Applying for Spousal Visa a few weeks after Tourist Visa expires

[Immigrant2836 0]

I’m a UK citizen married to an American. We got married a while ago but lived in separate countries, but two months ago I moved in with her. My tourist visa expires in a few weeks, and she and I are worried I’m going to be deported. 

We are in the process of applying for a spousal visa, but the application has not yet been submitted. We need a co-sponsor, and our rabbi said a few people at our synagogue have said they’d consider helping us out, but we don’t have a definite sponsor lined up yet. I’m afraid my tourist visa is going to expire before the application is submitted. I know that if you are illegally in the country for 180 days, you are barred for 3 years, but what is the penalty if you overstay by just a few weeks? Will they know I’ve overstayed, and will it prevent us from getting the visa? I am not making any attempt to earn money or work illegally, if that makes a difference. 

My wife and I are concerned that a few days after my visa expires, ICE is going to come looking for me and I’m at risk of being deported. Is this something we should be concerned about? Does the government know if I still in the country, and if so, are they going to be actively looking for me within days of my visa expiring? And could my wife be arrested for allowing me to live with her? 

We do not live in a “sanctuary city” if that makes a difference.

TL;DR: There might be a period of a few weeks between my tourist visa expiring and submitting my application for a green card. Should I be concerned about deportation?

[Crazy Cat 42,585]

1.  Calm down......

2.  Read this guide .  It lists the procedures for legally adjusting status if you are in the US.  http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide2

 

Once a person files the paperwork for AOS  (Adjustment of Status), they are granted authorized stay....

 

Good luck in your journey.

 

don't worry about an overstay of a few weeks.

Edited January 14, 2018 by missileman

[JFH 12,191]

My concern is that you said you "moved in with her" 2 months ago. Did you come here with the intention of "living with her"? It's all water under the bridge now because you were inspected by CBP on arrival and deemed to have no immigration intent (I sure hope you didn't lie!) and admitted. But for the benefit of any lurkers reading this who are not aware of the rules, it's not possible to "move" to the USA by coming as a tourist with the intention of staying. I would also be careful with your choice of terminology for your AOS interview. 

 

By the way, you won't be applying for a visa if you are staying here. You will be applying to adjust your status. Visas are for people to get into the country. You're already here. Be aware that you now cannot leave the country for many months if you follow this path, nor can you work. You can't even return home to pack up your stuff, return your keys to your landlord, sell your car, ship your belongings, etc. I hope you have very kind friends and family back home who don't mind doing all that for you. You can, of course, return home and apply for the visa to immigrate and tie up all the loose ends at home. Expect that to take 12 -14 months. 

[JFH 12,191]

*~*~*moved from "IR-1/CR-1 spouse visa" to "adjustment of status from work/study/tourist visas"*~*~*

[Immigrant2836 0]

@JFH

 

I don’t have any loose ends at home. I brought all my belongings with me, the things I didn’t want to bring/were too heavy I already gave to my mum and brother. I moved in with my grandparents when my lease was up and stayed with them for a while until I moved in with my wife, so that was my last residence. 

 

I didn’t lie when I entered the country, but I remember that the officer didn’t write anything down or input it.

[Crazy Cat 42,585]

2 minutes ago, Immigrant2836 said:

@JFH

 

I don’t have any loose ends at home. I brought all my belongings with me, the things I didn’t want to bring/were too heavy I already gave to my mum and brother. I moved in with my grandparents when my lease was up and stayed with them for a while until I moved in with my wife, so that was my last residence. 

 

I didn’t lie when I entered the country, but I remember that the officer didn’t write anything down or input it.

Wow!! Just Wow!!!  Lurkers:  Don't do this!!!

[mushroomspore 3,044]

I thought spousal visas were only for married couples living in separate countries?? I am unsure of the technicalities. I guess TECHNICALLY, you can file a spousal visa while present in the US. But the consulate in your home country needs to process and interview you, which means you have to go back there...right???

[JFH 12,191]

31 minutes ago, mushroomspore said:

I thought spousal visas were only for married couples living in separate countries?? I am unsure of the technicalities. I guess TECHNICALLY, you can file a spousal visa while present in the US. But the consulate in your home country needs to process and interview you, which means you have to go back there...right???

Sure the initial paperwork can be started whilst the beneficiary is in the country, many people of this whilst one is visiting the other. But if there is no intention to go back there is no visa, it's adjustment of status.

