G-325a: I was illegally employed overseas!

[bmaria2 0]

Hi all,

My fiance and I are starting the process of gathering evidence and filling out forms for the K-1 visa. I'm a bit worried because I was in Peru and illegally employed (no work visa) by an ESL place for about 7 months. Should I put this work down, or should I omit it?

Also, I've had lots of jobs in the last 5 years. Do I add another form to put everything down? And will this look bad to the people approving my petition?

And one last question, do we need to have our statements of intent notarized?

That's it. My other questions have been answered by the really helpful K-1 guides!

Thanks for any input.

[kitkat1 5]

Hi all,

My fiance and I are starting the process of gathering evidence and filling out forms for the K-1 visa. I'm a bit worried because I was in Peru and illegally employed (no work visa) by an ESL place for about 7 months. Should I put this work down, or should I omit it?

Also, I've had lots of jobs in the last 5 years. Do I add another form to put everything down? And will this look bad to the people approving my petition?

And one last question, do we need to have our statements of intent notarized?

That's it. My other questions have been answered by the really helpful K-1 guides!

Thanks for any input.

Answer each question truthfully. This is required by law and you will find yourself in much more trouble if you lie. If you need more space, add another page. It's not about about what looks bad, it's about the truth. And USCIS isn't responsible for making sure you had work authorization in Peru - it wouldn't matter to them.

Letters of intent don't need to be notarized. Nothing does except the I-134 if your consulate requires it.

[bmaria2 0]

Ok, thanks. I kind of figured that was the case, but wasn't sure.

Also, my fiance came to the US and was here for 5 months. Should he put those addresses down, or just the one he spent the most time at? He also worked and took an English course on a tourist visa...should we address that or not?

Thanks!

[bora bora 1]

You don't need anything notarized at this point.

Kitkat is right - tell the truth. USCIS is not asking if your job was legal or not anyway.

Check the directions again - I don't remember, but I think they only ask for where you've lived for at least 6 months, right? Otherwise, include it all. I have lived in many different houses (during college/studying/working abroad) so I wrote SEE ATTACHED SHEET and put it all down on another sheet.

My fiance has had many jobs too - no problem for us.

Where in Peru did you work?

[GabachaYucateca 0]

The only problem I could see would be the fact that he worked illegally in the States.

[bmaria2 0]

Yeah, the "illegally working in US" is probably more of a concern than "US citizen illegally working elsewhere". Obviously he was paid in cash, so there is no concrete record of him working here...but he was here for 5 months and after his passport with visa were stolen this year, he was denied a tourist visa simply b/c he had been here for 5 months. We weren't planning on getting married so soon until this happened. He did have a friend's family that supported him for a lot of the time he was here. Any advice on this? I don't feel like we can be truthful about his working here in the states.

I worked in Lima going from business to business. Not an easy existence, nor a steadily paid one.

[kitkat1 5]

I don't feel like we can be truthful about his working here in the states.

You don't have a choice. Read the form:

Penalties: Severe penalties are provided by law for knowingly and willfully falsifying or concealing a material fact

Lying to immigration will result in much bigger problems, 99% of the time. Read the post about the fiance who didn't tell the truth about her visits to the US and was charged with misrepresentation. Now she is facing the need for a waiver which is a long and difficult process, with no guarantee of approval in the end. If she had told the truth, they could not have charged her with misrepresentation, and she wouldn't be going through this.

Illegal work is forgiven at adjustment of status when married to an American. It's very unlikely that it will come up at the K1 interview or cause serious problems at the interview.

[bmaria2 0]

Illegal work is forgiven at adjustment of status when married to an American. It's very unlikely that it will come up at the K1 interview or cause serious problems at the interview.

Ok, I'll tell my fiance. He's filling out the form for me. I'm going to have a hard time convincing him to be completely truthful about this b/c he was recently denied his tourist visa b/c he had been here for 5 months. That's all the interviewer asked...how long were you in the US? "5 months." Guy handed back his passport, "You'll never get a tourist visa again."

So would he list every single job? I think he went through a few. And one employer was a friend of his...would that get the friend into trouble?

I feel like I'm being really dense about this, but then should he list all the places he lived in the US? He stayed at several places during his 5 months.

Thanks for all the advice and input!

[meauxna 15]

I feel like I'm being really dense about this, but then should he list all the places he lived in the US? He stayed at several places during his 5 months.

He lived in the US? I thought he was here as a visitor.

Semantics are important.

[kitkat1 5]

Illegal work is forgiven at adjustment of status when married to an American. It's very unlikely that it will come up at the K1 interview or cause serious problems at the interview.

Ok, I'll tell my fiance. He's filling out the form for me. I'm going to have a hard time convincing him to be completely truthful about this b/c he was recently denied his tourist visa b/c he had been here for 5 months. That's all the interviewer asked...how long were you in the US? "5 months." Guy handed back his passport, "You'll never get a tourist visa again."

So would he list every single job? I think he went through a few. And one employer was a friend of his...would that get the friend into trouble?

I feel like I'm being really dense about this, but then should he list all the places he lived in the US? He stayed at several places during his 5 months.

Thanks for all the advice and input!

He fills out his G325-A, you fill out yours. If you want to convince him to tell the truth, explain to him the outcome of lying - potentially NO visa, ever.

[bora bora 1]

In addition to what kitkat said, the consulate already knows he was in the U.S. so you need to tell everything.

The truth shall set you free.

[bmaria2 0]

I feel like I'm being really dense about this, but then should he list all the places he lived in the US? He stayed at several places during his 5 months.

He lived in the US? I thought he was here as a visitor.

Semantics are important.

He was a tourist/visitor, but he worked and stayed for 5 months. For me if you are somewhere longer than a month, you've lived someplace.

And I meant he was filling out his own form. I am not very clear sometimes.

Thanks for the advice. I really want to do this right so we have as few problems as possible. I really appreciate everyone's input!

[meauxna 15]

He was a tourist/visitor, but he worked and stayed for 5 months. For me if you are somewhere longer than a month, you've lived someplace.

Yes, but remember that you are not working off of your definitions, you need to be working with USCIS' definitions.