Is it likely we will be deported?

[Shauneg 762]

I am sorry I am not fluent in english and i mean icelandic and not in iceland.

how else am i to refer to my homecountry? i dont understand, do you want some kind of proof im in the us, did not know the police was on here lol

Well don't be surprised if you find immigration does in fact monitor and read forums they are people too. Anyway if you are here (the states) than that's here and Iceland is there. Wherever you are is here.

People aren't being very receptive to your story because it sound very much like you intended to stay, but that doesn't matter that you are in the country...immigration won't care about the intent. So don't worry about getting deported trying to A.O.S. due to overstaying.

The next issue is the father/custody thing...before you said you chose to have sole custody. No one here is used to being able to just "choose" so it sounds like you've taken your kids and ran off. That may not be the case, who knows. You are very right, as you know that as a single woman you are granted sole custody at the birth of your child...just because you have sole custody does not mean you can move the child out of the country without the father's notification and/or consent. Here in the states even with sole custody I must notify my ex-wife if I do that.

[ydaoc 0]

Well don't be surprised if you find immigration does in fact monitor and read forums they are people too. Anyway if you are here (the states) than that's here and Iceland is there. Wherever you are is here.

People aren't being very receptive to your story because it sound very much like you intended to stay, but that doesn't matter that you are in the country...immigration won't care about the intent. So don't worry about getting deported trying to A.O.S. due to overstaying.

The next issue is the father/custody thing...before you said you chose to have sole custody. No one here is used to being able to just "choose" so it sounds like you've taken your kids and ran off. That may not be the case, who knows. You are very right, as you know that as a single woman you are granted sole custody at the birth of your child...just because you have sole custody does not mean you can move the child out of the country without the father's notification and/or consent. Here in the states even with sole custody I must notify my ex-wife if I do that.

No I chose not to sign the joint custody papers, so indirectly I chose sole custody. Dont judge me because my country's laws are different than your own country's!

[Shauneg 762]

No I chose not to sign the joint custody papers, so indirectly I chose sole custody. Dont judge me because my country's laws are different than your own country's!

Holy cow, I'm on your side and said you followed the rules your country allows. I never judged you. I'm out. Good luck....eat a snickers and relax.

Edited September 26, 2015 by Shauneg

[Pinkrlion 2,722]

Bottom line: without the proof your kids go back home, they will be denied to immigrate.

[ydaoc 0]

Probably best to have made it clear that you didn't file for K1, because that's the impression you gave. In this case, you'll be fine to AOS just make sure to file as soon as you can. The longer you leave it the bigger the overstay and if anything happens and you get denied then you can accrue a ban. Overstay is waived if you adjust status.

Im sorry, im not fluent in english so sometimes i mess up, thanks for your understanding

[mayfield 23]

The best I can add is try and get as much documentation as possible to show that you have sole custody, if in Iceland its your choice as the child was born out of wedlock, then get something stating that, also try and see if you can get a court document stating that's the law in the land and you do in fact have the sole custody. as one poster mentioned above everyone here is trying to help you, the worst thing is your children are denied. I personally feel its better to have over information in any immigration process then have not enough....

[ydaoc 0]

Bottom line: without the proof your kids go back home, they will be denied to immigrate.

Do you think the paper saying i have sole custody is enough? I mean i cant get a paper from their dad. Hes gone.

[EmilyW 1,437]

ydaoc, think logically here as it seems there are a few hurdles to scale.

You need to get strong evidence regarding you bringing the children to the US without the consent of the father. If it is the custom in Iceland for unmarried mothers to get sole custody from the outset, make sure your paperwork is in order and that you have the relevant legislation outlining what that paperwork means. Outline what sole custody means in Iceland, preferably with some statement and/or confirmation that you are able to permanently relocate the children without the father's consent. You mentioned that child support have been unable to find him. Get them to put that in writing to back up your case.

Prove that you have made all efforts in good faith to locate the father. I'm not sure the paperwork at birth is sufficient. Especially since you had two kids with him, which suggests that he was present and 'parenting' both at some stage. If you liked him enough to have a second child, this may negate the sole custody paperwork for both kids.

The marriage certificate may prove to be an issue. You say you obtained it because you were planning to file for a K1. That shows an intent to marry at some stage, even if you didn't go through with the K1 process. I suspect you will need to have a good story as to how the wedding was unplanned despite the presence of a pre-existing marriage certificate. Did you maintain your ties to home during the time from when you arrived to getting married (i.e. home, employment, school for the kids etc).

