Question about immagration laws of past and present

[Theboz 10]

I have a Roommate who is dating a lady from the Philippines that is illegal, her story to me sounds very fishy. Anyways, we are at odds on what she thinks is corrected and my experience doing my and my wifes K1 visa, which we just got her Green card in the mail today.

She says that when she arrived on her k1 visa, ten years ago and got married and filed the AOS, they were a hour late to the interview appointment and in doing so they were declined and had to resubmit a $700+ payment for a new appointment and at that time they could not afford to get another appointment and she left the guy and got a divorce. Since then she has been in the US illegally, working. She cant even get a drivers license for illegals, as she has a SSN and they recently denied her.

I told her that somebody coming to the US on a K1 and if they get married and it doesn't work out, that person could continue with getting their green card, even though they are no longer with the person that they married. She told me that ten years ago that could not happen. You had to be married for 2 years and if at any time you got a divorce, then you had to return to your country of origin. I say that is not true.

The way I see it, as long as the couple tried to make a good marriage and it does not work out then that person does not have to return to their country if they decided to divorce.

I think she screwed up big time, 10 years ago and something about her story just does not make a lot of sense, from all that I can get from her. I tell her what we have had to do and she has said that everything back then was different then it is now, which I don't think its that different then now. I think she just does not know what she is talking about.

I, on the other hand, have no attention of getting a divorce with my lovely wife and we are proud parents to a 2 month old boy.

So, my question, have the rules change a lot in the past 10 years or so?

[aleful 1,905]

hi

sorry, she's partially right, you're wrong

the purpose of the K1 is to marry and get a GC through the person that filed for you, AKA your fiancé, nothing has changed it has always been like that since it was created

if it doesn't work out and you don't get a GC through your spouse, you have to return to your country or remain illegally in the country

you cannot remarry and adjust status with another USC, overstay is not forgiven and it is on you if you don't return, the K1 visa is very strict on that

the ONLY purpose of a K1 is to enter the country legally, marry and get a GC through you fiancé and later spouse

now what she is talking about is removing conditions. Once you have your 2 year GC, if things don't work out and the marriage was in good faith, a person can divorce and remove conditions to get the 10 year GC

two separate issues, one before you get a GC, there is no other way to get the GC, but through spouse who petitioned the K1

once you get the 2 year GC, if things don't work out, you can divorce and file for removal of conditions on your own to get the 10 year GC, providing evidence that the marriage was in good faith

Edited August 24, 2015 by aleful

[cdneh 3,112]

So, she didn't complete AOS 10 years ago?

[aleful 1,905]

by the way

congrats on the GC!!!

also, she wasn't paying for a new appointment, you don't pay for the appointment, probably they has to refile the whole adjustment of status packet, maybe minus the i130, who knows

the I485 costs now as you know, $1070, back then it cost a lot less

Edited August 24, 2015 by aleful

[Theboz 10]

So, she didn't complete AOS 10 years ago?

My Roommates girlfriend, Nope. She hoping for an amnesty. I guess. She is a caregiver, and pays taxes every year, from what she says.

[Theboz 10]

hi

sorry, she's partially right, you're wrong

the purpose of the K1 is to marry and get a GC through the person that filed for you, AKA your fiancé, nothing has changed it has always been like that since it was created

if it doesn't work out and you don't get a GC through your spouse, you have to return to your country or remain illegally in the country

you cannot remarry and adjust status with another USC, overstay is not forgiven and it is on you if you don't return, the K1 visa is very strict on that

the ONLY purpose of a K1 is to enter the country legally, marry and get a GC through you fiancé and later spouse

now what she is talking about is removing conditions. Once you have your 2 year GC, if things don't work out and the marriage was in good faith, a person can divorce and remove conditions to get the 10 year GC

two separate issues, one before you get a GC, there is no other way to get the GC, but through spouse who petitioned the K1

once you get the 2 year GC, if things don't work out, you can divorce and file for removal of conditions on your own to get the 10 year GC, providing evidence that the marriage was in good faith

I have no problem being wrong, lol. I'm used to it, hehe.

But, it is possible to be divorce before you get a Green card, If you Don't have to have an interview and you are approved before the divorce. We were approved 6 months ago and were told we would not have an interview. But, I would say that would be very rare that someone would get a divorce and not have to have an interview.

