I am a guy from Nepal residing in United States currently in F1 visa .
Right now i am in OPT ( Optional Practical Training ). My OPT expires on Jan 17,2010.. I am totally unaware of my status of immigration rule if i marry a permanent resident girl. I would be very pleased if anybody could help me out answering my queries?

1. I am planning to marry a permanent resident girl who is here in US from the past 2 years.
After getting married what will be my status? I have gone through the
website of USCIS and found that she need to file a form I-130 on my
behalf. What will be my status after she file I-130? How long does
USCIS ( United States Citizenship and Immigration) take to change my
status? If not that what do i have to do to be in status?

2. Can i stay legally in US after she file I-130 till the decision is pending from USCIS about my status? How much time will they take ?

3. What will be my status if they approved the application?Will  i get a work permit if
they change my status? If yes How long does it take for the process of getting
work permit after the date of application?

4. Right now I am a student on OPT (
Optional Practical Training). I have a work permit it expires on Jan 17 2010.
What will be my Status after Jan 17, 2010 after getting married with the girl?

I would be very pleased if you could give the answer.

Thanking you in advance

Machapuchree

I don't know the answers to your question, but you better correct your OPT to just say OPT before people here start to see it and laugh at your thread all day.

Thanks. It was a typo??

Marrying a US citizen or resident will not make a difference to your current status.  You still have to maintain your F-1 status and comply with OPT rule until you get your own GC.  That means, you should be either a student until the time you get your green card or should be working under OPT. 

Waiting time for Family based preference 2A (marrying a US resident) to get GC is about 4 years .. or may be even more (they will be issuing GC on 1/2010 for applicants who filed petition before 01/01/2006. 

http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin/bulletin_4597.html

There are several free immigration forums moderated by immigration lawyers or people like us on the net .. you should put your question there ..

Some of the forums are:

http://dir.groups.yahoo.com/group/usaimmigrationhelp/?v=1&t=directory&ch=web&pub=groups&sec=dir&slk=1

http://dir.groups.yahoo.com/group/immigration_info/?v=1&t=directory&ch=web&pub=groups&sec=dir&slk=3

Search for more immigration forums ...good luck

If you are planning to hire an attorney to file I-130, you should ask these question to hom/her.

 

It is wiser to have your GC holder spouse to file petition for you and wait for your GC for the next 4 yrs or more.  Please do not wait until your wife becomes citizen for her to file petition on your behalf.  When your wife becomes citizen, which she has to wait for 3 years just to apply and another 6 months or so to get the citizenship (total 3.5 yrs to become citizen), she can file petition again as a US citizen on your behalf.  This will take another 6 months for you to get he GC as a wife of a citizen.  So total wait time for you is still 4 years, even as a spouse of a citizen.  You can go both ways and see which one is faster.

Thank you so much for your suggestion Madeshi.

Haven't yet decided of getting married...:). Just wants to know the status of mine after getting married. You people gave me the details which infact is the things to admire.

Thanks.