What can we do? (sponsor with criminal record)

[Greenmind76 0]

I am a US citizen currently engaged to a woman from Mongolia and we are looking into marriage and sponsorship.  She is already here in the US living with me.  She came here as a child with her parents and they overstayed their VISA so she is here under the DACA program.  She's been here for 14 years and is basically an American at heart.  Unfortunately, due to some bad choices in my past I have a criminal record and I believe my conviction disqualifies me from sponsoring her.  I believe it is the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act that disqualifies me.  Has anyone here had any experiences involving this?  Everything I've read has said there is little to no hope of getting her status changed via marriage (to me at least).  We plan to eventually find a lawyer but we want to be married first.  If this is not possible I'm not sure what we could do, other than wait for congress to pass the Dream and Promise Act of 2019.

 

Any thoughts?

 

[IPDR 10]

http://myattorneyusa.com/the-effect-of-the-adam-walsh-child-protection-and-safety-act-on-immigration-law

 

http://myattorneyusa.com/adam-walsh-act-prohibition-on-approval-of-family-iv-petition-where-petitioner-was-convicted-of

 

 

 

 

 

[Boiler 46,337]

Does she realise she will most unlikely be able to adjust her status through you following marriage?

[John & Rose 7,240]

43 minutes ago, Greenmind76 said:

I am a US citizen currently engaged to a woman from Mongolia and we are looking into marriage and sponsorship.  She is already here in the US living with me.  She came here as a child with her parents and they overstayed their VISA so she is here under the DACA program.  She's been here for 14 years and is basically an American at heart.  Unfortunately, due to some bad choices in my past I have a criminal record and I believe my conviction disqualifies me from sponsoring her.  I believe it is the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act that disqualifies me.  Has anyone here had any experiences involving this?  Everything I've read has said there is little to no hope of getting her status changed via marriage (to me at least).  We plan to eventually find a lawyer but we want to be married first.  If this is not possible I'm not sure what we could do, other than wait for congress to pass the Dream and Promise Act of 2019.

 

Any thoughts?

 

If it was an AWA conviction there is no chance at all.  Depending on the conviction you may be able to move to another country and live there.  I know of one couple going through this.  He cannot petition his wife and he is not allowed into her country.  They live in Hong Kong now.  It was one of the few places that allowed him in.

 

I wish you the best.  

[Greenmind76 0]

She knows about it and isn't worried.  Things will work out.  I'll follow her back to Mongolia if I have to.    The thing is, I don't know if my conviction were AWA or not.  It's not entirely clear since I did no jail time, am not a registered sex offender, and both charges were misdemeanors with less than 1 year possible sentence.  From what I've read, we may be OK.  There are also steps you can use in the process to prove you're not a danger or threat to your intended spouse.  I'm going to find a lawyer soon and just get the truth.

 

If anyone is at all interested, please voice support this bill to your congressman:

 

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/house-democrats-introduce-bill-give-citizenship-daca-tps-recipients-n982211

[JFH 12,191]

My husband (USC) has a colorful past, including a felony and prison time. He was able to bring me. He is banned from my country (the UK) so it's a good thing he could. However, his crimes were not AWA crimes. When you say you don't know if your convictions fall under the AWA or not, are you saying they are sex crimes and/or crimes against a minor or you don't know what crimes fall under the AWA at all? You can check against the list to be sure.

 

Having a criminal record in itself is not a bar to petitioning a spouse. I did hear that someone on death row in CA has filed an I-130 to bring in a wife from overseas. There have been other cases here where incarcerated individuals have successfully brought spouses here even whilst still in prison. A search on this forum will show you the relevant threads. But it's the nature of the crimes that is the issue.