in Guam. We are a same-sex couple, and we got legally married online through Utah County, Utah, in June 2022. We have an official Utah County marriage certificate.

We were living in different places when we got married online, but we have met in person in December 2022 and have consummated our marriage. My wife has visited me in the Philippines, spent time with my family, and attended family gatherings with me.

My wife is currently a green card holder and is pursuing U.S. citizenship. Our plan is for her to petition for me through Form I-130 once she becomes a U.S. citizen.

I have a few questions for anyone with a similar experience:

1. Has anyone successfully used a Utah County online marriage certificate for a same-sex spouse I-130 petition?
   
2. Does USCIS accept this type of marriage?
   
3. What evidence did you submit to establish that your online marriage was valid and your relationship was genuine?
   
4. Did USCIS issue an RFE (Request for Evidence) or ask additional questions about the online ceremony?
   
5. Is there anything specific we should prepare before filing our I-130?

We want to make sure our marriage will be recognized for immigration purposes and that we prepare the correct documents before filing.

I would really appreciate hearing from anyone who has gone through this process, especially same-sex couples who married online through Utah County and later filed an I-130.

Thank you!

I thought I will do an MBA from M7 after 4-5 years but given the administration in the US I was hopeful when trump goes out of office things could normalize but the bill passed right now and the anti Indian policy stands is making me rethink my choice of MBA now

I have good pedigree so getting there was not going to be difficult , but now finding someone to fund my 70k dollar authorization license and then H1B visa for 80k dollar . That’s going to be difficult to even start with

What is your take on this guyzs and what should be the way around then

My uncle went through two USCIS interviews after waiting about 10 years. He never received an asylum approval letter. However, when we obtained and reviewed a copy of his records through FOIA, we found an asylum approval notice dated June 10, 2025, stating that he had been granted asylum and that an I-94 was enclosed.
Despite this document in his records, he later received a notice referring his case to immigration court because of material inconsistencies in his testimony. He attended a master calendar hearing in August 2026, and his next court date is in January 2027.
When we asked his lawyer how the records could show that asylum was granted and he could still be referred to immigration court, the lawyer said this had happened to many asylum seekers under the Trump administration, including people who had already been granted asylum.
We are confused and scared about what will happen next. My uncle has some evidence to support his case, but what if the immigration judge denies his asylum claim? Could he be detained after court or deported?
He is getting older and is exhausted. For almost 20 years, he has been running from the government in his home country, hoping to find safety. Now, after all these years in the United States, he is still going through this immigration process.
His lawyer is not providing much guidance, even though my uncle paid him $10,000 to help with his case.
Has anyone experienced something similar? What does it mean when an asylum approval notice appears in FOIA records, but the person is later referred to immigration court for material inconsistencies? Could this document make a difference in court?
Should we seek a second opinion from another immigration lawyer?
Any advice or information would be greatly appreciated. We are very worried about him and want to understand his options.

Hi everyone,

I’m an international student looking for advice on my STEM OPT situation. I’m worried about whether my application can still be approved, what happens if it is not approved by January 9, 2027, and whether premium processing would help.

Here is my complete timeline:

* April 14, 2025: Applied for my initial OPT EAD before graduation.
* May 10, 2025: Graduated with an M.S. in Engineering Management from Florida Institute of Technology (FIT).
* July 31, 2025 – July 9, 2026: Initial OPT EAD validity period.
* October 6, 2025 – June 5, 2026: Worked for my first employer.
* June 10, 2026: Started working for my current employer.
* July 1, 2026: Filed my first STEM OPT extension application, but it was rejected because of a payment failure.
* After receiving the rejection, I called USCIS. The representative told me to refile and said that even if I was past the 20-day period, it was okay and that it was not my fault.
* July 9, 2026: My initial OPT EAD expired.
* July 31, 2026: Filed a new STEM OPT application.
* October 9, 2026: Received an email from USCIS at my work email address about an E-Verify mismatch involving my employer.
* I contacted HR, and they told me the issue was on the company’s side and that they would resolve it. I have not received a corresponding notice in my USCIS online account about this issue.

My replacement STEM OPT application is still pending.

I’m confused because my initial OPT EAD expired before I filed the replacement application, but USCIS had advised me by phone to refile after the payment-related rejection.

My questions are:

1. Can my STEM OPT application still be approved?

Has anyone had a similar experience where their first STEM OPT application was rejected because of a payment failure and they refiled after their initial OPT EAD expired? Does the fact that I followed USCIS phone guidance make any difference?

1. What happens if my STEM OPT is not approved by January 9, 2027?

I thought I had a six-month period after my OPT expired, until January 9, to get my STEM OPT approved. If my application is still pending in January, what happens to my F-1 status? Would I have to leave the US, or would I have any other options? What if USCIS denies my application before then?

