I think this is the right place to ask

[ButterflyTerry 0]

A good friend of mine recently married a girl from somewhere in Canada. Neither of them work and she is just here on a visitors visa. She is telling all of us that all she needs to do is wait 90 days from the wedding date then go down to the court house and get her green card. She is planning on staying in FL in the meantime.

Does this sound right? Is it really that easy? His brother told us that he was asked to sponsor her- Does that mean he is financially responsible for her until she gets her green card?

None of us would care, but all she talks about is getting pregnant neither of them have insurance and neither of them work.

Thoughts? I think hes getting hosed here...............

I should ad that I was asked to sponsor her if her brother in law backs out or cant do it. I guess I dont want this on my shoulders, if you know what I mean.

[Bobby+Umit 161]

A good friend of mine recently married a girl from somewhere in Canada. Neither of them work and she is just here on a visitors visa. She is telling all of us that all she needs to do is wait 90 days from the wedding date then go down to the court house and get her green card. She is planning on staying in FL in the meantime.

Does this sound right? Is it really that easy?

Could be easy - may have to explain intent on entering - but that is down the road.

His brother told us that he was asked to sponsor her- Does that mean he is financially responsible for her until she gets her green card?

Yes, he will be responsible for her. But it goes beyond the greencard. Either she has 40 qtrs of work (10 years worth of work full time), she becomes an USC, she abandons LPR status, she dies, or he dies, these are the only ways that support stops.

None of us would care, but all she talks about is getting pregnant neither of them have insurance and neither of them work.

That would not be advisable - if they need someone to sponsor them, they may not have the means to support a child...

Thoughts? I think hes getting hosed here...............

Who? the sponsor or the friend?

I should ad that I was asked to sponsor her if her brother in law backs out or cant do it.

It's a big responsibility....

I guess I dont want this on my shoulders, if you know what I mean.

[Tygrys 143]

A good friend of mine recently married a girl from somewhere in Canada. Neither of them work and she is just here on a visitors visa. She is telling all of us that all she needs to do is wait 90 days from the wedding date then go down to the court house and get her green card. She is planning on staying in FL in the meantime.

Does this sound right? Is it really that easy?

Could be easy - may have to explain intent on entering - but that is down the road.

His brother told us that he was asked to sponsor her- Does that mean he is financially responsible for her until she gets her green card?

Yes, he will be responsible for her. But it goes beyond the greencard. Either she has 40 qtrs of work (10 years worth of work full time), she becomes an USC, she abandons LPR status, she dies, or he dies, these are the only ways that support stops.

None of us would care, but all she talks about is getting pregnant neither of them have insurance and neither of them work.

That would not be advisable - if they need someone to sponsor them, they may not have the means to support a child...

Thoughts? I think hes getting hosed here...............

Who? the sponsor or the friend?

I should ad that I was asked to sponsor her if her brother in law backs out or cant do it.

It's a big responsibility....

I guess I dont want this on my shoulders, if you know what I mean.

No, it is not THAT easy. She cannot get her green card at the courthouse. They will have to deal with USCIS.

[ButterflyTerry 0]

so how long does this whole thing take? She is counting on being able to work in 90 days since they dont have any money at all!

[Carlawarla 1]

A good friend of mine recently married a girl from somewhere in Canada. Neither of them work and she is just here on a visitors visa. She is telling all of us that all she needs to do is wait 90 days from the wedding date then go down to the court house and get her green card. She is planning on staying in FL in the meantime.

Does this sound right? Is it really that easy? His brother told us that he was asked to sponsor her- Does that mean he is financially responsible for her until she gets her green card?

None of us would care, but all she talks about is getting pregnant neither of them have insurance and neither of them work.

Thoughts? I think hes getting hosed here...............

I should ad that I was asked to sponsor her if her brother in law backs out or cant do it. I guess I dont want this on my shoulders, if you know what I mean.

Hi Terry!

It would be a great idea if your friend and/or his wife come to this site, join up and start reading....

