Filing for I-130 while in prison?

[allyevers 1]

Dear all,

I have been looking through this forum and can't find anything that answers my question. (Sorry for my spelling mistakes)

I married my husband in prison, he is American and and i'm from the Netherlands. He is getting out in a year. We have met plenty of times now and have alot of pictures and proof. I also met his family and have pictures with them aswell, so i dont think

it will be hard to prove that our marriage is real.

So i have been looking online and i found that a few couples managed to get approved while the husband was in prison.

But the issue is that my husband doesnt have an income, so his dad (who makes enough money) is willing to be a co-sponsor.

Do you think that that will be enough? Or will they deny applications wich states that the applicant doesnt make any money at all?

Also, my husband is allowed to fill out the paperwork, but he can only fill it out with a pen, will this be an issue?

Are there any other things we have to think about in our situation?

Many thanks in advance for your answers.

[kzielu 1,149]

No issues - he can fill it with the pen, he can have no income as long as he has co-sponsor. Only issue may be if the reason he is in prison for falls into AWA act.

[allyevers 1]

Thank you so much for your answer.

I have another question, what adress does my husband needs to write as his mailingadress?

He is in prison but will be living with his dad when he gets out soon. So the prison adress or his home adress?

Also i'm not sure now if his dad can use the i-864a or the i-864? as i heard that the co-sponsor needs to be in the same household.

Thank you in advance.

Edited April 14, 2015 by allyevers

[Ryan H 3,812]

A joint sponsor (joint sponsor is the proper term, not co-sponsor) does not need to be living in the same house as the sponsor. A joint sponsor does not even need to live in the same state as the sponsor.

His dad would fill out an I-864.

[mallafri76 1,012]

My husband is in prison too. I filled out the I-130 on the computer, put together all the back up and then sent it to him to sign and send to USCIS. On the last page of the I-130, you can fill out if someone other than the petitioner filled out the form. Our I-130 petition was approved within the standard 5 months roughly, no RFEs. Just make sure to send plenty of pictures, including of you meeting his family, plus passport stamps/tickets from your trip over. My husband's aunt will be our joint sponsor and she wrote an affidavit about the bona fidas of our marriage including that she will be our joint sponsor, which we included in our I-130.

Please feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions about immigrating with spouse in prison.

[allyevers 1]

Thank you very much, our application is approved and we are now dealing with the NVC, we will put in the last pile of paperwork. and hopefully i'll have my interview soon!

I'm really happy to hear other success stories! Good luck to all of you!

[mallafri76 1,012]

Congratulations. I just got my visa last week so our visa journey is over. And we're living proof that it's definitely possible to immigrate with the USC in prison.

[TBoneTX 45,266]

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