I want to marry my love, an illegal immigrant

[mariposajperez 0]

Hello everyone, I am a USC engaged to a man from Guatemala who entered the U.S. illegally about 15 months ago and has lived and worked here ever since. We would like to get married in about a year, and he would like to return to Guate in about 3 years, only for a visit but not to stay. Ultimately, we want to live here permanently. Obviously, there is no way he could return from that trip legally unless we can somehow get him "legalized."

We are both a little unsure whether we should send him back to Guate and do a fiancee visa, or get married here and then file to "Bring a family member (spouse) to the U.S." I would prefer to get married first, because I think there would be less of a wait to bring him here legally that way. Also, it appears from what I've read, that he should not leave at this point unless absolutely necessary.

I'm surprised there isn't more info for people in my situation, but after a couple weeks of scouring this and the Immigrate2us forums, this is what seems to be ahead for my fiancee and me. Please, if there is anything yall can add to this, or if I am mistaken, please tell me!

1. We get married, here in the U.S.

2. Within ?? amount of time, file Form I-130.

3. Once form is approved, he gets a 2 year conditional visa. Within 3 months prior to its expiration, we file

for AOS (adjustment of status).

4. He has to return to Guatemala and files Form ?? and waits for an interview for his visa. In the

interview, he will state that he lived in the U.S. for XX amount of time, and was here illegally.

5. They will deny him his visa due to his previous unlawful presence here. He will then file Form I-601. I

will submit my hardship letter stating that I can’t possibly live in Guate due to financial and family

obligations, and possibly health reasons.

6. We wait for approval of the waiver, and then…?

Thanks for any and all advice!

[john_and_marlene 162]

There is a reason there is little information to be found for your situation. Short of some new law being passed, there is no way to adjust his status to remain legally. Since he entered without inspection (EWI), he will not be able to stay and adjust status. He will need to leave the U.S. and you will need to petition for him. He will not initially be eligible for a visa due to his illegal stay in the U.S., but you can submit a waiver request immediately following the denial.

[desert_fox 32]

Item 3. He doesnt get anything. Only the petition gets approved. At that time he returns to Guat City and files an application for a visa.

There is plenty of info available on here about similar situations.

Edited November 14, 2006 by desert_fox

[john_and_marlene 162]

Your 1,2, and 3 won't work.

Investigate 4,5, and 6.

[maryandatif 0]

Consult a Qualified Immigration Attorney

[Boiler 45,927]

1. We get married, here in the U.S.

2. Within ?? amount of time, file Form I-130.

3. Once form is approved, he gets a 2 year conditional visa. Within 3 months prior to its expiration, we file

for AOS (adjustment of status).

4. He has to return to Guatemala and files Form ?? and waits for an interview for his visa. In the

interview, he will state that he lived in the U.S. for XX amount of time, and was here illegally.

5. They will deny him his visa due to his previous unlawful presence here. He will then file Form I-601. I

will submit my hardship letter stating that I can’t possibly live in Guate due to financial and family

obligations, and possibly health reasons.

6. We wait for approval of the waiver, and then…?

Sort of surprised that if you have read here and immigrate2us.net that the situation is not clear:

1. OK

2. File straightaway

3 He goes to Guatamala for the Interview for IR1/CR1. Until than he is still illegal, liabnle to dpeortation etc etc.

4. It will be apparent from the application that he had illegal presence, you file the waiver when he is refused

5. See the examples of succesful waivers both here and on immigrate2us.net.

6. Assuming the waiver is granted, he would enter as probably a CR1. Grenncard Holder in plain language.

[lucyrich 20]

1. We get married, here in the U.S.

2. Within ?? amount of time, file Form I-130.

3. Once form is approved, he gets a 2 year conditional visa. Within 3 months prior to its expiration, we file

for AOS (adjustment of status).

4. He has to return to Guatemala and files Form ?? and waits for an interview for his visa. In the

interview, he will state that he lived in the U.S. for XX amount of time, and was here illegally.