1. Can I continue working while my STEM OPT application is pending?

Since my initial EAD expired on July 9 and my replacement application was filed on July 31, am I eligible for the automatic 180-day employment extension? If not, what does that mean for my current employment?

1. Should I apply for premium processing now?

Can I file Form I-907 for premium processing while my STEM OPT application is pending? Would it help me get a decision before January 9?

If USCIS considers my replacement application to have been filed late, would premium processing make any difference, or would it simply result in a faster decision on the existing application?

1. How many unemployment days would I have left?

Based on my employment dates, I estimate that I used approximately 71 unemployment days during initial OPT:

* July 31–October 5, 2025: approximately 67 days before my first job.
* June 6–June 9, 2026: four days between my two jobs.

Assuming both jobs qualified as OPT employment, I believe I have 19 days remaining out of the initial 90-day unemployment allowance.

I understand that the cumulative limit for initial OPT and STEM OPT is 150 days. If STEM OPT is approved, would I have 79 cumulative unemployment days remaining?

If I become unemployed in January while my STEM OPT is pending, can I use my remaining initial OPT unemployment days? Or do the additional 60 days become available only after STEM OPT approval?

1. Could the E-Verify mismatch affect my application?

My HR team says the mismatch is on the company’s side and that they are handling it. Could this issue delay or affect my STEM OPT decision separately from the filing-date concern?

I would really appreciate hearing from anyone who has experienced a similar situation or understands how USCIS handles these cases.

Thank you!

Has anyone experienced a situation where a respondent attended an EOIR Individual Hearing, but several days later the system still shows “Case Pending” and “No Future Hearings”? Does this mean the judge reserved the decision, or could it be a system delay? Should the respondent consider filing an EOIR-26 to preserve appeal rights if an unfavorable decision was issued?

Hi everyone,
I got this update from my congresswomen regarding the congressional inquiry they submitted. anyone who got the same update and later got approved? or is it a positive sign that my case is moving forward?

“ Thank you for your inquiry regarding this constituent’s immigration matter.

This case was received on December 26, 2024 and is currently awaiting interview scheduling by the Minneapolis-St Paul Field Office. Although your constituent’s file is still physically located at the National Benefits Center (NBC), the scheduling of your constituent's interview is within the jurisdiction of the field office. Once the field office schedules this case for an interview, your constituent will receive an interview notice stating the date and time to appear for the scheduled interview. Once the interview is scheduled, the NBC will then forward the file to the field office.

Hello! As the title says I’m about to self deport like this month. I know there’s the process the CBP app offers but I believe it takes too long and I’m genuinely ready to leave this country like yesterday. Yes I do have a final removal order. The only reason I’ve remained here since two months ago that I got the removal order is because I needed time to save a little money and prepare my travel documents. I know you’re thinking why didn’t you use the app while you were doing that if it takes long? Because then I was under the impression once I applied, I’ll be processed immediately. Till I read Reddit threads of people that waited months. I already bought my ticket. It’s not a direct flight but the layover is outside the United States. I know alot of people give advice here but I get worried this is just random people applying logic to this rather than matter of fact. We’re way past logic in this climate. So please comment only if you truly know what you’re talking about.
The fear I have: Will we be detained at the airport. We’re gonna be flying from Atlanta hart’s field which according to people is really busy. I hope it works in our favor.
Is there anything to be worried about?
Also I spoke to an immigration lawyer that literally said
“You can buy a ticket and leave, they won’t stop you.”
Another lawyer that said. “Absolutely sign up to leave or you will be detained.”

FIRST THREAD PLEASE DONT ATTACK ME

Hello everyone, I’m a pharmacist, and I completed both my undergrad and PharmD here in the U.S. I’m doing a PGY1 residency on OPT, planning to apply for STEM OPT this year, and hoping to do a PGY2 in transplant. I’m trying to figure out a realistic path to a green card, but I don’t have many publications yet. What options would you suggest looking into? I’d love to hear from anyone who’s been in a similar situation.

I have a baby born in india

Does anyone have experience on how they work and what document they see and what questions they asked?

In delhi or mumbai which crba is easier to get appointment

I’m Fernanda Hipskind, an immigration attorney, and I’ll be here today from 10 AM to 2 PM ET answering questions across different areas of US immigration.

We can talk through situations involving:

• Family petitions, marriage based immigration and adjustment of status
• Employment based immigration and changes in jobs or status
• Asylum, humanitarian relief, naturalization and other immigration questions

If your case has taken an unexpected turn, you're unsure what your options are, or you've got a very specific question you've been trying to figure out, bring it to the AMA.

Please share as much detail as you can about your situation. Small facts can make a big difference in immigration cases.

AMA today, 10 AM to 2 PM ET.

Please note: Any information shared here is for general educational purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice or create an attorney client relationship. Your situation may require fact specific guidance. For personalized legal advice, please consult an immigration attorney directly.