<p>I am an international student who recently graduated and I have a verbal job offer from a large company that I always wanted to get into. However, now they are having problems with the offer because they found out about my citizenship and are worried about H1b sponsorship. I have OPT that is valid until the end of 2015 and I told them that but they still think it will be a problem at that time.</p>
<p>Now me and my boyfriend( who is an us citizen) have been dating for 4 years (since we were freshman) and will probably get engaged and married around 2015 where he can sponsor me for a green card. This way I want need h1b in 2015.</p>
<p>Now should I tell my employer this so they can hire me without a concern?</p>
<p>Also, me and my bf are really in love, lived 24/7 with each other last couple of years so it is not a sham relationship.</p>
<p>If you are sure you want to marry each other, why not do it now? Then you can tell the employer you are married to a US citizen. That’s way different than saying “I plan to marry my US citizen bf in 2 years.” From the employer’s perspective, anything can happen in two years, and your plans don’t guarantee anything. </p>
<p>I’m not suggesting you rush into marriage if youre not ready. But if youre only waiting bc you need time to plan the big event, consider a quickie wedding now, and do the big one later.</p>
<p>The reasons are first, we are both 23 and feel like it is too young to get married, and also as nova2nola said we don’t have the budget for a ceremony. Also texaspg you are right, I am scared that if I started making marriage plans my OPT would be in jeopardy as well and I really don’t want that happening.</p>
<p>I just really want to reduce the fears of the company with h1b and I know that it is the only thing holding them up from hiring me.</p>
<p>making mariage plans makes no difference for your OPT. However if you two were engaged to be married, you’d get a fiance visa and wouldn’t have to deal with H1B at all. That should be enough for the company.
You CAN’T wait for your OPT to expire to get married because it’s as if getting married were to replace the OPT, and althought it’s not illegal, it’s definitely strange.
23 is young to get married but in your case it makes sense. You can always divorce if things go wrong. :)</p>
<p>So MYOS1634, do you think it is worth mentioning to the company my marriage plans or would they not care about it at all and proceed as if I am just another h1b candidate.</p>
<p>I am really stressed right now because it seems like my dream job is slipping right off my hands because of something that might not even apply to me in two years. Only if they could see how much I want this job and how dedicated of an employee I would be…</p>
<p>the main reason I don’t want to get engaged right now is that I have a work authorization that is valid for two years. With this authorization I can work without a problem as much as an US citizen does.
The other reason is that I do not want to get engaged is because of a moral dilemma. This might sound shallow but I always envisioned my engagement as a dreamy moment where we do it because we want to do it not because we have to do it for a another reason. It is ones in a lifetime moment for me and I don’t want to rush to it because of a job problem. BUT I want them to know that my situation it different from just another person who is looking for sponsorship.</p>
<p>Agree with TEXAS^^^. If they are worried about your citizen status, that’s not the only thing that’s hindering them from hiring you. They “found out” that you weren’t forthcoming about your information and now you want to tell a white lie about getting married soon. Kiss the job “goodbye”. American companies don’t like people who “play” them and then try to jockey for more time. Be honest, or go home because they can hire an american kid who doesn’t need to wait for employment status or wait to get married.</p>
<p>Right now, your choice is get engaged or lose that perfect job.
If you lose your job you’ll lose your right to stay in the US.
Getting engaged is not the same as getting married: you make the formal announcement that you intend to get married. In the US, it doesn’t require a ceremony or a celebration. Only the wedding does. Get your fianc</p>
<p>MYOS1634 ok I will tell them I am getting engaged soon and is getting my fiancee visa processed.</p>
<p>And aunt bea, I wasn’t “not” forthcoming with my status and me getting married is not a white lie. I clearly stated my status on the application when they asked but somehow they overlooked it(or I would have been screened out) until they made a verbal offer. That is why they are struggling now because I feel like I built a personal connection with the hiring managers and they like my profile a lot. If you read the OP you will see that I have clearly stated how genuine my relationship is and it is not a sham.</p>
<p>Sorry but you sound like a very narrow minded person.</p>
<p>Also, aunt bea as a mexican immigrant (I checked your profile) I assume you would be more knowledgeable with these situations than to give the cliche answer “go home and give the job to an american kid”.</p>
<p>A fiancee visa is valid for only a very short time - long enough to get you to the US and to the location of your wedding. It wouldn’t solve your problem.</p>
<p>You need to be speaking with other potential employers who aren’t worrying that they need to be promising to help you get an H1B. Find one that is interested in hiring you for the time of your OPT.</p>
<p>When your OPT is running out, if you are still in love with your BF, set a date and get married, and file for your green card. If you have broken up by then, you can check around for an employer that will process the H1B, or one in another country entirely.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input happymom.
I did some research and saw that fiancee visa takes upto 7-9 months to get processed. So until it is processed I can tell them I have OPT to work with. Once it is processed I have 3 months to get married and I can also continue to work before and after marriage.</p>
<p>My question now is last week when I spoke with my hiring managers, they said they will further discuss my situation this coming week and let me know their decision. So do you guys think I should wait until their decision to talk about the fiancee visa or should I send them an email first thing in the morning tomorrow and let them know about the fiancee visa?</p>
<p>I hate mingling my personal and professional matters so this is a really tough situation for me.</p>
<p>It is my understanding that a fiancee visa does not include work permission, but rather it allows you to get yourself into the country for the purpose of getting married. The work permission only follows after marriage and filing the requisite paperwork for that. </p>
<p>You also need to find out if you can even be awarded a fiancee visa while you are physically resident in the US, given that they exist for the purpose of getting the fiancee to the US in time for the wedding.</p>
<p>Don’t introduce this whole fiancee visa issue to the company in question. Either they like you enough to hire you for your OPT or they don’t. Since it is your current intent to marry this citizen BF, then if you do need a green card for the job, discuss moving up your wedding date so that you can get the job. Perhaps the two of you will determine that getting married sooner makes sense (not only would it make this job easier to get, it would open up many other employment options). Perhaps the two of you will determine that getting married earlier just for a job doesn’t make sense, and that you both prefer that you yourself continue to look for employers who are happy hiring someone for the OPT period.</p>
<p>Yes, I can’t apply for the fiancee visa since I already have a student visa. At this point the only thing I can do is have my bf petition for a green card for me. </p>
<p>So this week when they contact me back, depending on their response I will tell them my bf and I are engaged to get married soon and he will petition my GC. Hopefully, they will just accept me on OPT so none of this confusion is necessary. Thanks for the answers people!</p>
<p>Also, speaking about other potential employers that will sponsor h1b I can’t believe how hard it is to find such an employer at least in the east coast. I graduated the top of my class but I believe I am the only person from my class unemployed tried now. I already had two offers rescinded due to the sponsorship but I cannot have that happen to this job because this is the dream job for me.</p>