I am married to a LPR, my i-130 got approved, Whats next?

[Propofol 1]

Hello fellows,
I will explain my whole story in details and I hope there will be some clear answers from someone here, I have worked with 2 Lawyers so far and there was no one giving me any clear info before the point I came into.

Anyway,
I entered the US on Nov 3rd 2013 on a B2 Visa (I came from Saudi Arabia, I was born in Saudi Arabia too) and I was authorized to stay for 6 months until May 2nd 2014 as I came here to do a Clinical Externship for US clinical experience for 3 months (I am a Doctor). During my stay here, I knew someone and then I traditionally proposed and we got married on December and our wedding was on Jan 15 (And yes it is a Bona-Fide marriage with all the needed proofs, Families got involved, lots of Friends, formal wedding parties and formal religious and cultural traditions were done). My wife is 17 years old and she has a GC and she came to the US as a refugee and gained the LPR status on April 27th 2009. My wife has petitioned the i-130 for me on January 13th and it got approved on 3rd March 2014. We didn't file i-485 or i-765 yet since she is still a LPR and my PD is not current.

Now my questions and concerns are:
1- Apparently my PD will not become current anytime soon, and my Authorized stay will expire soon. What is the best action to take in such case? Apply for Stay extension? OR travel outside the US and wait for my PD to become current?
2- What will happen if I overstayed here? They say overstay is forgiven for spouses of USC and not for spouses of LPR....What if my wife didnt get her citizenship and USCIS said that she has to turn 18 before she can apply for it?
3- My wife's parents sent their application for naturalization before couple of days, considering that my wife is 17 years old and married, will she be able to gain a Derivative Naturalization? if yes then what is the procedure? If no then would she has to wait until she is 18 before she can apply for naturalization on her own? Cant she apply on her own now since she is married and considered emancipated?

Thanks for your patience reading my case, and thanks in advance for any reply. Anything would help.

[Pitaya 2,577]

~Moved from Family-based AOS to Work, Student, Tourist-based AOS Forum~

~Adjusting from Tourist visa~

[HollyGolightly 72]

First off- congratulations on your marriage. I'm from the KSA too (grew up but not born there) and was in a sort of the same situation as you a few months back with the slight difference of marrying a USC and not an LPR.

As for your questions:

1) Since your authorized stay is about to expire, either of the options you mentioned will work. You can either apply for an extension and pay the fee or opt to just leave and wait for your priority date to become current. Waiting for your pd will probably take a while so leaving and not waisting money on filing for an extension seems to be the better option.

2) You are right about overstay being forgiven for USC spouses filing AOS. When your spouse gets naturalized (eventually) your overstay will not be an issue. Otherwise, you could face a ban for overstay and will likely be denied entry when you leave. The other option is to stick it out which could be a long and hard road ahead.

3) Your wife can get derivative status from her parent's naturalization provided they become citizens before she turns 18.

Weigh your options and see what path works best for you. I hop that helps, good luck!

[aussie_jason 195]

1. Normally you can extend your B2 but being already married with the intent to immigrate then that will likely be problematic, I think failing something asylum related your only real option at this stage is to return home and wait for your priority date to become current in order to get a IR1/CR1 visa

2. If you overstay then you would be at risk of deportation and it could negatively affect your eventual I-485 application especially if the overstay is substantial, I'm unsure how that would change if you illegally stayed until she was a citizen prior to applying for AOS

3. For Derivative Naturalization she would need to be in the custody of her parents - http://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume12-PartH-Chapter4.html#S-A%C2'>

[aussie_jason 195]

Where did the rest of my post go? damn gremlins...

Continued:

http://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume12-PartH-Chapter4.html#S-A

So seeing how she is married to you then that likely isn't the case, hence I believe she would have to wait until she is 18 and also has 5 years of permanent residence through her green card in order to become a USC.

[Propofol 1]

Hello Holly,

Thanks for your prompt answer and kind words. I am actually thinking about something mostly, which is to apply for the visa extension and then I stay here whether It got extended or not. BUT I would only consider this option once I am sure that my wife can get her derivative citizenship of her parents because by then things would be much easier.

Its just becoming abit complicated with all those circumstances, I know....

But, thanks for your reply and the info you provided

Hello Jason,

Thanks for your participation and your info, I appreciate it the most.

