Have any of you experienced this?

[wendya 0]

Hi Everyone,

I am fairly new to VJ and still gathering all the information I need to send in for the I-129F forms. It would be so easy but my dear finace has a complicated case. I was wondering if any of you have had a similar situation and could offer some guidance. Here is the story.

My fiance is from Turkey. When he was in the U.S., he overstayed his visa by a 1 year 8 months. He did leave the U.S. on his own and went back to Turkey, but to complicate things more, while he was here, he got a driver's license and he also worked and to further complicate things, he even paid Income Tax. Which, by the way, I think was horrible for our government to accept since he did not have a social security number.

Anyway, I have all of his addresses while he was here in the U.S. and the dates of each one. Of course this will show that he was in the U.S. for almost 3 years. And while I was putting everything togehter last night to mail, it dawned on me that I am going to have to put his jobs he had here in the U.S. too. This is only going to raise one red flag after another. So I emailed him last night asking him for his jobs that he had while he was here in the U.S. (no doubt he was working without an AED)

So, my question to all is, has anyone had anything even a little similar to this situation and what did you do?

I am so fearful that it does not look good for us!!!

Thank you,

Wendy

[Jenn! 918]

Hi Wendy,

You might want to check out the waivers forum. I believe that you will have to file a waiver because of the overstay, the people over there will know more. Your situation is not uncommon.

Edited March 21, 2007 by jenn3539

[Ban Hammer 13,336]

Which, by the way, I think was horrible for our government to accept since he did not have a social security number.

he probably had an itin. or are you saying he should not pay taxes at all?

[cbd2cai 0]

Which, by the way, I think was horrible for our government to accept since he did not have a social security number.

he probably had an itin. or are you saying he should not pay taxes at all?

Yeah, why shouldn't he pay?? Even the illegals are paying . . . with someone elses SSN many times . . LOL, sorry, it is such a sore point at sometimes.

Not sure you can get the advice that you need in this particular forum, but it sounds like you have some work ahead of you to figure out how to get all this sorted out and explained during filing.

Good Luck!

[wendya 0]

Thank you. I will check out the waivers forum. Good suggestion.

[lion_lioness 0]

Its not uncommon at all Wendy. Def good advice to check out waivers forum - you can also call USCIS to confirm if you like, but I'd say you'd have a better chance getting the info here on VJ. It seems are are preparing yourself and that is the first step! Good for you!

[Niels Bohr 72]

WELCOME TO VJ!!!

[kitkat1 5]

Hi Everyone,

I am fairly new to VJ and still gathering all the information I need to send in for the I-129F forms. It would be so easy but my dear finace has a complicated case. I was wondering if any of you have had a similar situation and could offer some guidance. Here is the story.

My fiance is from Turkey. When he was in the U.S., he overstayed his visa by a 1 year 8 months. He did leave the U.S. on his own and went back to Turkey, but to complicate things more, while he was here, he got a driver's license and he also worked and to further complicate things, he even paid Income Tax. Which, by the way, I think was horrible for our government to accept since he did not have a social security number.

Anyway, I have all of his addresses while he was here in the U.S. and the dates of each one. Of course this will show that he was in the U.S. for almost 3 years. And while I was putting everything togehter last night to mail, it dawned on me that I am going to have to put his jobs he had here in the U.S. too. This is only going to raise one red flag after another. So I emailed him last night asking him for his jobs that he had while he was here in the U.S. (no doubt he was working without an AED)

So, my question to all is, has anyone had anything even a little similar to this situation and what did you do?

I am so fearful that it does not look good for us!!!

Thank you,

Wendy

He will need to file a waiver for the overstay because he has a 10 year ban. The fact that he was able to get a DL is not significant. The fact that he worked illegally will be forgiven via his marriage to you, a USC. ITN numbers are available to people who do not have social security numbers in order to pay tax. This is a good thing in his favor - not a bad one.

USCIS does not care if he overstayed - this is not a "condition" for I-129F approval. And you are required by law, penalty of perjury and fines and/or imprisonment to tell the truth on the forms therefore you need to put all of his job information in the US. Again, it's not an issue for I-129F petition approval. The issue will come at the interview where he will be denied due to his illegal presence and will need to submit a 601 waiver and a hardship letter from you. I suggest you check out the 601 forum on immigrate2us.net if you have not already - there are many people in similar situations and you could start to get a good understanding of what the hardship letter will need to entail and what the timeline is like for waiver adjudication/approval rates in Turkey.

[phila 0]

It sounds like it might not be as bad as you think. The waiver sounds very promising. I'm crossing my fingers for you!

Christine

[wendya 0]

Hi Kitkat1,

Thank you so much for all that information. I have checked out the afore mentioned website and I am finding it very helpful. I looked at some of the hardship letters so I could follow a similar format. I was reading on that website that at the interview my fiance should have his waiver and hardship letter in hand. Is this true?

Thank you again for your helpful information.

Christine - Thank you for your good wishes!!!

