Confused and stressed Canadian girl married to an American for 3 yrs. Please help :(

[kalexdricah 0]

Hello everybody. I hope I can find some answers here, but honestly I don't know exactly what questions to ask either.

Here is my situation:

I'm Canadian, and my husband is an American. We met online. He came to visit me twice in Canada. The second time was when I decided to leave with him. We got married soon after and have been living here ever since. It's been 3 years. I was married and already living in the US before I knew about forms, and legal residency, and all that What do I do now?

Edited June 9, 2008 by kalexdricah

[payxibka 10,047]

IF you are present in the US and can provide evidence of a legal entry then it is forms I-130, I-485 & I-765......

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Don't leave the US in the meantime. Once your Adjustment of Status is approved, your out of status time in the US will be forgiven. Until then, if you leave the US you will incur an automatic 10 year bar on returning. Try to file the AOS (I-485) as soon as you can. There is no need to file for an I-131 Advance Parole because it doesn't cancel the out of status time. Don't leave the US until you get your greencard.

Read the guides on the AOS forum - you will find lots of useful information there. fwaguy gave you the right information about the forms to file. You will also need to have a medical performed by a US Civil Surgeon and submit that with your AOS application. You can find a listing of the ones in your area at the www.uscis.gov website. Don't hesitate to ask any questions here - there are a lot of people here who can give you good information and provide you with the right directions in which to go.

[kalexdricah 0]

IF you are present in the US and can provide evidence of a legal entry then it is forms I-130, I-485 & I-765......

Is that all? Plus I just read this:

BE WARNED:

You must qualify to file for an I-130 in the US. Not everyone does, and in some cases doing so can be considered fraud and result in being deported and banned from re-entry into the US for a period of time. If you attempt to file and you do not qualify your legal status in the US can be placed in jeopardy. J1 Visa holders will almost always require a waiver and should consult with an immigration lawyer or the USCIS for more information. If you have any doubt, consult an immigration attorney.

If your fiance/fiancee came to the US on a tourist visa with the intent of immigration and marriage, and you are not yet married, then he/she should return to his/her home abroad, and the K-1 visa should be filed (using an I-129f) instead of the I-130 to avoid a denial, deportation, or even being banned from re-entry to the US.

If you are already married, and your spouse came to the US on a tourist visa with the intent of immigration and marriage, then he/she should return to his/her home abroad, and the I-130 (or along with an I-129f for a K-3 Visa) should be filed with the relative outside of the U.S. to avoid denial, deportation, or even being banned from re-entry to the US.

The above conditions are serious and can result in the separation of families for many years if not taken seriously.

How do I know if I qualify to file for the I-130?

[payxibka 10,047]

IF you are present in the US and can provide evidence of a legal entry then it is forms I-130, I-485 & I-765......

Is that all? Plus I just read this:

BE WARNED:

You must qualify to file for an I-130 in the US. Not everyone does, and in some cases doing so can be considered fraud and result in being deported and banned from re-entry into the US for a period of time. If you attempt to file and you do not qualify your legal status in the US can be placed in jeopardy. J1 Visa holders will almost always require a waiver and should consult with an immigration lawyer or the USCIS for more information. If you have any doubt, consult an immigration attorney.

If your fiance/fiancee came to the US on a tourist visa with the intent of immigration and marriage, and you are not yet married, then he/she should return to his/her home abroad, and the K-1 visa should be filed (using an I-129f) instead of the I-130 to avoid a denial, deportation, or even being banned from re-entry to the US.

If you are already married, and your spouse came to the US on a tourist visa with the intent of immigration and marriage, then he/she should return to his/her home abroad, and the I-130 (or along with an I-129f for a K-3 Visa) should be filed with the relative outside of the U.S. to avoid denial, deportation, or even being banned from re-entry to the US.

The above conditions are serious and can result in the separation of families for many years if not taken seriously.

How do I know if I qualify to file for the I-130?

You do not qualify to file an I-130... Your USC husband however is...

I-130 is a petition for Immediate relative of a US citizen... Are you an immediate relative of a US citizen? If so, you qualify and your husband can petition for you..... Just becuase you are eligible to be petitioned for does not guarantee anything, as you are currently and will continue to be subject to deportation until status has been changed....

The best advice I can provide is to seek competant legal advice....

Edited June 9, 2008 by fwaguy

[kalexdricah 0]

I'm an immediate relative of the citizen if I'm already married to him right? : /

[Reba 2]

Yes.

[Stillness 0]

Honestly you probably will want to consider hiring a lawyer.

At this point you do not want to leave the country as you will be slapped with a 10 year ban due to being out of status for so long.

Everything probably seems both very scary and confusing, I know I felt the same way. My husband and I were completely clueless about the whole process when we got married, and as I started to learn about it, it quite honestly scared me to death. The idea of a 10 year ban was especially horrifying.

The main issue that I can see based on your description will be the matter of intent...Did you enter the US as a visitor with the intent of getting married and staying here? If so, that is visa fraud and is illegal and will put you in a very difficult situation.

If however you entered the country with the intent to visit, and later decided/ended up getting married, you can file for the AOS in the same way everyone else does when they are already in the country.

You didn't include a lot of details in your post, so I don't know your situation, but you might look into a consultation with a lawyer.

[notrepetiteashley 0]

Look at my timeline. Practically the same exact thing happened to us. My husband (Canadian) got his green card approved in April of 2006. We never used a lawyer. If you have any questions about what we went through, please feel free to ask me. I can tell you this (everyone else has said it, too): Do not leave the US! We actually did leave the US (we were naive) after we were married and tried to get back in. Bad idea. I know our story started about 5 years ago and the laws may have changed, but if you need any support, emotional or advice, just let me know and we can exchange email addresses.

Best of luck!