Spouse Of US Green Card Holder

[sahar99 0]

Hi,

Please help me here. I am a Canadian who is married to a US green card holder. I have been living in US for the past 8 months doing study. My husband got his GC through his previous marriage ((Legally divorced)) who will be eligible to apply for his US citizenship in July 2014. We are married outside USA and my husband is not filling me as his wife since we are reading all these rules that he has to be a permanent resident for 5 years before he can petition for me (since he got his green card through his previous marriage) OR has to go through a lot of paperwork proving his last marriage was legit and so on …. And even by doing all that we have to wait 5 years, however if he gets his citizenship in 2014 its going to be way easier and faster, so we decided to not declare our marriage and wait, If the US immigration even ask we will tell them the same story that we are waiting for his citizenship.

Questions are:

1. Is it not right to tell them that we are married, however we will if they ask, I am living with my husband BUT under my own rights (A student), I think it is our own choice; US immigration should not interfere into this?

2. I am pregnant and will give birth to a child in 4 months. What will be this child’s nationality?

3. If this child is an American citizen (which I assume she is) Is this going to benefit me in any shape of form?

4. Say we waited until my husband becomes a US citizen and I have to apply for my residency here in US, do I have to go back to Canada? What will happen to my 1 year child ? would they accept my application to adjust my status here in US based on my child’s citizenship ?

Thank You.

[fresia 1]

...

Questions are:

1. Is it not right to tell them that we are married, however we will if they ask, I am living with my husband BUT under my own rights (A student), I think it is our own choice; US immigration should not interfere into this? I believe this is right

2. I am pregnant and will give birth to a child in 4 months. What will be this child’s nationality? The child will have USA nationality!

3. If this child is an American citizen (which I assume she is) Is this going to benefit me in any shape of form? No, unfortunately you as a parent can not benefit until child turns 21 and become legally capable of applying for you

4. Say we waited until my husband becomes a US citizen and I have to apply for my residency here in US, do I have to go back to Canada? What will happen to my 1 year child ? would they accept my application to adjust my status here in US based on my child’s citizenship ? If your husband is US citizen you can adjust your status while you are legally in USA. Check other topics in this forum.

Thank You.

Please do consider other answers regarding to your questions. These answers are only my personal opinion.

[GlobeHopperMama 95]

1. Is it not right to tell them that we are married, however we will if they ask, I am living with my husband BUT under my own rights (A student), I think it is our own choice; US immigration should not interfere into this?

I'm not sure exactly what you mean here, but you are legally married in the US and it is legally recognized in the US if your marriage was legal in the place where it was performed and if it is legal by the laws of the state where you live. Anyway, yeah, if asked, you have to say you are married. But I'm wondering how you anticipate being asked? Do you mean when entering/exiting the US? If so, yeah, there's some risk there. You don't want to be accused of concealing information to gain entry to the US. If you mean when your husband naturalizes, yes, of course he will need to disclose the marriage on the N-400. In general, though, it's not like you have to voluntarily report your marriage to someone. If your husband's work or your school asks for proof of marriage, for example, you just submit your Canadian marriage certificate. But otherwise, no action has to be taken.

2. I am pregnant and will give birth to a child in 4 months. What will be this child's nationality?

Your child, if born in the US, will be American by birth (jus soli). If born in Canada, I believe he/she will be Canadian by birth under the same grounds. In either case, the child can normally obtain the other nationality by parental bloodlines (jus sanguinis) by reporting the baby's birth at the consulate of the other country. For example, if born in Canada, you would go to the US embassy or consulate and file a Consular Report of Birth Abroad, after which you would get a US-issued birth certificate stating that the baby was born a US citizen in another country, and they would issue a US passport. Vise versa for Canada if the baby is born in the US. So ultimately, the baby could hold both nationalities, but you need to make sure the baby always enters each country with that country's passport to avoid problems.

3. If this child is an American citizen (which I assume she is) Is this going to benefit me in any shape of form?

Really no. She would not be able to petition you until she reaches age 21, and I'm assuming by then you'll have been a citizen for quite a while.

4. Say we waited until my husband becomes a US citizen and I have to apply for my residency here in US, do I have to go back to Canada? What will happen to my 1 year child ? would they accept my application to adjust my status here in US based on my child's citizenship ?

Your child's citizenship would not come into play for adjustment of status. A child under 21 is not a qualifying petitioner as stated above. When your husband becomes a citizen, your status could be adjusted and any visa overstay would be forgiven due to marriage to a US citizen. However, in the meantime, you could be deportable. This in itself is iffy because I believe Canadians are usually granted "Duration of Status" which means you're actually not out of status until an immigration judge declares you are, but anyway, it's something to tread carefully on, especially if you're planning to make trips in and out of the US, and really it's best to talk to a trustworthy immigration lawyer about this.

If you are required to go to Canada in order to avoid unlawful presence, it's up to you and your husband to determine who takes care of the child. In my husband's and my case, our son stayed with me. I've seen some parents decide to have the child remain with the father (for example, when Mom's job is more lucrative and daycare is more expensive where she is). But in most cases, especially with a baby that young, baby stays with Mom.

[sahar99 0]

I'm not sure exactly what you mean here, but you are legally married in the US and it is legally recognized in the US if your marriage was legal in the place where it was performed and if it is legal by the laws of the state where you live. Anyway, yeah, if asked, you have to say you are married. But I'm wondering how you anticipate being asked? Do you mean when entering/exiting the US? If so, yeah, there's some risk there. You don't want to be accused of concealing information to gain entry to the US. If you mean when your husband naturalizes, yes, of course he will need to disclose the marriage on the N-400. In general, though, it's not like you have to voluntarily report your marriage to someone. If your husband's work or your school asks for proof of marriage, for example, you just submit your Canadian marriage certificate. But otherwise, no action has to be taken.

