Confusing Case - need advice

[brtlmj 0]

What is your advice? How should they start this process if they can at all? What visa would this be categorized under? Should they appeal for a marriage here or does he have to go back to Mexico first?

OK, first of all: he should NOT go back to Mexico. Let me repeat: he should NOT go back to Mexico. As a matter of fact, he should not leave the US at all. If he does, he will be banned from reentering the US for ten years due to the overstay.

I think they should get married and apply for adjustment of status. This will be complicated by the fact that he lost his documentation. A lawyer may help here.

edit: You may want to ask this question in the AOS forum: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showforum=7

Bartek

Edited February 27, 2007 by brtlmj

[DA BOMB 1]

Are there states where you dont need ID to marry? Sounded like he didnt have any at all.

It's not up to an individual clerk or state to verify immigration status. Chances are good he has SOMETHING to prove his identify and if not, clearly he needs to get something. If everything was stolen months ago and he has NOT yet replaced his identification, I would very seriously question the entire story.

To the OP, re-reading this story, I think it's all bullsh!t. Who does nothing when their visa and "all his paperwork" were stolen? His "work visa" ran out? Who sponsored his "work visa"? Is he still working? Did he report the theft? Did he make an infopass appointment to see how he could replace the visa? Did he go to the Mexican consulate in the US to request assistance with replacing his passport/ID/etc?

Smells like an illegal entry and there is no way he can adjust his status in the US.

It's not actually. My family would never pull an illegal entry after all the help they gave in helping me with my LEGIT marriage.

This man is 25 and has dreamed all his life of being a musician in America after getting fairly well known at an early age in Mexico. He befriended a US woman last year who worked as his sponsor and brought he and his other musician friend into the country to make music, because she had her own recording studio in Chicago. A fight broke out however between his friend and the woman sponsor about 3 months into their stay. With the help of her husband she took their visas and their passports and a great deal of their belongings after the fight and tossed them out of her house. They could never get them back.

They moved from Chicago to Washington when a friend offered to help house them. They have been here ever since even though they no longer had their visas in hand anymore. My sisters boyfriend never once tried to work illegally or do anything that he is not welcome to do. His friend went back and my sisters boyfriend stayed because he met her and they had started their relationship. My sisters boyfriend has a passport, he has been to the Mexican consulate several times, he has copies of all the paperwork he ever needed of his whole visa process, he just doesn't have the actual real copy in hand. That was stolen.

He IS legitimate. But he doesn't understand the whole visa process that well, USCIS has been giving him conflicting information every time he calls (as they ALWAYS do), his English isn't 100% so he doesn't understand a lot of the things he hears from them and then he hears a different story when he goes to the embassy.

He fully intended on moving back to Mexico a few months ago, but after talking to his family they have agreed the relationship is important and that he should carry on the relationship. The only reason he doesn't want to go back to Mexico is NOT because he's trying to smuggle into this country, but because he's afraid that since he overstayed his visa that they won't allow him to marry my sister and come back to the US and he will lose EVERYTHING he cares about in the process. So he has just frozen himself here, not wanting to do anything until he gets some advice. It doesn't help that he has not worked in months after his visa ran out so he has no money to GET back home even if he wanted to.

I am smart enough not to put up a bullshit immigration story on an open, often watched forum. What's more, I don't support the fake marriage of illegitimate immigrants because it's for that very reason that REAL genuine cases of marriage have to go through all of this frustrating process. I myself have been going through it for years now and if my sister or ANYONE I knew was ever trying to pull a fast one like what you accused, after everything I myself have gone through, I would never support it nor try to help. In fact, I would probably report them.

This man is my family, like a brother to me, and I don't appreciate any accusations of his legitimacy when I am coming here for some true, honest help.