You will need to ensure that you have a good (and truthful) defence stating that this was always just a holiday and, whoops, you decided to get married and it was completely unplanned (which is where the presence of the marriage certificate needs to be explained well because why would you have one of these already there if you weren't going to get married).

The more suspicious CO may look at your case and think 'Well, they thought about K1, didn't like the wait and the expense, so decided to go around the system and get a visa waiver instead, marry, and then adjust status'. They've seen it all before. You need to be prepared for strong questioning.

How will they know about the marriage certificate? I always operate on the assumption they know everything and that the real test is whether I'm truthful or not.

I suspect that both you and your husband didn't really think the ramifications of this through and are now having to retrofit everything. The short explanation is that you went about this the wrong way and there may be consequences. As others have suggested, get a lawyer who can better advise you on options.

Edited September 26, 2015 by EmilyW

[ydaoc 0]

And how would USCIS see that our marriage license is so old, i thought it was the wedding date that they looked at...

[Hardfacts123 50]

To tell you the truth, it would have been easier for you to migrate the children, if you had done it through your home country. Now you are left with trying to get proper documents from a country you are no longer residing in.

[ydaoc 0]

ydaoc, think logically here as it seems there are a few hurdles to scale.

You need to get strong evidence regarding you bringing the children to the US without the consent of the father. If it is the custom in Iceland for unmarried mothers to get sole custody from the outset, make sure your paperwork is in order and that you have the relevant legislation outlining what that paperwork means. Outline what sole custody means in Iceland, preferably with some statement and/or confirmation that you are able to permanently relocate the children without the father's consent. You mentioned that child support have been unable to find him. Get them to put that in writing to back up your case.

Prove that you have made all efforts in good faith to locate the father. I'm not sure the paperwork at birth is sufficient. Especially since you had two kids with him, which suggests that he was present and 'parenting' both at some stage. If you liked him enough to have a second child, this may negate the sole custody paperwork for both kids.

The marriage certificate may prove to be an issue. You say you obtained it because you were planning to file for a K1. That shows an intent to marry at some stage, even if you didn't go through the K1. I suspect you will need to have a good story as to how the wedding was unplanned despite the presence of a pre-existing marriage certificate. Did you maintain your ties to home during the time from when you arrived to getting married (i.e. home, employment, school for the kids etc).

You will need to ensure that you have a good (and truthful) defence stating that this was always just a holiday and, whoops, you decided to get married and it was completely unplanned (which is where the presence of the marriage certificate needs to be explained well because why would you have one of these already there if you weren't going to get married).

The more suspicious CO may look at your case and think 'Well, they thought about K1, didn't like the wait and the expense, so decided to go around the system and get a visa waiver instead and then adjust status'. They've seen it all before. You need to be prepared for strong questioning. How will they know about the marriage certificate? I always operate on the assumption they know everything and that the real test is whether I'm truthful or not.

I suspect that both you and your husband didn't really think the ramifications of this through and are now having to retrofit everything. The short explanation is that you went about this the wrong way and there may be consequences. As others have suggested, get a lawyer who can better advise you on options.

I just dont understand why they would even try to look at the marriage cert when it should be the date when we got married that matters.

I think I might be able to get a paper from the child support ppl but I am not sure. What if they say no?

[Hardfacts123 50]

Why do so many people keep second guessing what investigations USCIS do on petitions. Do anyone here knows for a fact what they investigate? You should be more concern about how to migrate the children legally than what marriage license information they review.

Than go back to Iceland and do it the correct way, that way you can control the environment. I.e getting the proper and correct documents.

Edited September 26, 2015 by Hardfacts123

[ydaoc 0]

To tell you the truth, it would have been easier for you to migrate the children, if you had done it through your home country. Now you are left with trying to get proper documents from a country you are no longer residing in.

I have no problem with this, they can send it to my apartment and my mother or sister would send it to us. Problem is to try to make the government help us out.

I cant get anything from their dad, we havent spoke for years and he is gone missing and even if i found him (which i know i cant when the government cant even find him) i am pretty sure he would say no as I am sure he would say no just to spite me

[EmilyW 1,437]

You have to prove that you have the legal right to permanently move these children. The burden of proof is yours, noone elses.

[ydaoc 0]

Now i thought of something, I had filed police report against him because he threatened me, it never went to court, and its in icelandic, but if i could get a paper from the police in english that i filed this complaint, would that help?