Does anybody know the process of changing one's visa status from F1 to F2?

Saw F1 thought it might be Formula 1 but turned out to be a visa question hmmmm...

F2 is a dependant of F1 visa holder. Unless your spouse is a F1 visa holder you cannot change your F1 to F2.
-Shiv

Get married with F1 status holder. You will be in F2. or if you are teen dependent up on your parents and any of one your parents attend school in US then you will be in F2. :-)

F-2 is a dependent visa. if you have a spouse who currently maintains an F-1 visa status, you can easily apply for your own status to be changed from F-1 to F-2. i believe all it takes is one application but the process could take a few months.

Yep, that's what I mean. Both hold F-1, one has to change to F-2 upon marriage. So, what is the process, bhanya kya. Yaha kunai mahanubhav le yo process garnu bhayeko cha bhaney, kripa gari information share garnu hola:

- kun form pesh garnu parney?
- kati paisa lagney?
- ke ke documents tayaar garnu parney?
- kati samaya lagney?

Dhanyabaad.

Are you about to finish the degree or just started? There may be problem to finish the degree if F1 is changed to F2 in the middle of program. As a general rule, F2 can't attend college for degree. The only benefit of changing from F1 to F2 is that one of you doesn't have to attend college hence no tuition fee. In the same time, F2 can't work and earns nothing.

Now my point is, if you want to finish the degree, why should you not take benefit of one year OPT (provided that you are eligible for OPT after the completion of current degree. By that time, both of you can apply for H1 (if both of you want to work) or H1/H4 if only one of you want to work. Probably, one of you want to stay home and raise a couple of kids. :-)

You might have been living living in separate towns and now want to stay together upon marriage. Why not transfer the college (continute on F1) and finish the degree and take advantage of OPT etc. Afterall, your joint cost won't be that much higher than your aggregate cost when you were living separate. Depending upon the policy of university, dependent health insurance premium could be as much as $3000 per year (3-4 times higher than F1 student). If one can claim in-state tuition, the difference in insurance premium pays for one semester of tuition.

If you have already looked into these matters and really want to change the status from F1 to F2, then the FORM is I-539. I-539 form can be found on USCIS website (- http://www.uscis.gov and look at "Forms and fee" section). FILING FEE IS $200. Please read the instructions and also talk to your international student advisor for necessary papers. I guesss you need to have the following papers ready:
1. Current I-20 for both of you
2. Revised I-20 to reflect one of you as dependent of other
3. Bank statement in the name of remaining F1 or F2 to cover dependent expenses
However, your international student advisor should be able tell you about the process and required paperwork.

Based on the jurisdiction of four service centers (California, Texas, Nebraka and Vermont) where you live, the PROCESSING TIME SHOULD TAKE BETWEEN 3 AND 6 MONTHS. - http://www.uscis.gov and look at "Case status and processing times" section.

Good luck!

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No one can be more precise than this, dude.

i think F1 plus F1 makes F2,,its so simple calculations.
F1+F1=F2 , where F is a base and the power to the F is a numerical calculations,
so bye the law of simple numerical add .....thnaking you all

have no idea(wink **). in my case, woked in india for several years, got H1, came to the usa, worked on permanet resident paper and eventually became citizen.

That would have been an easy answer though, aloneness.

At first, I was kind of asking myself, is this guy gone crazy that he/she wants to change from F1 to F2. But there could be different circumstances and personal preference that I can't see from my side. Anyway, I just wanted to give the right information.

Chatmandude, get a lawyer!

Lawyers will generally start conversation with the fourth paragaraph I have given above. (the first three paragraph are suggestions/experiences from your friends and peer). Their job is to do what you want them to do, not to give advice on what is best for you.

Probably a lawyer will charge you about $300 (it depands where you are located and how accomplished the attorney is). They even ask you to pay for the postage fee separately on top of their fee. The attorney's job will be to fill out I-539 and put his/her signature on it, along with the form G-28 (authorizing the attorney to commnicate on your behalf). In this kind of case, you will need to gather all the documents (90% of the task).

Thanks guys, and Harris in particular, for all your advice.

Harris's 4th and 5th paragraph pretty much covered everything.

Harris, whoever you are, you are one heck of a dude. Thanks for being so concretely helpful.