When student status gets an expiration date, the timing of the spouse's green card application changes. Sorted by couples maintaining status, couples whose status has already ended, and couples filing this month

Many couples are preparing a green card where one spouse is in the United States on a student (F) visa. Until now, student status continued without an expiration date as long as enrollment was maintained. From September 15, 2026, it will carry a dated expiration. This looks like the student's own problem, but for a student married to a U.S. citizen it becomes a question of when to file the green card application. This column is not about the student program itself but about what a couple in that situation must decide this month. The companion general column covers the content of the program.

A spouse maintaining status should file before the expiration date

"A person whose green card application is pending is in a period of authorized stay and does not accrue unlawful presence."

This is a sentence from the USCIS Policy Manual, in plain language.

For a spouse properly maintaining student status on September 15, nothing changes that day. The stay is authorized through the program end date on the school-issued I-20, or through the expiration of post-completion practical training if the spouse is on it. In no case does it extend beyond November 14, 2030. That date is this spouse's expiration date.

What changes is the timing of the green card application. Before, as long as enrollment was maintained, there was no reason to hurry. The expiration date is not a legal filing deadline. But if USCIS receives the application before that date, the stay is authorized until the review is complete and no unlawful presence accrues thereafter, so it is safest to treat the expiration date as the target filing date. Authorized stay during review is different from lawful status, so you cannot say you are still in status for school or licensing purposes.

A spouse who has already completed the program and is in the grace period is calculated differently. For students who were here before the effective date, the 60-day post-completion grace period is preserved. Whether those 60 days fall within the expiration date should be confirmed with the school's international student adviser; to be safe, set the filing schedule by the I-20 end date. Filing after the grace period ends puts you in the situation of a spouse whose status has ended, described in the next section.

When filing, the green card application is usually submitted together with the employment authorization application and the advance parole application. Unless you already hold practical training or on-campus work authorization, do not start a new job before the card arrives. Leaving the country without permission is treated as abandoning the pending green card application. Whether you may continue attending school and continue on-campus work should be asked of the school adviser and an attorney before filing.

A spouse whose status has ended can still apply, but must not leave

"The bar on adjustment of status for a person not in lawful status on the date of filing does not apply to the spouse of a U.S. citizen."

This is the exception in the USCIS Policy Manual, in plain language. The spouse of a permanent resident does not have this exception.

Some spouses have already lost student status, or completed the program and let the grace period pass. The spouse of a U.S. citizen is an immediate relative and may apply for a green card from inside the United States even after status has ended. That exception holds even with a period of unauthorized work. This does not change after September 15.

Unauthorized employment is ordinarily a bar to a green card application, and USCIS looks not only at the current stay but at employment during previous stays in the United States. Even so, the spouse of a U.S. citizen is excluded from this restriction. The work must, however, be reported truthfully on the application.

What changes is the way unlawful presence accrues. Once there is an expiration date, unlawful presence accrues from the day after that date. A person who leaves the United States voluntarily after more than 180 days cannot return for three years; after more than one year, ten years. This penalty arises only upon departure. It does not arise while you remain in the United States.

So the answer narrows to two things: do not leave, and file. Once the application is received, no further unlawful presence accrues from that day until the review is complete. If you entered lawfully through inspection and only later fell out of status, the time already accrued does not by itself block a green card inside the United States. But if you ever left and re-entered without inspection, or received a removal order, a separate ground of inadmissibility attaches, and you must confirm this before filing. Leaving on an advance parole document should also be postponed for now, as discussed in another column.

The point that accrued time does not disappear matters for later. If you need to travel abroad during the review, or the case shifts to receiving the green card at a consulate, the three-year and ten-year provisions come into play then.

How much unlawful presence you have accrued cannot be settled by guesswork. This is especially true for a spouse whose record has been terminated in the school system. The transition measure granted to students in status on September 15 does not apply to this spouse, and there is no dated expiration either. When unlawful presence is deemed to have begun depends on the reason for termination and the record, so do not count on your own; obtain the record, confirm, and then set the filing schedule.

Couples filing this month face three form dates

"There is no grace period for the new edition."

This is the gist of a sentence on the USCIS page for the employment authorization application.

For couples filing in September, the forms are the thing to watch most. The new-edition dates for the applications in a marriage green card package differ from one another. The employment authorization application accepts only the new edition from September 15. The old edition is rejected with no grace period, and the new edition filed before then is also rejected. The student status extension application changes edition the same day, but it is not part of the green card package. The green card application switches to the new edition on September 18, and the same day the new guidance on considering government assistance takes effect. The affidavit of support has a new edition, but the current edition is accepted through a September 30 postmark.

There are three days when the dates cross. Couples filing between September 15 and 17 may submit the green card application on the current edition but must use the new edition of the employment authorization application. Mixed editions within one package are correct in that window. If you avoid those three days and file on or after September 18, use the new edition for everything, and if there is any history of government assistance, review the documents again under the new guidance.

The date that determines the form edition is the postmark if mailed, or the submission date if filed online. But whether the application was received before the expiration date is judged by the day USCIS receives it. A spouse whose expiration is near should move the receipt date forward with online filing or expedited mail. If even one form is the wrong edition, the whole package is returned, and the returned package does not keep its original date; the day you resend becomes the receipt date. The expiration date may pass in between. For every form, including the petition and the advance parole application, do not use printed copies; download that day's edition from the USCIS website on the day you file.

Couples marrying a student who arrives on or after September 15 find the expiration date elsewhere. It is set at the program length or four years, whichever is shorter, plus 30 days for arrival and 30 days for departure, and it is stamped on the arrival record viewable on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection lookup site (cbp.gov/i94). The 30-day departure period is already included in that date, so do not add another 30 days to the stamped date.

Closing

There are three things to decide this month. First, write down the student spouse's expiration date: for a spouse in status, the I-20 end date or the employment authorization expiration; for a spouse whose status has ended, the date it ended and the record. Second, treat that date as the target filing date and work the documents backward from it. It is not a legal deadline, but if the application is received before it, no unlawful presence accrues thereafter. Filing between September 15 and 17 means mixed editions; filing on or after the 18th means all new editions. Third, whether before or after filing, the student spouse must not leave the United States. For a spouse with accrued unlawful presence, departure becomes a three-year or ten-year problem. Have the status recorded in the school system and the accrued period confirmed before filing, and even if the court halts the rule, it is safer to keep the filing schedule as is.

Disclaimer: This column is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice for any specific case. For matters concerning your individual immigration situation, please consult an immigration attorney.

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