I’m unsure exactly how to proceed. I arrived into the USA on an ESTA in 2024 to spend time with my partner. My allotted 90 days in the USA was up in June 2024 so I’ve been overstaying since then. A few days before my flight home my girlfriend and I got married so I cancelled the flight and since then I have been living with her and have been overstaying out of status. My intention was to spend those three months with her then fly home and investigate a CR1 visa.
For the past 6-ish months I have been increasingly unhappy in our relationship. It’s to the point now where I’m spending hours every day thinking about an exit plan. We never ended up filing the AOS package, I’ve held off because of how I’ve been feeling within the marriage. Also my wife lost her job and we have been struggling a lot financially, she managed to find a new role in a different company.
So I am very unsure how to proceed. We married in california. I wonder, if I were to tell her that I would like a divorce, would I file the divorce paperwork here in the USA or would I file it from my home country of the UK? If I filed from the UK would the UK divorce laws apply to me/us or the California laws because that’s where we got married and lived for over six months?
Since I’ve been overstaying would I need to do anything like apply for voluntary departure or could I simply book a flight and leave? I know I will face a three year ban.
Since I’m not a US citizen would I be eligible to file for divorce? Because I don’t think it would be a good idea to go through with filing the AOS package then filing for divorce soon after receiving citizenship.
What should I do? Stay with her in the USA while the divorce goes through or can I leave anytime? Or file it from the UK?
