K1 awaiting green card: what's my legal status?

[turkishdelight 185]

My husband and I are going to be traveling domestically in the next few months. We'll be within 100 miles of the border at some points. Border patrol is doing random checks in one of the areas. Does anyone know, what is the best way to explain to the border patrol that my husband is legal? He is on a K-1 visa, but it has a slash through it from when he entered. We are married and waiting for the green card. But he technically doesn't have any kind of formal "status." I'm worried about encountering an untrained officer or my husband being detained. It's a scary time to not be a "citizen" or "resident." If he's neither, what is he really, in the eyes of the federal government? 

[Little_Vixen 1,869]

He is legal awaiting his green card. Bring your noa1 from your aos, together with the k1visa and maybe even your marriage certificate for good measure. That should be sufficient. 

If he also filed for EAD/AP I'd keep that on hand too. 

[Crazy Cat 41,845]

He is in an authorized stay status while his AOS is being processed.  I would strongly advise him to carry his passport and both NOAs with him at all times.

[geowrian 22,337]

Has has no legal status after his I-94 expired. He has a period of authorized stay from the Attorney General while his I-485 is pending. This is evidenced via the I-485's receipt notice (NOA1). If you an EAD or AP, having that on hand can help as well.

[Ben&Zian 4,398]

41 minutes ago, turkishdelight said:

It's a scary time to not be a "citizen" or "resident."

 

Umm.. it should have always been a scary time. As for people doing things legally, such as yourself and your husband, you have nothing to be afraid of at all. Stop listening to the media.

[Crazy Cat 41,845]

2 minutes ago, Ben&Zian said:

 

Umm.. it should have always been a scary time. As for people doing things legally, such as yourself and your husband, you have nothing to be afraid of at all. Stop listening to the media.

Well Said!!! 

[turkishdelight 185]

7 minutes ago, Ben&Zian said:

 

Umm.. it should have always been a scary time. As for people doing things legally, such as yourself and your husband, you have nothing to be afraid of at all. Stop listening to the media.

Hello sir, sorry you seem to be having a bad day. But if you're not going to be kind, why be here? I have every right to feel what I feel. Invalidating my feelings and speaking in a condescending manner is not productive or helpful.

[turkishdelight 185]

44 minutes ago, geowrian said:

Has has no legal status after his I-94 expired. He has a period of authorized stay from the Attorney General while his I-485 is pending. This is evidenced via the I-485's receipt notice (NOA1). If you an EAD or AP, having that on hand can help as well.

This is a perfect explanation. Thanks kind stranger for putting it into words. 

[Crazy Cat 41,845]

2 minutes ago, turkishdelight said:

Hello sir, sorry you seem to be having a bad day. But if you're not going to be kind, why be here? I have every right to feel what I feel. Invalidating my feelings and speaking in a condescending manner is not productive or helpful.

Actually, he was trying to relieve some of your fear....

[shuss3 6]

Wife and I had the same dilemma since we live close to the southern border. We actually passed through an immigration checkpost in mid-2017, and were asked if we were citizens. He sent us on our way after we answered that question. We now carry her passport and NOA on the phone as a photo to be on the safe side. 

[Little_Vixen 1,869]

19 minutes ago, turkishdelight said:

Hello sir, sorry you seem to be having a bad day. But if you're not going to be kind, why be here? I have every right to feel what I feel. Invalidating my feelings and speaking in a condescending manner is not productive or helpful.

I'm afraid you misunderstood. I know Ben and Zian, they are some of the sweetest and most supportive people on this site. They were just trying to ease some of your fears. 

[turkishdelight 185]

10 minutes ago, Little_Vixen said:

I'm afraid you misunderstood. I know Ben and Zian, they are some of the sweetest and most supportive people on this site. They were just trying to ease some of your fears. 

I hope that's true. My husband is from a Muslim majority country. He is brown. Not everyone is treated the same way at the border. We know people who have been detained for no logical reason, despite being legal. So I found that the response was uncalled for. 

[Ben&Zian 4,398]

And my husband is gay, brown, Filipino(which can be and has been mistaken for Mexican/Hispanic), live in Houston, and he even has a relatively common Spanish last name(spelt the same just pronounced differently) and he fears or worries about nothing. All was saying is, all these 'stories' you hear and see on the news, have gone on for years and years but never heard about them until President Trump's election, now it's all over the place to race bait and get the left side all riled up; but again in reality majority of the things you hear about have been happening as in border patrol's ability to detain people and such. It's not new. It's just "new" because the media wants it to seem that way and get people to live in fear and worry. For instance, you can read a lot of articles about people being detained for deportation, and the whole one or two page article will pull at your heart strings with the same sob story... then about 6 sentences before the end they'll slyly insert that the person was wanted for a crime or had committed a crime of some sort to become deportable. They just paint it the other way. Main thing is, this all isn't new. It's been going on for years. By people trying to blame this all on the "current climate" is somewhat absurd. All the enforcement happening is for the most part laws that have been in place for years and even decades, they just never actually got enforced very well. And as a Army combat vet, I definately applaud enforcing laws. As citizens we live by them, as so should anyone else whether legal resident, visitor, F1 student, ect... they should all live by the laws as such.

Edited July 9, 2018 by Ben&Zian

[Highmystic 234]

2 hours ago, turkishdelight said:

My husband and I are going to be traveling domestically in the next few months. We'll be within 100 miles of the border at some points. Border patrol is doing random checks in one of the areas. Does anyone know, what is the best way to explain to the border patrol that my husband is legal? He is on a K-1 visa, but it has a slash through it from when he entered. We are married and waiting for the green card. But he technically doesn't have any kind of formal "status." I'm worried about encountering an untrained officer or my husband being detained. It's a scary time to not be a "citizen" or "resident." If he's neither, what is he really, in the eyes of the federal government? 

For those who actually do have status (or out of status while waiting),  please be aware of the 100 mile "Constitutional Free" border, where government has a way more easier time to dig in to your 4th Amendment (Which courts say does not apply within that 100 mile perimeter),  Also any other rights you may have can be trampled on.  Going in to the area you should be prepared with proper documentations.

 

https://www.aclu.org/other/constitution-100-mile-border-zone

[janet3 1,170]

3 hours ago, turkishdelight said:

My husband and I are going to be traveling domestically in the next few months. We'll be within 100 miles of the border at some points. Border patrol is doing random checks in one of the areas. Does anyone know, what is the best way to explain to the border patrol that my husband is legal? He is on a K-1 visa, but it has a slash through it from when he entered. We are married and waiting for the green card. But he technically doesn't have any kind of formal "status." I'm worried about encountering an untrained officer or my husband being detained. It's a scary time to not be a "citizen" or "resident." If he's neither, what is he really, in the eyes of the federal government? 

I had the same concerns when I traveled to south Texas earlier this year (my husband is Algerian). We had filed for AOS and his I 94 had expired. I took copies of all the NOAs and marriage certificate “just in case” (actually I keep a copy in the car “just in case”). We didn’t have any issues but the peace of mind from being prepared is priceless. 

Enjoy your travels! 

Edited July 9, 2018 by janet3