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Immigration & My Fiance

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WayCo

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ohio

I have a fiance who is a foreigner from Israel. He is currently in the US on a R-1 visa, teaching Hebrew at a Jewish Temple. His R-1 visa expires at the end of December, and he would have to return to Israel on January 1st.

We were not planning on getting married until next year, but we are thinking about moving the wedding to December because the place sponsoring his current visa may not be sponsoring him again.

We do know that since he is here, we can marry legally. We also know that we would have to file the I-130 (Petition for Alien Relative) and I-485 (Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status), and the I-765 (Application for Employment Authorization, if he wants to work).

My question is, can we file the I-130 and the I-765 first, so he can stay here and work, and then file the I-485 after saving up some money. We may not have the money to pay all three at one time. Would they approve an I-765 to allow him to work even if we have not yet filed the I-485 to get his green card started?

We were already planning a fairly simple and inexpensive wedding and not planning much of a honeymoon because funds are tight. And it will be even more expensive for him to have to go to Israel, apply from there, and pay to come back.

So, do all three forms have to be filed at once? Or can the I-485 be filed a little bit later?

Also, if there are any other suggestions besides what we can think of, we would be open to exploring them. Thank you!
 


Proserpina

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ohio

I have a fiance who is a foreigner from Israel. He is currently in the US on a R-1 visa, teaching Hebrew at a Jewish Temple. His R-1 visa expires at the end of December, and he would have to return to Israel on January 1st.

We were not planning on getting married until next year, but we are thinking about moving the wedding to December because the place sponsoring his current visa may not be sponsoring him again.

We do know that since he is here, we can marry legally. We also know that we would have to file the I-130 (Petition for Alien Relative) and I-485 (Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status), and the I-765 (Application for Employment Authorization, if he wants to work).

My question is, can we file the I-130 and the I-765 first, so he can stay here and work, and then file the I-485 after saving up some money. We may not have the money to pay all three at one time. Would they approve an I-765 to allow him to work even if we have not yet filed the I-485 to get his green card started?

We were already planning a fairly simple and inexpensive wedding and not planning much of a honeymoon because funds are tight. And it will be even more expensive for him to have to go to Israel, apply from there, and pay to come back.

So, do all three forms have to be filed at once? Or can the I-485 be filed a little bit later?

Also, if there are any other suggestions besides what we can think of, we would be open to exploring them. Thank you!

Please standby for other posters - the only issue I'm going to address is sponsorship . Are you the sponsor (versus his employer)? If you are, are you familiar wit h the obligation? It's an incredibly important thing to discuss.
 

WayCo

Junior Member
Please standby for other posters - the only issue I'm going to address is sponsorship . Are you the sponsor (versus his employer)? If you are, are you familiar wit h the obligation? It's an incredibly important thing to discuss.
From what I was told, I would not be a sponsor, I would be his spouse. I found a link to the website with all the forms, but I could not find the page about sponsoring. I was also told that once we're married and the right forms filed, he would be able to work almost right away.
 

FlyingRon

Senior Member
If the application is made ion the basis of a relative (spouse in this case), the spouse is presumed to be the sponsor. If for some reason the spouse doesn't meet the requirements, another sponsor can be added (though that sponsor must be able to provide the full amount of sponsorship, you can't add two half-rate sponsors together to make a whole).
 

WayCo

Junior Member
If the application is made ion the basis of a relative (spouse in this case), the spouse is presumed to be the sponsor. If for some reason the spouse doesn't meet the requirements, another sponsor can be added (though that sponsor must be able to provide the full amount of sponsorship, you can't add two half-rate sponsors together to make a whole).
Then maybe the person who told me that was wrong. They said that form was only needed if the fiance was not already in the US, and I was filing for the fiance visa so they could come to the US. They said because my fiance was already in the US, we could marry, and would just need to get those three forms I mentioned in my op filed and the fees paid.
 

WayCo

Junior Member
The R1 is a non immigrant visa. Marriage in the US under this visa will create an out of status issue in the future.
So, we cannot legally get married while he is still here, then? I would basically have to wait for him to return to Israel and then start the whole fiance visa thing from the beginning?

Are there any other options? What would the ramifications or penalties be is we married while he was here on the R-1?
 

WayCo

Junior Member
Actually, if you go to the USCIC site, there is an info PDF on Fiance and permanent residence stuff.

Taken straight from a paragraph there (because I cannot post links)...

If your fiancé(e) is in the United States and entered using a visa other than a fiancé(e) visa, and you marry, then you may file an I-130 relative petition for him or her as your spouse. He or she may be able to file Form I-485 along with your petition. For more information about the I-130 relative petition, please see customer guide A1.

It says that we can marry legally because he is here on a visa that is not a fiance visa, we can marry and then file the I-130.
 

WayCo

Junior Member
I will repeat, the R1 is not an immigration visa. He will be out of status in December.
But if we marry and submit the I-130, would that not fix that? And would we be able to file the I-765 for him to be able to work before having to file the I-485. Or, would the I-485 need filed before we can file so he can work?
 

WayCo

Junior Member
I will repeat, the R1 is not an immigration visa. He will be out of status in December.
Sorry, I should also add that his R-1 visa is good until the end of December, and he would have to leave January 1st. We were planning on marrying BEFORE his R-1 visa expired and filing the needed paperwork.
 

OHRoadwarrior

Senior Member
Sorry, I should also add that his R-1 visa is good until the end of December, and he would have to leave January 1st. We were planning on marrying BEFORE his R-1 visa expired and filing the needed paperwork.
You cannot file anything to make his status legal on Jan 1, unless he gets an immigrant visa by then.
 

WayCo

Junior Member
You cannot file anything to make his status legal on Jan 1, unless he gets an immigrant visa by then.
I am not trying to sound argumentative, I am just trying to completely understand everything. If we married, the I-130, I-765, and I-485 would not change his immigrant status?

The way it was explained to me, was that he is legally in the country by having the R-1 (even though it's a non-immigrant visa, which is the same for the other temporary work visas) so we could marry while he is still here and he would not have to go back to Israel. And that once married, we could file the I-130, I-485, and I-765 and that would give him legal status to stay here.

If that is not correct, what can we do? Is there a way for him to stay here after we are married, without him having to return to Israel, since we would be legally married?

Again, I am not trying to argue. I am just trying to understand the whole process here. We are trying to find out how to do this with the least financial stress, do it legally, and follow the law.
 

Proserpina

Senior Member
Yes, you ARE his sponsor if he's adjusting his status based on marriage.

Because so many people don't read the actual document, I'll summarize:

The i-864 is a contract between the sponsor (you) and the US government. If the marriage goes wrong, you are responsible for supporting him up to 125% of the Federal Poverty Level - this is around $1100 per month if he's not working, and divorce does not negate your obligation.

The obligation lasts until:

1. The immigrant has worked 40 qualifying quarters (works for about 10 years
2. One of you dies
3. He abandons his residency
4. He naturalizes

There is some great info here: http://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-processes-and-procedures/affidavit-support

And here :http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/free-books/fiance-marriage-visa-book/chapter3-5.html
 

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