Concerns about circumstances

[BladeRunner 0]

Brand new member, some quick backstory, then a few questions.

My wife and I met playing online games, fell in love, and knew each other for about three years before deciding to meet in person to see if we still meshed like that. I tried to go to Canada for Christmas but was told In had too much stuff with me and didn't have enough ties to the states. So we arranged for her to fly to Vegas (where I lived for three years previously) because the flight was half of what it would have been to fly her to my hometown.

Things went swimmingly and talking to my grandfather a few days later, he reminded me that my grandma was from Canada and they got married on a whim during a trip to Vegas all those years ago. Long story short (too late) we pulled the trigger and got married.

We came back to Texas and settled in, and after a while talked to an immigration lawyer. She quoted us $4500 to change my wife's status while still in the states, and we couldn't afford that, so she told us to wait and save up. Said since my wife entered legally and is from Canada, overstaying was not technically illegal and just an "out of status" issue.

My wife had to go back earlier this month, but her total time here was just over two years. I know that probably made things worse for us, but it wasn't intentional and we just really didn't have many options at the time.

She is in Canada now and we are starting to get things together to submit the i130, but I have a few concerns.

1) Any idea how much the overstay will hinder us? Should special attention be paid to explain it?

2) When she entered, the intent was just to spend a few weeks together, then either go with her back to Canada or her go back alone and decide where to go from there. Actually getting married right then and there was just a spur of the moment thing. As such, we didn't have any family with us, though we told them as soon as we decided to do it and all supported us, and we've been together and happy for all of the two years since. Is this likely to be a roadblock and what can we do to show that we had no fraudulent intent, just didn't really think through all the legalities?

3) I got a job recently, but prior to that, I was largely acting as caretaker for my elderly grandfather. I (we) live with him in his home. My only income was small odd jobs which earned well below the tax filing threshold. My grandfather is willing to joint sponsor and is qualified, but for my i864, how do I prove that I was unemployed and not required to file taxes? Would including current employment information (around two months, to date) be of any benefit?

4) Does my situation warrant getting a lawyer for help? I know most of the posts here say that the process is easy, just time consuming and that the expense of a lawyer is usually just wasted money, but do any of these circumstances seem detrimental enough that a lawyer might be worth the money?

Thanks for any help, I apologize if this should be more common knowledge or if this is in the wrong spot, just found you guys a bit ago and I'm turning myself inside out with stress.

[aaron2020 11,651]

Your wife is not going to get tagged for entering and marrying. She is going to get tagged for living in the US illegally for 2 years.

1. With a 2 years overstay, your wife has a 10 years ban from the US. The I-130 will be approved. The immigration visa will be denied because of her 10 years ban. You will need to file for a discretionary waiver and prove you will suffer a hardship if she is refused a visa.

2. How she entered and married you are not issues.

3. You simply provide a signed letter explaining you did not meet the income requirements requiring you to file a US tax return. That's all.

4. You want the lawyer for the waiver. To be frank - you have really ###### this up by letting her leave the US.

Since you have chosen not to do it the legal way, you have made it much more costly in terms of money and created stress by taking the shortcut you took without getting her a green card.

[Boiler 46,143]

Normally a 2 year 'visit' would be a 10 year ban and require a waiver.

However being a Canadian they are usually admitted duration of status so she may well be OK.

All the other issues are dealt with by the Guides.