K3 for Illegal Immigrant already in United States

[Dixie_Peach 1]

He would most likely also be able to stay in the US until his interview in mexico.

There are several factors that can complicate an already complex situation though - however, many people do proceed without lawyers. If you would like to PM me, I could try to answer more specific questions if you provided some additional information on his illegal status.

There are also a couple of other websites that have a lot more information on cases very similar to your friends, as there are actually a lot of people experiencing what they are.

luckysprite

thank you! let me print out all of these responses for my friend... if she has any specific questions, i will return to send you a personal IM. Thanks!

PS: Is there any way to track their NOA1 process through NVC? Does anyone know what the fees will be from the NVC?

[MargotDarko 0]

He would most likely also be able to stay in the US until his interview in mexico.

There are several factors that can complicate an already complex situation though - however, many people do proceed without lawyers. If you would like to PM me, I could try to answer more specific questions if you provided some additional information on his illegal status.

There are also a couple of other websites that have a lot more information on cases very similar to your friends, as there are actually a lot of people experiencing what they are.

luckysprite

thank you! let me print out all of these responses for my friend... if she has any specific questions, i will return to send you a personal IM. Thanks!

PS: Is there any way to track their NOA1 process through NVC? Does anyone know what the fees will be from the NVC?

I don't know about the tracking. The fee should be $380 for the IV fee bill and $70 for the I-864. Something for them to think about in advance is that she will need quite a lot to meet the income requirements. It sounds like their household number will be 7, so the income requirement is $38,863 and his income can't count as it's not legal. If she doesn't meet it with income and assets, hopefully they can find a co-sponsor.

[Laveau 67]

Hi Dixie_Peach,

I sponsored my ex-husband who was illegal when I married him. We were married a little over 2 years before we filed to adjust status in 2003. All the forms were downloaded off the internet and filled out. We didn't use a lawyer. We were, however, put under review but several members of VJ helped with that. He didn't have to return to Ecuador for any part of the process. We mailed the paperwork ealy Feb 2003 and he received his 10 year greencard May 2004.

Syl

[MargotDarko 0]

Hi Dixie_Peach,

I sponsored my ex-husband who was illegal when I married him. We were married a little over 2 years before we filed to adjust status in 2003. All the forms were downloaded off the internet and filled out. We didn't use a lawyer. We were, however, put under review but several members of VJ helped with that. He didn't have to return to Ecuador for any part of the process. We mailed the paperwork ealy Feb 2003 and he received his 10 year greencard May 2004.

Syl

Hi, Lachatte. Did he enter the country legally? It's when the spouse has entered illegally that adjustment of status is no longer an option.

[Laveau 67]

Hi Dixie_Peach,

I sponsored my ex-husband who was illegal when I married him. We were married a little over 2 years before we filed to adjust status in 2003. All the forms were downloaded off the internet and filled out. We didn't use a lawyer. We were, however, put under review but several members of VJ helped with that. He didn't have to return to Ecuador for any part of the process. We mailed the paperwork ealy Feb 2003 and he received his 10 year greencard May 2004.

Syl

Hi, Lachatte. Did he enter the country legally? It's when the spouse has entered illegally that adjustment of status is no longer an option.

Aaaaa. Got it. He entered legally.

[Gaby&Talbert 1]

Ok they don't have the money for a lawyer, I understand. $500.00 for a K3 from a Lawyer is too cheap, they may have been told that was only for the I-130 application only or not?

They can file the rest themselves once the I-130 is sent to the NVC and pay the fees without a lawyer. If I were them I would be focusing on the 601 waiver letter because it will be what will determine if he is allowed to reenter the US. He will have to leave for his interview, it is his only option if he enterred illegally. Check out the link in the previous post from me and they are all going through the same process.

Edited July 12, 2007 by Gaby&Talbert

[Yodrak 7]

Dixie_Peach,

They paid an attorney, or hubby went to a Notario?