I'll briefly tell you a few things you may want to let them know right now though.

If she came down for a visit, and she didn't come down with the intent of marrying and staying, then this could in fact be legal. The whole thing is "intent". A Canadian citizen can come down and marry, then return to Canada, and they can file a K-3 or CR-1 visa for her to legally immigrate here to the U.S.

If they planned for her to come down and marry, and then stay, and adjust status after she was here, then that would be visa fraud.

I'll let you answer what you know first however. If it was their intent for her to come marry, and stay...then she'd best go back within 180 days of her arrival, and they'd best take the legal route.

Anyway, if it wasn't their intent to do this when she visited, and it was a spur of the moment decision to marry, then she can stay and adjust status. You don't just go down to courthouse however and get a Green card. She has to apply for an Adjustment of Status, which is just over $1000.00 (and additional costs as she didn't have a medical, vaccinations etc. before arriving...) and apply as well for Employment Authorization and Advanced Parole. Those last two application fees are rolled into the Adjustment of Status.

Her now husband has to make above the poverty line for whomever he will be supporting, and if they don't have the funds...you mentioned he doesn't work, then yes, they will have to have a co-sponsor for the application. Here's the USCIS's definition of a sponsor:

If you are bringing a relative to live permanently in the United States, you must accept legal responsibility for financially supporting this family member. You accept this responsibility and become your relative's sponsor by completing and signing a document called an affidavit of support. This legally enforceable responsibility lasts until your relative becomes a U.S. citizen or can be credited with 40 quarters of work (usually 10 years.)

If he doesn't make enough money to sponsor his wife, then there are provisions to have a co-sponsor. Here is the USCIS description of this sponsorship:

If the visa petitioner's household income is not sufficient to meet the requirements of INA section 213A and 8 CFR section 213a, INA section 213A permits a joint sponsor to sign an affidavit of support, in addition to the affidavit of support signed by the visa petitioner. A joint sponsor is someone who is willing to accept legal responsibility for supporting your family member with you. A joint sponsor must meet all the same requirements as you, except the joint sponsor does not need to be related to the immigrant. The joint sponsor (or the joint sponsor and his or her household) must reach the 125 percent income requirement alone. You cannot combine your income with that of a joint sponsor to meet the income requirement.

I don't know if his brother, or yourself are interested in that...it's not "just until she gets a greencard". He or his sponsor need to make 125% of the Poverty Line.

Here are the 2009 Poverty Guidelines:

http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-864P.pdf

Hope this info helps!

Edited August 4, 2009 by Carlawarla

[ButterflyTerry 0]

wow- thanks for the advice.

they met a few months ago while she was here on vacation, and she has visited a few times, but she definately came with the intent of getting married- they planned the wedding for months! The last I heard she was going to fly home and drive back with all of her stuff, she was hoping to do this after she got her greencard and worked for awhile to save some money.

wow- i dont think they are doing this the right way at all!

[Carlawarla 1]

wow- thanks for the advice.

they met a few months ago while she was here on vacation, and she has visited a few times, but she definately came with the intent of getting married- they planned the wedding for months! The last I heard she was going to fly home and drive back with all of her stuff, she was hoping to do this after she got her greencard and worked for awhile to save some money.

wow- i dont think they are doing this the right way at all!

Sounds like they both didn't do their homework at all. Without applying for the AOS, EAD, and AP, she can't even leave the country to go pick up her stuff anyway. Well, she can....but she won't be able to get back in! She's going to have to prove to the authorities when applying for her AOS that she didn't intent to come down, marry and stay. If she's denied her adjustment of status because they deemed that she was trying to circumverent the visa process, she will be denied, will be deported, and there is no appeal process.

They really, REALLY, need to come here to the site, and start reading up on what they need to do at this point. My advise would be that she goes back to Canada and come down when she gets a visa to do so. They can apply now, while she's here even, so they can start the process, so that's a good thing...then they won't be apart too long before she's here in the legal way.