We got married in Iran and our marriage cert is from Iran. Yes you are right the only place that we are thinking would be the border where they asks questions of why are you visiting US. The reason my husband doesn’t want to file my paperwork now because he got his green card through his previous marriage and according to our understanding he is NOT allowed to petition for another (spouse) until he becomes a USC or a period of 5 years is elapse being a green card holder (which in this case we have to wait longer) so we decided to wait until he become citizen. Now another question is can if I am coming from Canada and I am being asked and , Ofcourse #1 answer is I am going to my studies but if they ask who are you staying with and I answer my green card holder husband, don’t you think they will ask why would you guys not applying for your residency paperwork if your husband is in US? Should I tell them the same story as mentioned above ? Would this stopping me entering to the US based on I will be an intending resident since my husband is in US?

Your child's citizenship would not come into play for adjustment of status. A child under 21 is not a qualifying petitioner as stated above. When your husband becomes a citizen, your status could be adjusted and any visa overstay would be forgiven due to marriage to a US citizen. However, in the meantime, you could be deportable. This in itself is iffy because I believe Canadians are usually granted "Duration of Status" which means you're actually not out of status until an immigration judge declares you are, but anyway, it's something to tread carefully on, especially if you're planning to make trips in and out of the US, and really it's best to talk to a trustworthy immigration lawyer about this. If you are required to go to Canada in order to avoid unlawful presence, it's up to you and your husband to determine who takes care of the child. In my husband's and my case, our son stayed with me. I've seen some parents decide to have the child remain with the father (for example, when Mom's job is more lucrative and daycare is more expensive where she is). But in most cases, especially with a baby that young, baby stays with Mom.

I did not get the word ‘’FORGIVEN’’ so according to our understanding a Canadian is allowed to stay in US for the period of 180 without visa if they are visiting and or studying. So what if I give birth to this child and I am in US for 182 days they will forgive me, when we will apply for adjustment of my status, we ‘ve read about being overstayed banned for 3 – 5 or 10 years from the US .. alittle scared of that ?

So say I am in USA for a period of 7 months and my husband becomes a USC and we are ready to apply for my adjustment of status, do we need to file I-130? Or ‘’adjustment of status’’?

Would they forgive me being spouse of a USC having a US born child and stayed over 180 days in USA, is this something said in their immigration rules because you’ve said (However, in the meantime, you could be deportable)?

Do I have to go back to Canada or we can file in US?

I can make trips in and out of every 180 days to avoid not being overstayed but I will go see my parents for a week and return back to the US. I don’t want them to stop me not seeing my child …. The reason I am asking all these questions because my husband is working in US and we are planning to settle down in US my kid will be in US and I don’t or cannot be apart from my child because they wanted me to stay outside of US 180 days in a year if I am just a Canadian visitor… the reason I asked would my US born will help me or not? Was here, we know the child cannot petition for me as mother until he/she is not reaching the age of 21. So If my child is in US and I wanted to stay with her until my husband becomes a USC in mid-2014 and ready to file for me and would this be a valid reason to address to CBP ?

Thanks.

[Anh map 2,098]

You and your husband need to sit down and think through your future plans. Wishing and hoping only leads to disappointment in the circumstances you are describing.

Leaving the US for a week every 6months will get you stopped at the border at some point. Visitors do not live in the US, they come for short periods of time and then return to their home.

There is nothing "magical" for immigration purposes about having a child born in the US. You wanting to stay in the US with a USC child will not matter as far as immigration law or the CBP are concerned.

Not being truthful (lying) at the border can lead to bans for US entry. Choose your path carefully.

[sahar99 0]

You and your husband need to sit down and think through your future plans. Wishing and hoping only leads to disappointment in the circumstances you are describing.

Leaving the US for a week every 6months will get you stopped at the border at some point. Visitors do not live in the US, they come for short periods of time and then return to their home.

There is nothing "magical" for immigration purposes about having a child born in the US. You wanting to stay in the US with a USC child will not matter as far as immigration law or the CBP are concerned.

Not being truthful (lying) at the border can lead to bans for US entry. Choose your path carefully.

Thank You!

I did not get the word ‘’FORGIVEN’’ so according to our understanding a Canadian is allowed to stay in US for the period of 180 without visa if they are visiting and or studying. So what if I give birth to this child and I am in US for 182 days they will forgive me, when we will apply for adjustment of my status, we ‘ve read about being overstayed banned for 3 – 5 or 10 years from the US .. alittle scared of that ?

So say I am in USA for a period of 7 months and my husband becomes a USC and we are ready to apply for my adjustment of status, do we need to file I-130? Or ‘’adjustment of status’’?

Would they forgive me being spouse of a USC having a US born child and stayed over 180 days in USA, is this something said in their immigration rules because you’ve said (However, in the meantime, you could be deportable)?

Do I have to go back to Canada or we can file in US?

I can make trips in and out of every 180 days to avoid not being overstayed but I will go see my parents for a week and return back to the US. I don’t want them to stop me not seeing my child …. The reason I am asking all these questions because my husband is working in US and we are planning to settle down in US my kid will be in US and I don’t or cannot be apart from my child because they wanted me to stay outside of US 180 days in a year if I am just a Canadian visitor… the reason I asked would my US born will help me or not? Was here, we know the child cannot petition for me as mother until he/she is not reaching the age of 21. So If my child is in US and I wanted to stay with her until my husband becomes a USC in mid-2014 and ready to file for me and would this be a valid reason to address to CBP ?

Thanks.

Any other thoughts, You good friends here? much appreciated!