Q - I am originally from Nepal but now in Maryland with my tourist visa (B1/B2). I tried for a student visa in my home country but they didn’t give me permit to study here. Instead, I came here with my visitor visa. Is there any possibility that I can study here in the USA and change my status? If yes, what  should I do?  

A - It is very difficult to change to student status from within the US . USCIS usually assumes precisely what happened to you – that you are trying to avoid the consulate in your home country. Usually, USCIS will deny unless you can show that you informed the consulate of your plan to change to student status (such as if you were coming to visit schools and would not make a decision until after arriving) or there was a major change in your plans after you arrived that could not have been foreseen ahead of time. The latter is a tough case to make. Good luck.  

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Q - I have been with my fiancée now for 2 years. I am on an F-1 visa. We were considering getting married at some point this year. Once married, do I get any type of paperwork allowing me to travel and come back in the US ?  

A - I assume your fiancé is a US citizen. Once you are married, you can apply to adjust status to become a permanent resident and you should be able to apply for what is called an advance parole document that will allow you to travel. Travel is usually only a problem for certain people who have immigration status violations. Assuming that is not the case for you, then getting the parole document should not be a problem except that you would want to apply for the document as early as possible since it can take a few months to process the application and you need to remain in the US while the document is being processed. Also, note that the travel document would be valid for a year and you'll want to make sure you return from any trip before the document expires. Hopefully, the green card would be processed before that became an issue.  

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Q - My sister is a born American citizen. However, ever since she was two she moved out of the country. She is now reaching 15. Will there be any way that she could lose her citizenship? Is there a citizenship test she should take?  

A - If your sister was born in the US , she is a citizen and that cannot be taken away from her. She can reenter any time she wants. The main consequence for her is that she might one day have difficulty passing citizenship on to her children born outside the US if she has not resided in the US .  

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Q - I am an international student from Zimbabwe . I am currently on an F-1 visa which expired on the 26th of August 2006. A couple of months ago, my sisters (who are American citizens by birth) filed for me to also become a citizen. To our understanding, the US consulates abroad were not supposed to be notified of this such that I would still be able to renew my student visa. I then scheduled a visa appointment in Montreal which I cancelled after having done some research that that action actually shows intent. I have no intentions of living here. I really do want to move home. I just wanted to find out if I could still renew my student visa?  

A - You're going to have to disclose the green card application when you apply to renew your student visa. However, many consular officers appreciate that you're at least twelve years away from a green card based on your sisters' petitions and won't consider them alone to demonstrate your intentions to remain in the US beyond your studies. Or course, there are no guarantees here. The alternative would be to look at getting a visa where green card intentions don't matter (such as an H-1B).  

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Q - I am currently on H-1B status. I am going to apply for a green card with my present employer. Can I transfer my green card application if I change jobs?  

A - It is difficult to transfer green card applications unless you are in the very latest stages of the case. If you have completed your labor certification and have filed an adjustment of status petition, if the adjustment petition has been pending for 180 days or more and you find a new job with another employer in the same or a very similar occupation, you may be able to continue processing the green card petition on your own. Until that point, you’re likely stuck having to start the application process again. And there are no guarantees that USCIS will agree that the new job is the "same or similar".