Filing AOS for someone already in the US?

[Ikonomi 0]

Hello everyone. I would really appreciate some advice. Maybe someone here has gone through a similar situation and can help us decide what to do.

My wife came here on a student visa shortly before we met about three years ago. Her visa has since expired, but she remained in the US illegally, and we are recently married and trying to get her green card. Her father filed to bring her to the US in like 1993, but the lawyer they had (and still had until last year) screwed up the papers and her application was put on hold while the rest of her family was allowed to immigrate. She let her visa expire after she did not receive any correspondence from USCIS (the lawyer gave USCIS the address of his office as her family's address and moved to a new location without informing them). Her family-based case was closed due to non-communication, and just re-opened after her family contacted USCIS recently.

She has since been working in the US, and just got a new job after we were married (09/27/06).

I'm really worried that her illegal status is going to cause some problems. If we fill in the information about her current employment, can it cause problems with her I-485 or her job? What should she fill in for her immigration status, "N/A"? She already had fingerprints taken when she entered on her student visa. Does she need to do them again? Can the fact that she already has a family-based application (I don't know if it's on hold or what) with USCIS affect us getting her green card based on marriage?

I mean, there's just so many little questions that add up to one big doubt. We have been piecing together as much information as possible from different sources, but there's still a lot up in the air. We even paid a $25 fee to speak to the "Departamento de Informacion" at an immigration lawyer's office, and they just told us that either we pay them $1800 to take the case or they can't give us any advice. I hate dealing with people like this and I just want to get this thing done so we don't have to worry about it anymore.

If you guys and gals have any advice based on my wife's situation, I'd really love to hear it. There seem to be a lot of knowledgeable people here.

Sorry for any spelling errors, by the way. It's late here. Thank you for reading. We appreciate any help anyone can give us.

[kim&james 0]

This is a very tough situation and hopefully someone here will be able to help but the best advice I can give is shop around a few more immigration attornies... I think you are going to need one due to the complexity of your wifes situation.

Some lawyers will give an initial consultation for little money so please check around ... also make sure they are members of Aila but Im sure that some who are using lawyers on here will let you know if they have a good one ...

very best wishes to you and your wife...

[cdnchris 0]

If she entered the country legally (which it sounds like, since you say she had a visa) then it's not too big a deal, as USCIS forgives overstays where marriage to a US citizen is involved. As well, they will also forgive working illegally, though there's a chance the employer could get in trouble and you may have the IRS coming after you sometime down the road (can't tell you for sure, though.) But they won't deny a green card on those conditions alone.

I'd still recommend an immigration attorney, though, at least a consultation. It sounds like she had a previous application (from what I can gather from your post) and I'm not sure if that's an issue, especially if it was denied (which it almost sounds like but I'm not sure.)

At any rate, to answer some other questions, she will have to be fingerprinted when she sends in all the forms. An appointment is set up and she will go in to a local office and have her prints and picture taken.

On the form, when it asks what she last entered as, you would put whatever her visa was for and the expiration date. When it asks for current status I believe you would put "Out of Status"

[bennyb 0]

Just a question. Where did you get married? My fiance also overstayed, and we wish to get married someplace safe, prefer in eastern US.

[Dr_LHA 3]

Just a question. Where did you get married? My fiance also overstayed, and we wish to get married someplace safe, prefer in eastern US.

Overstay won't affect where you get married. USCIS aren't going to hunt you down based on getting married.

As for the OP, it sounds like you should be OK. The overstay should be forgiven by USCIS, as long as your wife entered the country legally in the first place. The previous contact with USCIS (or I guess, INS) might be a gotcha, but honestly I doubt it.

[Killer_Clown_2009 0]

If you can afford it, you may want to contact a lawyer, also there are some lawyers who will give free advice on their immigration sites, if you want the name of one, please send me a message and I'll give it to you.

I think you would not want to put N/A down for her status. I would think you would put whatever the status was when she last entered the US (tourist, whatever kind of visa, etc) or possibly "out of status" as someone else suggested.

I've heard of many people in similar situations to yours who have gone through the immigration process successfully.

Benny:

My husband and I were married in Massachusetts, there were no issues at all about me being a Canadian, nothing asked about my status - they simply didn't care - I showed them my passport to verify my age (which seemed to be their only concern).

Edited November 14, 2006 by jane2005

[Yodrak 7]

Ikonomi,

Check with other attornies - not all operate like the one you mention.

The AILA web site has an attorney locator that you can use to find member attornies in your area.

Yodrak

...

I mean, there's just so many little questions that add up to one big doubt. We have been piecing together as much information as possible from different sources, but there's still a lot up in the air. We even paid a $25 fee to speak to the "Departamento de Informacion" at an immigration lawyer's office, and they just told us that either we pay them $1800 to take the case or they can't give us any advice. I hate dealing with people like this and I just want to get this thing done so we don't have to worry about it anymore.

If you guys and gals have any advice based on my wife's situation, I'd really love to hear it. ....

Edited November 14, 2006 by Yodrak