citizenship N400 without any GC application?

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

Just now, luv2teach77 said:

Where is the documented proof of this being an approved path to citizenship ?  She never became a legal permanent resident due to never filing her AOS paperwork after marrying her Fiance.  Once those 90 days were up after entering the US on her K-1, and she failed to file her AOS paperwork, she is seen as having failed to meet the conditions of the visa and would be considered out of status and liable to deportation proceedings from that point.  The fact that she got married is incidental.  She remained in the US illegally and apparently worked illegally too which will not work in her favor.

The fact of the matter is that he/she came on a K1 visa and then got married(to the petitioner I am guessing) but is now out of status. That person can still file for AOS IF they are married to the petitioner if not then they can not and then has to go home. There have been many cases here on VJ that have done this and got approved for AOS. They may not get citizenship right away but they will get a green card. 

[Going through 5,671]

7 minutes ago, luv2teach77 said:

 Once those 90 days were up after entering the US on her K-1, and she failed to file her AOS paperwork, she is seen as having failed to meet the conditions of the visa

The condition of the K1 visa is that you must marry within 90 days.  There is no condition of when you must apply for AOS after your marriage.  It is preferred and encouraged by USCIS that you file the AOS almost immediately after marriage (and before the visa expiry so that you have pending legal status), but there is no legal requirement to do so under a specific time period, and no K1 visa condition of a specific timeline to follow for filing the AOS.

Edited September 15, 2017 by Going through

[luv2teach77 41]

Just now, Going through said:

The condition of the K1 visa is that you must marry within 90 days.  There is no condition of when you must apply for AOS after your marriage.  It is preferred and encouraged by USCIS that you file the AOS almost immediately after marriage (and before the visa expiry), but there is no legal requirement to do so under a specific time period, and no visa condition of a specific timeline to follow for filing the AOS.

I stand corrected (it's been a long time I went through AOS).  I thought that (as I did) the AOS paperwork was supposed to be filed before the 90 day expiration of the K-1 Visa.  Either way, I'd assume she is long past any grace period for adjusting her status and that the process of adjusting now, and eventually applying for her citizenship, will be far less straightforward that it once would have been !!

[Going through 5,671]

1 minute ago, luv2teach77 said:

I stand corrected (it's been a long time I went through AOS).  I thought that (as I did) the AOS paperwork was supposed to be filed before the 90 day expiration of the K-1 Visa.  Either way, I'd assume she is long past any grace period for adjusting her status and that the process of adjusting now, and eventually applying for her citizenship, will be far less straightforward that it once would have been !!

It will be more difficult a process for her now, yes, but not impossible since there is technically/legally no restriction of when one can apply after marriage.

 

USCIS will be most likely very interested in an explanation of why it took 5 years, however, during her interview.  And doubly interested in any illegal work during that 5 years as well.  

[f f 725]

don't forget the irs.

since the person has been living and working in the us they are supposed to be paying taxes regardless of legal status.

[SteveKarlaMayer 21]

58 minutes ago, Going through said:

Just a question out of curiosity...since your friend seems to think she's so clever....did she get married on the K1 within the 90 day period, or did she wait on that too? If she thought somehow she could skip that whole "90-day time limit" for her own convenience, she would also need to file the i-130 costing her an additional $535.00 on top of the AOS fee.

 

Yes, she married the USC within 90 days period. I'm sure it's recorded on their marriage certificate. Should she file for AOS, I hope it would help her case backed up with whatever valid reasons they have. 

[Roel 7,192]

Yes she should file for aos and at this point just hope for the best. Her citizenship is a far, far, far way ahead. 

[SteveKarlaMayer 21]

Thanks, everyone for the response. I emailed her and sent the link of this forum. I believe we just saved her loads of troubles. 

[f f 725]

the reasons for the delay in aos are irrelevant and uscis does not care. all they care about is if the marriage was within 90 days of entry and if the aos is being done based on marriage to the person who petitioned the k1

[Illiria 980]

14 minutes ago, SteveKarlaMayer said:

 

Yes, she married the USC within 90 days period. I'm sure it's recorded on their marriage certificate. Should she file for AOS, I hope it would help her case backed up with whatever valid reasons they have. 

She has no case for naturalisation as she doesn't qualify for it, she has also drawn attention to herself by applying for it so she needs to file for AOS in order to fend off the possibility of deportation.

 

As others have said make sure she has filled taxes on any earnings she has made here since she came over.

 

If she married within the 90 days of getting here on the k1, still have evidence of her legal entry on that visa, married the petitioner of the k1, and is still married to that person then she can aos.

 

The only path to her now is to apply for AOS and then if approved to wait three years minus 90 days after she has been given residency in order to apply for naturalisation. 

 

 

Edited September 15, 2017 by Illiria
Clarity

[Prystine 184]

OP, all your friend has done, is delayed herself in being able to become a US Citizen and increased the potential to be deported or denied if she has been working without authorization this whole time. Also, it will cost her more money then if she had filed for AOS immediately after getting married as she is now going to not only have to pay for the AOS fees (which have gone up from what she would have paid at the time) but she is going to have to get a whole new Medical done as well since the medical she did for the K1 visa was only valid for 1yr. She may have thought she was being clever trying to mitigate steps in the immigration process, but all she has really done is caused herself a lot more work and money.

[DrEllaNJ 288]

the only thing she saved herself from doing is Removal of Conditions (since now married for 2+ years). But as @Prystine says, she now needs to pay for medical again so those fees won't be much less. And she better back up her genuine marriage with tons of documents, having been married for that long. I wouldn't be surprised if she had to come in for an interview additionally, whereas for a lot of K1 entrance, an interview is not required.

[Illiria 980]

Forgot about having to redo the medical that is a pain in the US, had a friend just do it and the USCIS approved doctor kept messing the form up so had to drive back there three times to get it right

[angelbrown 195]

[Scandi 4,166]

If she had filed for AOS right after they got married she would've had to file for ROC as well, by waiting this long that's at least a step she won't have to go through and pay for. However, had she filed for AOS back then and went through ROC etc the way you're supposed to, she could have been a citizen by now. 

 

Now she has to start over from scratch, she has to file for AOS, pay for a new medical etc. And once the AOS is approved she will then have to wait another 3 years (minus 90 days) before she can file for citizenship. AOS currently takes around a year to get approved, so assume she files now she won't be a legal permanent resident until september 2018 (just an estimation, it could go faster or slower), meaning she can't file for citizenship until around June-July 2021. So yes, she has really delayed her citizenship by not doing things the recommended way.

 

I should add she's far from the only one who waited years to file for AOS, and waiting for years won't be an issue for the AOS process. At the most she might be asked why it took so long to file, but that's it. If she worked illegally that will most likely not be an issue either - that's more a concern for the employer, not the employee. She should file taxes though, which should be possible as I too filed taxes before being an LPR. Seems all you need is a SSN.