1) No, but they probably should. Or find a Catholic Charities location that offers immigration consultation services.

2) Get an attorney.

3) No. And as others have pointed out, a more precise definition of "illegal" is needed. Did he enter without inspection or did he overstay his allowed period of stay?

Yodrak

I am back on VJ because I need the help of the VJ Masters.

I have a friend who is a US citizen, and has been married almost 2 years to an illegal immigrant from Mexico. Her husband has been in the United States for a good number of years (not exactly sure how long).

Is there a forum, links, ANYTHING that will help her and her husband?

They paid $500 to an attorney to do the I-130. They have received the NOA1. The petition has been forwarded to the NVC in Portsmouth, NH. The attorney told them that she needs $1500 before she can do the next process. The attorney will not tell them ANYTHING of what to expect for the next step of the process... and they don't have $1500.

Questions:

1) Do my friends HAVE to hire an attorney for the K3 process? (he is one of the illegal immigrants already here who wishes to begin the process to be here LEGALLY)

2) What exactly IS the next step for them?

3) Is there a forum specifically for the illegal immigrants already here and their U.S. spouses?

Thanks ya'll! All help is appreciated!

Lynne

PS: edited to say... I have been searching online today through the VJ website... but, honestly have felt a little overwhelmed. So please give me straight answers.... and direct links. Thanks!

[Dixie_Peach 1]

Dixie_Peach,

They paid an attorney, or hubby went to a Notario?

1) No, but they probably should. Or find a Catholic Charities location that offers immigration consultation services.

2) Get an attorney.

3) No. And as others have pointed out, a more precise definition of "illegal" is needed. Did he enter without inspection or did he overstay his allowed period of stay?

Yodrak

I am back on VJ because I need the help of the VJ Masters.

I have a friend who is a US citizen, and has been married almost 2 years to an illegal immigrant from Mexico. Her husband has been in the United States for a good number of years (not exactly sure how long).

Is there a forum, links, ANYTHING that will help her and her husband?

They paid $500 to an attorney to do the I-130. They have received the NOA1. The petition has been forwarded to the NVC in Portsmouth, NH. The attorney told them that she needs $1500 before she can do the next process. The attorney will not tell them ANYTHING of what to expect for the next step of the process... and they don't have $1500.

Questions:

1) Do my friends HAVE to hire an attorney for the K3 process? (he is one of the illegal immigrants already here who wishes to begin the process to be here LEGALLY)

2) What exactly IS the next step for them?

3) Is there a forum specifically for the illegal immigrants already here and their U.S. spouses?

Thanks ya'll! All help is appreciated!

Lynne

PS: edited to say... I have been searching online today through the VJ website... but, honestly have felt a little overwhelmed. So please give me straight answers.... and direct links. Thanks!

Yodrak,

He entered here illegally from Mexico... no inspection.

[Gringa 0]

Dixie_Peach,

They paid an attorney, or hubby went to a Notario?

1) No, but they probably should. Or find a Catholic Charities location that offers immigration consultation services.

2) Get an attorney.

3) No. And as others have pointed out, a more precise definition of "illegal" is needed. Did he enter without inspection or did he overstay his allowed period of stay?

Yodrak

I am back on VJ because I need the help of the VJ Masters.

I have a friend who is a US citizen, and has been married almost 2 years to an illegal immigrant from Mexico. Her husband has been in the United States for a good number of years (not exactly sure how long).

Is there a forum, links, ANYTHING that will help her and her husband?

They paid $500 to an attorney to do the I-130. They have received the NOA1. The petition has been forwarded to the NVC in Portsmouth, NH. The attorney told them that she needs $1500 before she can do the next process. The attorney will not tell them ANYTHING of what to expect for the next step of the process... and they don't have $1500.

Questions:

1) Do my friends HAVE to hire an attorney for the K3 process? (he is one of the illegal immigrants already here who wishes to begin the process to be here LEGALLY)

2) What exactly IS the next step for them?

