Marrying an illegal alien... please help!?

[sLavik 0]

Hello,

My name is Stanislav, 23 years old, reside in Seattle, Washington, lived in US for 14 years, for 10 years been naturalized us citizen. I'm currently with my girlfriend who's also Russian, moved here about 2 years ago, she was here on a J1 Visa the work & travel program. Her visa expired about a year ago, which makes her an illegal here, I was wondering what will happen if me and her get married? Will she become legal? What sort of forms or anything else do i need to do before we get married? Are there any steps that i need to take before we go to court for this marriage? I'm also most likely leaving into the National Guard or Marines.... Anyways please help me out on what I should do? She can't work or do nothing...... i love her so i was thinking if getting married to her can solve that problem by becoming legal, be able to live, work, have a decent life together, everything else legally... will this cost a lot of money? We are just thinking about going to the courthouse file the papers for marriage, or is that the wrong step? Will they deport her if they find out her status is illegal when we go file papers for marriagel? Also if theres anything else I missed to ask please include with best options and advice for this! THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

[john_and_marlene 162]

Does her J1 have a 2 year home resident requirement?

[sLavik 0]

Does her J1 have a 2 year home resident requirement?

no it doesn't, but im not positively sure, why what's the case between that if does or doesn't?

[oceansea1 0]

Does her J1 have a 2 year home resident requirement?

no it doesn't, but im not positively sure, why what's the case between that if does or doesn't?

i think that she will have little problems because of overstaying visa if she marries you, but if she has a 2-year residency requirement that might be a problem. check her expired j-1 visa. there should be stated whether the two year rule applied or not.

if she was an au pair, she should not have a 2 year residency requirement, but if she went to school, she might have it. just check her visa.

[john_and_marlene 162]

Does her J1 have a 2 year home resident requirement?

no it doesn't, but im not positively sure, why what's the case between that if does or doesn't?

If there is no resident requirement, you can get married and apply for adjustment of status. She came to the U.S. legally, but has an overstay. The overstay will be forgiven if the adjustment of status is approved. While waiting for the adjustment of status to be approved, she should not leave the U.S. for any reason. Advance parole will not provide her with the ability to reenter the U.S. while the AOS is pending because of the overstay.

If there is a resident requirement with her J1 visa, she can request a waiver, but there is no chance it will be granted. If it isn't granted, the AOS will be denied and she will be required to return home to satisfy that requirement. If she has to return to satisfy the requirement, the overstay will cause a ban to reentry (3 years for overstays between 180 days and 1 year; 10 years for overstays more than 1 year). If this happens, you can still petition for her to return, but a waiver will have to be granted for the overstay and there is no guarantee the waiver would be granted.

[Krikit 1,165]

Moving thread to the AOS From Other Visa forum. Good luck, Stanislav.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Hello,

My name is Stanislav, 23 years old, reside in Seattle, Washington, lived in US for 14 years, for 10 years been naturalized us citizen. I'm currently with my girlfriend who's also Russian, moved here about 2 years ago, she was here on a J1 Visa the work & travel program. Her visa expired about a year ago, which makes her an illegal here, I was wondering what will happen if me and her get married? Will she become legal? What sort of forms or anything else do i need to do before we get married? Are there any steps that i need to take before we go to court for this marriage? I'm also most likely leaving into the National Guard or Marines.... Anyways please help me out on what I should do? She can't work or do nothing...... i love her so i was thinking if getting married to her can solve that problem by becoming legal, be able to live, work, have a decent life together, everything else legally... will this cost a lot of money? We are just thinking about going to the courthouse file the papers for marriage, or is that the wrong step? Will they deport her if they find out her status is illegal when we go file papers for marriagel? Also if theres anything else I missed to ask please include with best options and advice for this! THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

You are free to marry her, she does not have to be "legal" to get married. Marrying her will not make her a legal immigrant. It WILL make her legally married. She may have a problem, both with her initial visa and her overstay with adjusting status.

There is also the problem your marriage could be viewed as a way to circumvent immigration laws...visa fraud. I doubt it.

I would read all the forums and guides very carefully and go to the USCIS websites and review all means of AOS. Particularly as they apply to her J1 visa as some have a requirement she return to her country for some period of time before being granted another visa

[WalkonWildSide 0]

Does her J1 have a 2 year home resident requirement?

no it doesn't, but im not positively sure, why what's the case between that if does or doesn't?