[JFH 12,191]

1 hour ago, Immigrant2836 said:

@JFH

 

I don’t have any loose ends at home. I brought all my belongings with me, the things I didn’t want to bring/were too heavy I already gave to my mum and brother. I moved in with my grandparents when my lease was up and stayed with them for a while until I moved in with my wife, so that was my last residence. 

 

I didn’t lie when I entered the country, but I remember that the officer didn’t write anything down or input it.

So you came with the intention of staying? Great. No wonder those of us who do things the right way get so much grief from CBP officers. 

[WeGuyGal 1,052]

19 hours ago, Immigrant2836 said:

@JFH

 

I don’t have any loose ends at home. I brought all my belongings with me, On a tourist visa? the things I didn’t want to bring/were too heavy I already gave to my mum and brother. I moved in with my grandparents when my lease was up and stayed with them for a while until I moved in with my wife, so that was my last residence. 

 

I didn’t lie when I entered the country, but I remember that the officer didn’t write anything down or input it. And you know that how?  Peeking at the officer's screen? 

 

[Going through 5,671]

On 1/14/2018 at 6:47 PM, Immigrant2836 said:

I brought all my belongings with me, the things I didn’t want to bring/were too heavy I already gave to my mum and brother.

 

On 1/14/2018 at 6:47 PM, Immigrant2836 said:

I didn’t lie when I entered the country, but I remember that the officer didn’t write anything down or input it.

Begs the question:  What exactly did you tell the officer when he asked what the purpose of your visit was and how long you were staying?

Edited January 16, 2018 by Going through

[Crazy Cat 42,585]

1 minute ago, Going through said:

 

Begs the question:  What exactly did you tell the officer when he asked what the purpose of your visit was/how long were you staying?

Ding! Ding!  The answer given would indicate OP's stated intent......However, if other actions show differently, could the authorities interpret the statement as misrep?

 

 

[Going through 5,671]

21 minutes ago, missileman said:

Ding! Ding!  The answer given would indicate OP's stated intent......However, if other actions show differently, could the authorities interpret the statement as misrep?

 

 

Well, intent is determined at the border (as we both know) so if there was no proven intent of immigrating on a tourist visa then it wouldn't be a misrepresentation per se....especially since the OP was able to cross the border.

 

If you mean later on USCIS somehow found out someone lied at the border (IF the OP lied, since he says he didn't and we have to take his word for it) somewhere during the process of AOS or ROC or Naturalization--- I suppose then could result in the GC being denied at the AOS stage, or deemed as improperly approved and then revoked at the ROC or N400 stage.  The OP mentioned that the border official didn't record any info into the computer in front of him....doesn't mean it wasn't recorded after he left the window.

 

I know during my AOS interview, and again during my N400 interview, the question of how I first crossed into the country came up (I crossed on a tourist visa as well).   What stood out to me during the AOS interview was when the IO was asking me questions about my border crossing/what I initially remember about it, she kept scrolling through her computer screen reading something the entire time I was answering...which made me assume she already had the info in front of her somehow, and already knew the answers to her questions.

 

Edited January 16, 2018 by Going through

[mushroomspore 3,044]

4 hours ago, Going through said:

Well, intent is determined at the border (as we both know) so if there was no proven intent of immigrating on a tourist visa then it wouldn't be a misrepresentation per se....especially since the OP was able to cross the border.

 

If you mean later on USCIS somehow found out someone lied at the border (IF the OP lied, since he says he didn't and we have to take his word for it) somewhere during the process of AOS or ROC or Naturalization--- I suppose then could result in the GC being denied at the AOS stage, or deemed as improperly approved and then revoked at the ROC or N400 stage.  The OP mentioned that the border official didn't record any info into the computer in front of him....doesn't mean it wasn't recorded after he left the window.

 

I know during my AOS interview, and again during my N400 interview, the question of how I first crossed into the country came up (I crossed on a tourist visa as well).   What stood out to me during the AOS interview was when the IO was asking me questions about my border crossing/what I initially remember about it, she kept scrolling through her computer screen reading something the entire time I was answering...which made me assume she already had the info in front of her somehow, and already knew the answers to her questions.

 

Yes I'm pretty sure they record all interactions with CBP, especially if you get sent to secondary?? A little naive for OP to think that the CBP agent didn't write or record anything.