3) Is there a forum specifically for the illegal immigrants already here and their U.S. spouses?

Thanks ya'll! All help is appreciated!

Lynne

PS: edited to say... I have been searching online today through the VJ website... but, honestly have felt a little overwhelmed. So please give me straight answers.... and direct links. Thanks!

Yodrak,

He entered here illegally from Mexico... no inspection.

As far as I know, if anybody entered to USA illegally (no inspection) is not allowed to Adjust. He will be deported then.

I think that K3 is only for spouse living aboard (no in the USA). I'm right or wrong? and if all of this is true, that is not a immigration lawyer, he might be a notario, cause I lawyer should know all of this off hand.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

[Gaby&Talbert 1]

An immigration lawyer should know this but a lawyer that is not familiar with immigration laws would not know anymore then the average person on the street. "The only difference between us and them is what is learned" Anyone (with average intellegence) has the ability to be a doctor or lawyer if you are willing to put in the effort to learn.

[lucyrich 20]

As far as I know, if anybody entered to USA illegally (no inspection) is not allowed to Adjust. He will be deported then.

I think that K3 is only for spouse living aboard (no in the USA). I'm right or wrong? and if all of this is true, that is not a immigration lawyer, he might be a notario, cause I lawyer should know all of this off hand.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

It's true that someone who entered illegally cannot adjust status. The only way (barring rare things like policical asylum) for such a person to obtain legal status is to leave the country and enter legally, using an appropriate visa. As to whether he'll be deported; it'll at least take them awhile. But it is certainly a risk bringing one's illegal status to the attention of immigration authorities.

The K-3 visa, or any US visa, for that matter, can only be issued when the person presents him/herself in person abroad at a US Consulate. However, the beneficiary might spend some of the processing waiting time inside the US.

The problem comes when he leaves the US to go to a consulate and pick up the visa. As soon as he leaves the US after a period of illegal presence exceeding one year, he is subject to a 10 year bar on admissibility. A waiver is available for the bar, but it depends on demonstrating "extreme hardship" to the US Citizen (hardship to the alien doesn't matter). Waiver approval is far from automatic. But I understand that Ciudad Juarez processes a fair number of these waivers, and it's perhaps one of the easier consulates at which to get a waiver. Still, it's absolutely NOT automatic, and it's very important to understand exactly what constitutes "extreme hardship" in their eyes (not in your eyes). The "waivers" forum has people going through this, as does the immigrate2us.com site.

This is all basic immigration 101, and if my immigration attorney didn't explain all of this up-front in the first hour of consulation, I'd find another attorney. I'd particularly avoid one who wouldn't tell me the next step in the process until receiving $1500. Before paying any substantial fee, (larger than a $50 - $100 or so initial consulation fee) you should be given a complete outline of all the steps involved in getting all the way to a green card, along with an approximate timeline. Timelines are always subject to the whims of slowdowns/speedups of the authorities, of course.

[GabachaYucateca 0]

You're getting a lot of confusing information on here, and info not pertinent to someone who EWIed.

Get in touch with lucksprite and she can send you to a forum with mostly waiver cases from Mexico for your friend.

Yes, his visa will be denied, but provided the case iswaiverable, with the Waiver Pilot Program, he would be able to submit the waiver a day or two after his visa interview. Provided the case is clearly approvable (they'll need to research this and write the most compelling letter possible with documentation), they can approve the waiver that same day and the non-USC will only have to spend that time in Juarez outside of US. If it's not clearly approvable, it's sent to the backlog and then looked over by someone else. This could take up to a year, sometimes more, and during this time the non-USC will have to remain in Mexico.

This is for the most straightforward cases...it gets more complicated if he has any arrests or convictions, if he EWIed more than once, etc.

As far as the lawyer goes, it's all straightforward up until the filing of the I601. However, I know many people who have written their own waivers and been approved. It just depends on whether they are willing and able to take on the work needed to research and write the letter themselves.