Its pretty sad how you have to spill the personal details of your story on this forum just to defend your future brother in law from looking like an illegal immigrant. This isnt the first thread someone has been pounced upon like that. Well your brother has his passport so I would reccomend a marriage....Also, if youre lucky you can find a cheap consultation with a bilingual immigration lawyer so you know your options if you attempt AOS. I wish him all the luck with his life in the US and his music career....and my apologies to you for having to suffer carpel tunnel just to get a simple answer.

[TimsDaisy 0]

He will NOT be banned for 10 years for a certainty. For an overstay of less than 180 days, there is no requried ban that must be imposed. Don't freak out about that.

My boyfriend (now fiance) overstayed by 4.5 months and now "all" he has to do to return is to apply for and be granted a visa (he's lost his visa waiver program privileges). They talked a good game in the interview room when he was made aware of his prior overstay when attempting to come back to visit me - they said they should/could ban him for years or for life, but really, that wouldn't be normal by any measure, nor is it necessarily what would be authorized under law.

But I second the advice for him to NOT LEAVE THE US! Go find a qualified attorney (tell your sister to call her local state bar and ask for a reference) and then discuss the matter with him or her PRIOR to forking over money (you should be able to sketch out your circumstances and find out about what fees might be charged and what services might be provided BEFORE paying). Make sure you get a letter from the lawyer setting out exactly what the costs will be and exactly what those costs cover.

[brtlmj 0]

He will NOT be banned for 10 years for a certainty. For an overstay of less than 180 days, there is no requried ban that must be imposed. Don't freak out about that.

I stand corrected. I do not know why, but I thought that his overstay was much longer...

Bartek

[kitkat1 5]

Its pretty sad how you have to spill the personal details of your story on this forum just to defend your future brother in law from looking like an illegal immigrant. This isnt the first thread someone has been pounced upon like that. Well your brother has his passport so I would reccomend a marriage....Also, if youre lucky you can find a cheap consultation with a bilingual immigration lawyer so you know your options if you attempt AOS. I wish him all the luck with his life in the US and his music career....and my apologies to you for having to suffer carpel tunnel just to get a simple answer.

You cannot always get a "simple answer" if you don't provide all of the facts. Wouldn't you rather have someone objective take a look at a story and tell you if it sounds a little strange? After all, the OP did not mention that he had replaced his passport, ID, etc. and it did sound suspicious.

Even without this clarification, the OP was provided with the exact information necessary: there is no overstay problem under 180 days and he can AOS from his legal entry with no problem. Having a passport alone is not always enough for marriage - he will have to research the legal requirements for marriage in his state, which is easily done online. He will obviously need a copy of the original visa -- this is where a consultation with a qualified attorney will be very important.

[DA BOMB 1]

Its pretty sad how you have to spill the personal details of your story on this forum just to defend your future brother in law from looking like an illegal immigrant. This isnt the first thread someone has been pounced upon like that. Well your brother has his passport so I would reccomend a marriage....Also, if youre lucky you can find a cheap consultation with a bilingual immigration lawyer so you know your options if you attempt AOS. I wish him all the luck with his life in the US and his music career....and my apologies to you for having to suffer carpel tunnel just to get a simple answer.

You cannot always get a "simple answer" if you don't provide all of the facts. Wouldn't you rather have someone objective take a look at a story and tell you if it sounds a little strange? After all, the OP did not mention that he had replaced his passport, ID, etc. and it did sound suspicious.

Even without this clarification, the OP was provided with the exact information necessary: there is no overstay problem under 180 days and he can AOS from his legal entry with no problem. Having a passport alone is not always enough for marriage - he will have to research the legal requirements for marriage in his state, which is easily done online. He will obviously need a copy of the original visa -- this is where a consultation with a qualified attorney will be very important.

Thinking a persons story is "strange" because of lack of information is one thing...to call their story bullshit is another.

[kitkat1 5]

To each his own MRS BILLY BONG. Maybe after you've been on VJ a bit longer you will come to see that we are entitled to post our opinions here on an open forum. If you can't take other people's opinions, you don't have to post or read here.