If she does have the 2 year home residency requirement she HAS to go back to Russia before applying for an immigrant visa.

If she does not have the 2 year home residency requirement -- you need a lawyer to help you with the overstay problem.

Additionally if you are planning on entering the military you need to get all of this worked out really quick, numerous military positions require security clearances, and the illegal live-in girlfriend will cause a problem. The FBI will tell DHS about the situation.

It sucks, but better to clear things up as quickly as possible. On the plus side usually an applicant can stay in the USA while waiting for the status to be cleared up.

Best of luck to you.

[KIMCORENE 0]

Does her J1 have a 2 year home resident requirement?

no it doesn't, but im not positively sure, why what's the case between that if does or doesn't?

If she does have the 2 year home residency requirement she HAS to go back to Russia before applying for an immigrant visa.

Unless she is able to get the requirement waived, then she doesn't.That would depend on a number of factors.

If she does not have the 2 year home residency requirement -- you need a lawyer to help you with the overstay problem.

Additionally if you are planning on entering the military you need to get all of this worked out really quick, numerous military positions require security clearances, and the illegal live-in girlfriend will cause a problem. The FBI will tell DHS about the situation.

It sucks, but better to clear things up as quickly as possible. On the plus side usually an applicant can stay in the USA while waiting for the status to be cleared up.

Best of luck to you.

[sLavik 0]

Does her J1 have a 2 year home resident requirement?

I found out that she does not have the 2 year home residency requirement... Also if i marry her is there a chance when they will find out she was an illegal here they can deport her?

[KIMCORENE 0]

Does her J1 have a 2 year home resident requirement?

I found out that she does not have the 2 year home residency requirement... Also if i marry her is there a chance when they will find out she was an illegal here they can deport her?

I've never heard that happening-they don't check immigration status to issue a marriage license.

[SuperDuper! 230]

This is one of the few times that I will recommend an immigration lawyer. Dont guess or go on the cheap with your futures. Good Luck!

[Old Dominion 26]

By all means, get married if that is what you both want to do. Then get the paperwork going for the work permit and green card. Expect to pay maybe $1,800 for the fees & medical exam, etc. Once Immigration (USCIS) issues a receipt for the application, her status is protected until the green card is acted upon.

But because of what you write, this is not a case where you can do it by yourselves. You, or someone, will need to have enough income to sponsor her at 25% above the poverty level (about $18,000 per year) and be able to prove it. I suspect that with your military situation, things are so complicated that a lawyer is needed as soon as you marry. Depending on your income, you may qualify for a lawyer through your local Legal Aid Society or through the Catholic Charities of the Catholic Church. Catholic Charities has immigration specialists on its staff, and they will help advise you.

[GlobeHopperMama 95]

I just want to comment on the issue of getting an immigration attorney. DEFINITELY a good idea to, at the very least, consult with a good one prior to embarking on an immigration adventure, and when there are issues of overstay and unlawful presence, it's extremely recommendable.

Unfortunately, there are MANY MANY immigration lawyers who are not entirely well-versed in these issues, especially with the home-residency requirements and such. Simply getting ANY immigration attorney to work on your case can be problematic. It is often better to work on your own than to trust your case to a lawyer who doesn't understand.

If you visit www.immigrate2us.net, there is a list of recommended attorneys who have been proven to be successful with overstay/unlawful presence, waivers, and the like. That site is also a great resource for anyone getting married with unlawful presence in the picture.

Good luck to you!

[JeroenAndMichelle 28]

I kind of wonder if what you guys say is true... As you all read, her visa expired a year ago, this will give her a bar and makes her inadmissible for 10 years.. please notice: someone can be unlawfully in the US (like this guys' fiance) and still be inadmissible at the same time. In my understanding this would mean that she will not be able to stay in the US as she is ineligible and she might actually be deported. Also, I am afraid that the USCIS will most likely think that her wanting to marry now is a way for her to try and stay in the US (not saying it is like this but it is what they might think).

Anyways, you might want to read this also: http://www.temple.edu/ois/pdfs/Overstayand...eprovisions.pdf or this page on google books: http://books.google.com/books?id=8vNnXnJCh...lt&resnum=5 (the example about the Korean student).

There is, btw, a lot of info if you do a search on Google.. and like the rest said, see what an immigration lawyer will say and can do

Good luck!