Marrying my boyfriend who is on a soon to expire J1 Visa

[chunkybooty1]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Illinois

My boyfriend and I have been in a rather serious yet quick relationship for the past 4 months. He is here in the USA on a J1 visa. I recently found out that I am pregnant with his child. When I told him about what my family would think of the situation (I am a very devout catholic and childbirth outside of marriage is shunned in my family, and his as well), he asked me to marry him and I agreed. One of the main things that I am concerned about is his status. I have not been to the doctor yet, to see how far along I am. But we want to get married as soon as possible to save face; the major issue is that his J1 Visa expires in November and he will have to go back to his country. I have read that filing for the spousal/fiance visa takes a bit of time, and will most likely have to be done when he is out of the country; unfortunately, I do not want to waste to much time because I would like to get married early enough in the pregnancy. What would happen/what would be the filing process if I were to marry him before his J1 expires or during his 30 day grace period?

 

[FlyingRon]

Catholics aren't overly happy with pregnant brides either. He's free to get married at any time. It won't change his home residency requirement or really anything else (it's now clear he has immigrant intent). You should talk to an immigration attorney. Perhaps a better option is to marry him now and try to adjust his status rather than getting him back on a K1. Either way, if he's going to be here in the short term (like around the birth), he still needs to get the home residency requirement waived.

 

[chunkybooty1]

Catholics aren't overly happy with pregnant brides either. He's free to get married at any time. It won't change his home residency requirement or really anything else (it's now clear he has immigrant intent). You should talk to an immigration attorney. Perhaps a better option is to marry him now and try to adjust his status rather than getting him back on a K1. Either way, if he's going to be here in the short term (like around the birth), he still needs to get the home residency requirement waived.

I know. This has put me in a very sticky situation, and abortion is NOT an option; I was told a few years ago that I would never be able to give birth or carry a child so I am seeing this as a bit of a blessing. But nonetheless, we are in the process of consulting an attorney at the moment. A lot of this is getting very expensive. We are however looking for apartments together now in hopes that that would help take care of the residency requirement stuff. We meet again with the lawyer in 2 weeks, I believe.