Marriage during Visa Waiver - hire an attorney or not?

[tevs 0]

Hi, I am new on this site and am so thankful there is a resource out there with answers to what seems to have great potential for a lot of confusion. In short, my German boyfriend that I met on the internet about one year ago came to visit me a second time on the visa waiver program on 12/23/08. Last week we decided to marry and had a quick last minute wedding ceremony. We did not intend to marry when he entered here on the visa waiver program. He was coming for the holidays originally but decided to stay longer as he retired from the German military and they give a two year pension after that so he is not in a rush to look for a job. This is the reason he was able to stay longer. I have read quite a bit that lots of people on here file the necessary paperwork themselves rather than hiring an attorney. I was wondering if anyone else on here had similar circumstances as above and the U.S. spouse filed for adjustment of status and all necessary paperwork while the foreign spouse stayed in the United States, but did this on their own without hiring an attorney. Any advice or sharing of stories would be much appreciated!

Svet

[Bobby+Umit 161]

Hi, I am new on this site and am so thankful there is a resource out there with answers to what seems to have great potential for a lot of confusion. In short, my German boyfriend that I met on the internet about one year ago came to visit me a second time on the visa waiver program on 12/23/08. Last week we decided to marry and had a quick last minute wedding ceremony. We did not intend to marry when he entered here on the visa waiver program. He was coming for the holidays originally but decided to stay longer as he retired from the German military and they give a two year pension after that so he is not in a rush to look for a job. This is the reason he was able to stay longer. I have read quite a bit that lots of people on here file the necessary paperwork themselves rather than hiring an attorney. I was wondering if anyone else on here had similar circumstances as above and the U.S. spouse filed for adjustment of status and all necessary paperwork while the foreign spouse stayed in the United States, but did this on their own without hiring an attorney. Any advice or sharing of stories would be much appreciated!

Svet

Sounds like a straight forward AOS - since the intent was to visit, not marriage.

Read the guides above and good luck!