[cd1111 0]

Hi Everyone,

I am fairly new to VJ and still gathering all the information I need to send in for the I-129F forms. It would be so easy but my dear finace has a complicated case. I was wondering if any of you have had a similar situation and could offer some guidance. Here is the story.

My fiance is from Turkey. When he was in the U.S., he overstayed his visa by a 1 year 8 months. He did leave the U.S. on his own and went back to Turkey, but to complicate things more, while he was here, he got a driver's license and he also worked and to further complicate things, he even paid Income Tax. Which, by the way, I think was horrible for our government to accept since he did not have a social security number.

Anyway, I have all of his addresses while he was here in the U.S. and the dates of each one. Of course this will show that he was in the U.S. for almost 3 years. And while I was putting everything togehter last night to mail, it dawned on me that I am going to have to put his jobs he had here in the U.S. too. This is only going to raise one red flag after another. So I emailed him last night asking him for his jobs that he had while he was here in the U.S. (no doubt he was working without an AED)

So, my question to all is, has anyone had anything even a little similar to this situation and what did you do?

I am so fearful that it does not look good for us!!!

Thank you,

Wendy

He will need to file a waiver for the overstay because he has a 10 year ban. The fact that he was able to get a DL is not significant. The fact that he worked illegally will be forgiven via his marriage to you, a USC. ITN numbers are available to people who do not have social security numbers in order to pay tax. This is a good thing in his favor - not a bad one.

USCIS does not care if he overstayed - this is not a "condition" for I-129F approval. And you are required by law, penalty of perjury and fines and/or imprisonment to tell the truth on the forms therefore you need to put all of his job information in the US. Again, it's not an issue for I-129F petition approval. The issue will come at the interview where he will be denied due to his illegal presence and will need to submit a 601 waiver and a hardship letter from you. I suggest you check out the 601 forum on immigrate2us.net if you have not already - there are many people in similar situations and you could start to get a good understanding of what the hardship letter will need to entail and what the timeline is like for waiver adjudication/approval rates in Turkey.

Hi Kitkat,

I am wondering what your basis was for saying illegal work in the US can be forgiven via marriage to a USC. I am curious because I am on K-1 and just worked and did not overstay. I hope you can enlighten me with this.

Thanks,

cd

[kitkat1 5]

Hi Kitkat,

I am wondering what your basis was for saying illegal work in the US can be forgiven via marriage to a USC. I am curious because I am on K-1 and just worked and did not overstay. I hope you can enlighten me with this.

Thanks,

cd

USCIS cannot use an overstay or illegal work as a reason to deny AOS if you are married to a US Citizen and entered the country legally.

http://www.americanlaw.com/aos.html

Unauthorized Employment, Unlawful Status or Failure to Maintain Status

Aliens who have engaged in unauthorized employment, who are not in lawful status at the time of filing of the adjustment application or who have failed to continuously maintain status since their entry into the United States are barred from adjustment of status. However, this statutory bar does not apply to immediate relatives of United States citizens or certain special immigrants.

[TracyTN 237]

^^ I always thought that was if the foreign spouse had remained in the US. If the OP's fiance has returned to Turkey, doesn't that mean it WON'T be overlooked now in the K1 process?

[kitkat1 5]

^^ I always thought that was if the foreign spouse had remained in the US. If the OP's fiance has returned to Turkey, doesn't that mean it WON'T be overlooked now in the K1 process?

If the person left the country, went through the waiver process for the overstay, entered on a legal visa, there is no issue of previous work at AOS. Meaning, it doesn't matter if the person worked illegally previously - still forgiven at AOS based on the marriage to a USC. It won't be "overlooked" exactly - it's acknowledged on the I-129F paperwork but at the consulate level, they will deal with the overstay - illegal work *could* come up but rarely does since USCIS forgives it at AOS. Hope that makes sense.

I looked at some of the hardship letters so I could follow a similar format. I was reading on that website that at the interview my fiance should have his waiver and hardship letter in hand. Is this true?

Wendya, it's definitely a benefit to have the hardship letter and evidence prepared. Some consulates allow it to be submitted right then and there and if you have it ready, you won't lose any time. They will require the actual waiver to be filled out there, as they need to put in the denial code, but you could have the rest of the form ready and filled out. You also need to pay a fee - $265 I think - as well as have fingerprints taken and pay a fee for this - $85 I think.

[cd1111 0]

Hi Kitkat,

I am wondering what your basis was for saying illegal work in the US can be forgiven via marriage to a USC. I am curious because I am on K-1 and just worked and did not overstay. I hope you can enlighten me with this.

Thanks,

cd

USCIS cannot use an overstay or illegal work as a reason to deny AOS if you are married to a US Citizen and entered the country legally.

http://www.americanlaw.com/aos.html

Unauthorized Employment, Unlawful Status or Failure to Maintain Status

Aliens who have engaged in unauthorized employment, who are not in lawful status at the time of filing of the adjustment application or who have failed to continuously maintain status since their entry into the United States are barred from adjustment of status. However, this statutory bar does not apply to immediate relatives of United States citizens or certain special immigrants.

Thanks, that is for when you are adjusting status in the US then.