Edited August 24, 2015 by Theboz

[Theboz 10]

by the way

congrats on the GC!!!

also, she wasn't paying for a new appointment, you don't pay for the appointment, probably they has to refile the whole adjustment of status packet, maybe minus the i130, who knows

the I485 costs now as you know, $1070, back then it cost a lot less

Thank you. Glad we got it finally. My wife travelled back to Malaysia to have our first child and I was a tad worried that something would go wrong while she was over there. I went over and we had to get emergency passport for our baby, as the passport agency was having issues , at least it was free and we made it back to the US with no other issues.

[TBoneTX 45,309]

*** Thread moved from K-1 Process forum to the General Immigration Discussion forum. ***

[newacct 688]

She cant even get a drivers license for illegals

why not?

[Theboz 10]

why not?

Not sure why,

They went to the local DMV and gave them all the paperwork they needed and as soon as she showed the them that she had a SSN, they told her that would not qualify for a license under the Driver license for illegal immigrants, as she has a SSN. They said she came here legally, and has overstayed her Visa, she is not considered a Illegal immigrant.

[Shauneg 762]

She should just go home.

[Boiler 45,525]

Many illegals entered legally and at one time they gave out SSN's without any need for legal status, but then it is the DMV.

[mallafri76 1,012]

I don't get the US immigration system at all. So your friend was able to get a SSN even though she was here illegally? As an illegal alien, she would have also been able to get a driver's license? Not passing judgement here, just trying to understand... Your friend is breaking US law by being in the US without status but she can still get a SSN, driver's license and pay taxes without any of those authorities raising a flag to immigrations?

Aleful is right about the K-1/CR-1 visa. When you enter on the K-1 visa, you have to marry the petitioner within the 90 days or go home, you can't change and marry someone else. Sounds very strange that they would force them to re-do the whole process though, just because they were ten minutes late to the interview...

Congrats on your wife's GC.

[Boiler 45,525]

Many illegals entered legally and at one time they gave out SSN's without any need for legal status, but then it is the DMV.

In Colorado and California illegals can get DLs, IRS just wants the money.

Edited August 24, 2015 by Boiler

[Darnell 8,478]

I don't get the US immigration system at all.

1. So your friend was able to get a SSN even though she was here illegally?

2. As an illegal alien, she would have also been able to get a driver's license?

3. Not passing judgement here, just trying to understand...

4. Your friend is breaking US law by being in the US without status but she can still get a SSN, driver's license and pay taxes without any of those authorities raising a flag to immigrations?

5. Aleful is right about the K-1/CR-1 visa. When you enter on the K-1 visa, you have to marry the petitioner within the 90 days or go home, you can't change and marry someone else. Sounds very strange that they would force them to re-do the whole process though, just because they were ten minutes late to the interview...

Congrats on your wife's GC.

1. SSN available to K-1 visa holders 10 years ago, during the 90 day I-94 validity.

2. she not meet the lack of documentation requirements for an illegal alien at the DMV, which are probably:

__a. no record of inspection at the border (She already had that, entering legally)

__b. No SSN (she got one as a K-1 visa holder)

so this new wave of stuff available to illegal aliens doesn't apply to her, sorry.

3. It's ok, these things are hard to wrap one's head around, when state law trumps federal law. DMV stuff is state law, not Federal, but they do use the Federal system to check on a human's status.

4. IRS is very lax on sharing data with ICE, sorry. The lass got a SSN legally. The driver's license is tough to get, even as a legal alien resident with status. She's been working illegally without status, but gaming the system and knowing full well that the IRS rarely gives over data to ICE.

5. There's a small speck of caselaw about this exact situation, covering the small exact grouping where:

__a. married within 90 days and

__b. filed for AOS but

__c. AOS was not granted then

__d. Beneficiary divorced the Petitioner then

__e. Beneficiary married another USCitizen then

__f. A greencard was granted when a joint AOS set was filed (I-130+I-485)

but it's rare to read about it here at VJ. Sorry.

back at the OP - K-1 AOS stuff hasn't changed over the 10 years, but RoC has changed during that span. Does the friend have a snowball's chance in July to get it done? MAYBE. Depends on too many things, suggest instead that your friend engage with an Immigration Attorney that specializes in overstays. It's a rare case your friend has, but it is not unknown.

and to anyone else reading this - please do not misunderstand that I think it's ok, or 'right' - I tire of reading about folk from the PI mis-using their visas here (and that's ok - it's the overstays that have screwed the tourist visa business for PI folk, so it balances out)