I'm (US citizen) getting married to my fiance (non-us citizen from Ecuador - overstayed visa) - straightforward? or lawyer needed? other questions?

[Bfly1990 0]

I wanted to see if anyone has any advice or opinions for my case specifically and I appreciate anyone's answers. Is the following considered straight forward enough of a case that we could realistically file by ourselves to obtain a green card for her, through our marriage, without a lawyer or other paid service?

 

Before we met, my fiance (from Ecuador) came here legally to the US back in May of 2021 on a tourist (B2) visa and she decided to stay here past her visa expiration. I met her here in the US (I'm a US citizen in NJ) at the end of the year of 2021 and we end up falling in love and by the end of 2022 she moved in with me (I rent an apartment) and has been living here with me since then. Just recently we got engaged and are now looking to start the process of filing for marriage green card.

 

We don't have any criminal records anywhere. No kids. We don't have a joint bank account or lease, but she does have her address the same as mine on her driver's license and bank statements. Her car is registered and insured here the same address as me. I work in a factory and she started her own house cleaning business here. We have went on several vacations over the last few years with plenty of pics and social media posts to show. We have met each others family, also with pictures to show. We are indeed in a very real, bonafide relationship and want to spend our lives together.

 

Does this seem like it will be straightforward for us? Based on our situation, does anybody have any advice or suggestions on anything? Does it matter that she has overstayed her visa by more than 2.5 years by now?

 

 

[OldUser 6,616]

40 minutes ago, Bfly1990 said:

Based on our situation, does anybody have any advice or suggestions on anything?

Yes, I have advice based on this:

40 minutes ago, Bfly1990 said:

We don't have a joint bank account or lease, but she does have her address the same as mine on her driver's license and bank statements.

Start comingling finances right after marriage. Open those joint checking and savings accounts.

 

Add her to lease agreement.

 

It makes sense you don't share these when you're dating. But once married, this can no only help with evidence with USCIS, but also manage finances better and save for common goals such as house downpayment.

 

Good luck!

[OldUser 6,616]

44 minutes ago, Bfly1990 said:

Does it matter that she has overstayed her visa by more than 2.5 years by now?

 

 

It will be forgiven if she's upfront about it. If she lies or hides the fact, she will be inadmissable.

[Bfly1990 0]

Thank you.

 

A couple of other questions I have:

 

1. When is she able to apply for SSN and when should she apply for it? Does she have to wait until after marriage and after we file i-130 & i-485? I'm not really sure how this works in her situation.
2. After marriage, her last name will change to mine. Am I right to assume that she should use her new last name (mine) for filing everything?

[Peot 161]

On 8/22/2024 at 10:58 AM, Bfly1990 said:

When is she able to apply for SSN and when should she apply for it? Does she have to wait until after marriage and after we file i-130 & i-485? I'm not really sure how this works in her situation.

She will be able to apply for SSN when she has a lawful employable status - either EAD or Green Card. The key is that in order to get an SSN you must have "employment-authorized" immigration status, not just a pending status.

 

So in other words, you don't need to wait until after marriage, but if getting the SSN is important (presumably for employment purposes), you should either get work authorization or will need to wait until permanent resident status is issued. 

 

On 8/22/2024 at 10:58 AM, Bfly1990 said:

After marriage, her last name will change to mine. Am I right to assume that she should use her new last name (mine) for filing everything?

Use her current legal name, even if this is different from yours currently. After you are married and her legal name has been changed, you can begin filing with that.

EDIT: Realized after I posted that as this is AOS, obviously you WILL be married before filing this. So yes, the legal name will likely have changed. Use whatever the legal name is. 

Edited August 25 by Peot

[OldUser 6,616]

On 8/22/2024 at 7:58 AM, Bfly1990 said:

When is she able to apply for SSN and when should she apply for it? Does she have to wait until after marriage and after we file i-130 & i-485? I'm not really sure how this works in her situation.

She needs to be in a legal status to apply for SSN. So probably after she receives EAD card. Make sure to file for I-765 in your AOS application as well as I-131. They are extra and optional, but if you want your future wife to be able to work and travel while waiting for GC, she needs to have them. Considering she was out of status before filing for adjustment, expect longer processing time for GC.

[OldUser 6,616]

On 8/22/2024 at 7:58 AM, Bfly1990 said:

After marriage, her last name will change to mine. Am I right to assume that she should use her new last name (mine) for filing everything?

She isn't required to change name. But if she wants, yes, all the paperwork she does should include her new married name. Then also remember to list her maiden name in other names used fields on forms.

 

Before she changes name, make sure it's not going to be a major headache. How easy is it to update her name on her foreign passport? If it's hard, you may end up in situation when her foreign passport will show maiden name and GC show married name. Not a deal breaker, but she'd have to carry marriage certificate to show to authorities overseas how these two names are related.

 

Best time to change name is either as you begin immigration journey or during N-400. Changing name midway (after receiving GC, during I-751 etc) can be cumbersome. 

Edited August 25 by OldUser

[Noname93 200]

And as mentioned above, she needs to be upfront about everything. Answer yes to overstaying, and yes to working illegally. Both will be forgiven.