5. They will deny him his visa due to his previous unlawful presence here. He will then file Form I-601. I

will submit my hardship letter stating that I can’t possibly live in Guate due to financial and family

obligations, and possibly health reasons.

6. We wait for approval of the waiver, and then…?

Not exactly, though not too far off. It's probably worth consulting with an attorney for a half hour or hour to discuss the process.

Note that you can do the visa before the marriage (K-, or the marriage before the visa. Your assumption that the marriage before the visa is faster isn't always true, though the timelines are always changing, and the differences are small. Assuming you do the marriage before the visa,

1. You get married, wherever you want to.

2. You file the I-130

[lucyrich 20]

Sorry for the fumble fingers, I posted before I intended to. If a moderator can remove the prior posting, that would be good. Otherwise, people should ignore it and read this one.

1. We get married, here in the U.S.

2. Within ?? amount of time, file Form I-130.

3. Once form is approved, he gets a 2 year conditional visa. Within 3 months prior to its expiration, we file

for AOS (adjustment of status).

4. He has to return to Guatemala and files Form ?? and waits for an interview for his visa. In the

interview, he will state that he lived in the U.S. for XX amount of time, and was here illegally.

5. They will deny him his visa due to his previous unlawful presence here. He will then file Form I-601. I

will submit my hardship letter stating that I can’t possibly live in Guate due to financial and family

obligations, and possibly health reasons.

6. We wait for approval of the waiver, and then…?

Not exactly, though not too far off. It's probably worth consulting with an attorney for a half hour or hour to discuss the process. In particular, the visa doesn't come with the I-130 approval, but only after the interview, denial, and subsequent waiver approval. There's no adjustment of status unless he comes in on a non-immigrant visa first.

Note that you can do the visa before the marriage (K-1 process), or the marriage before the visa (K-3/CR-1 process). Your assumption that the marriage before the visa is faster isn't always true, though the timelines are always changing, and the differences are probably small. Assuming you do the marriage before the visa,

1. You get married, wherever you want to.

2. You file the I-130

3. When you get the first NOA, a week or two after step 2, you can optionally file an I-129f to start the K-3

4. You wait and watch the forms go through the process. See the K-3 and CR-1 guides. So far, everything is just like any other couple going through the process.

5. Eventually, one or the other packages will make their way through the NVC and go to the consulate, and an interview will be scheduled.

6. At the interview, he'll be denied due to the ten year bar because of accumulating over a year of illegal presence. You'll then file for a waiver of the bar based on extreme hardship to a US Citizen.

7. After the waiver is approved, he can get a visa. By this time, the I-130 package will most likely made it to the consulate, so he'll probably get a CR-1 or IR-1 visa, depending on how long you two have been married at this point. If you've been married less than two years, he'll get a CR-1 visa, and he'll have conditional permanent residence (a two year Green Card) when he enters the US with that visa. You'll have to apply for removal of conditions a little less than two years after he enters.

Something you may want to discuss with that attorney which you should consult with: Be aware that, by filing that initial I-130, you'll be bringing his presence to the attention of the authorities. I don't know if that might be a risky thing to do while he's still in the US. The conservative thing to do is to have him leave the US at about the time the I-130 is filed, even though you want to stay together as long as possible. If he comes to the attention of the authorities and is deported, things will be more difficult, and they're already hard enough. The risks of having him stay may be acceptable to you, but at least you should discuss the potential risks with someone and make the decision with knowledge. Also discuss the penalties for re-entering a second time. If you're at all tempted to have him do that, don't.

Also, research what's required to prove that "extreme hardship" required of the waiver. Waiver approval is far from automatic. Some of the forums have records of decisions available, so you can get an idea of what is and isn't approvable. If you can find an attorney with a track record of experience in this sort of waivers, that experience could be very valuable to you.

Edited November 15, 2006 by lucyrich

[CarolineM 0]

I think that a consultation with a qualified immigration attorney would DEFINITELY be a good idea.

[Boiler 45,927]

Most Immigreation Lawyers are fairly useless on waivers.