I think if I illegally stayed here and she became a citizen after it, then my overstay will be forgiven and waived. Then I can immediately apply for AOS as a spouse of USC...but that all depends on my third question. As my in-laws are currently working with a Lawyer, and they asked 2 lawyers before they file, all of the 3 agreed that their married daughter can still get her derivative citizenship which I actually doubt because it is said on USCIS or any other website that children under 18 years old MST BE UNDER THE LEGAL AND PHYSICAL CUSTODY of the naturalized USC parent.

It is just abit confusing I know, and I myself been to couple of lawyers so far and still looking for a relief which I dont know how will it happen.

Anyway, Thanks alot guys Your posts brought some insights to me.

[MacUK 983]

Interesting thoughts crossing my mind.

So yes, overstays are forgiven for the spouse of a USC but does that also apply if the overstay was before the USC attained citizenship?

Personally I would err on the side of caution and go home before overstaying. You have said that you fully intend to stay in the US illegally if you don't get approved for an extension. Have you considered what might happen if you come into any contact with law enforcement of any kind?

Anything from failing to stop at a stop sign to a random road check and you could face deportation, followed by a serious uphill struggle to return to your loved one.

Are you happy to take that risk?

[Propofol 1]

Thanks for your reply MacUK!

Well, Personally I dont prefer to not follow the law, simply I was just asking WHAT IF. I actually dont intend to stay illegaly, because it wont be forgiven as my wife is not a USC untill the moment.

I am not happy to take that risk and I wont do it no matter what. If you re-read my post, you will find that when I said I might stay, it wad conditioned according to my wife's circumstances and nothing else. Otherwise, I would just go back to my home country and watch from there for couple of months...

[kzielu 1,153]

1- Apparently my PD will not become current anytime soon, and my Authorized stay will expire soon. What is the best action to take in such case? Apply for Stay extension? OR travel outside the US and wait for my PD to become current?

2- What will happen if I overstayed here? They say overstay is forgiven for spouses of USC and not for spouses of LPR....What if my wife didnt get her citizenship and USCIS said that she has to turn 18 before she can apply for it?

3- My wife's parents sent their application for naturalization before couple of days, considering that my wife is 17 years old and married, will she be able to gain a Derivative Naturalization? if yes then what is the procedure? If no then would she has to wait until she is 18 before she can apply for naturalization on her own? Cant she apply on her own now since she is married and considered emancipated?

Thanks for your patience reading my case, and thanks in advance for any reply. Anything would help.

1. Best option is to leave. If you file an extension and it is denied, you will accumulate overstay.

2. Your AOS - if your PD becomes current - will be denied. If you end up getting deported, you'll have a ban. That simple.

[QueenComley 295]

I married my husband when he was a LPR, a month later he took his citizenship test and was successful, so I stayed and filed AOS. I overstayed 13 months by the time my AOS Interview date came round. It was never questioned during my interview. Neither was my husbands Citizenship. the interview was straight forward and took no more than 5 minutes. We were lucky to have found a fantastic attorney who helped us through the whole process.

[MacUK 983]

I married my husband when he was a LPR, a month later he took his citizenship test and was successful, so I stayed and filed AOS. I overstayed 13 months by the time my AOS Interview date came round. It was never questioned during my interview. Neither was my husbands Citizenship. the interview was straight forward and took no more than 5 minutes. We were lucky to have found a fantastic attorney who helped us through the whole process.

Thank you, that answers my curiosity

[QueenComley 295]

Thank you, that answers my curiosity

Certainly, every visa journey is unique, and there are different options that people can take depending on their circumstances. Certainly without my Attorney I would not have even have known this was even a possible option. We were lucky that it was so straight forward for us. I wish all of y'all luck on your own personal visa journeys x x.

[QueenComley 295]

p.s what part of the UK are you from MacUK? I lived just outside Oxford. Sorry... I get excited when I see fellow brits on VJ

[MacUK 983]

p.s what part of the UK are you from MacUK? I lived just outside Oxford. Sorry... I get excited when I see fellow brits on VJ

From Milton Keynes originally, now in the northern wastelands over the border with the strange skirt wearing folk.

Lived just outside Oxford myself for a few years, in Abingdon.

[QueenComley 295]

From Milton Keynes originally, now in the northern wastelands over the border with the strange skirt wearing folk.

Lived just outside Oxford myself for a few years, in Abingdon.

LOL!!

I lived in Bicester! such a small world as they say!

P.s Im half Scottish, my family live in the Morray Firth, in Kinloss

Edited March 11, 2014 by QueenComley