Immigration & My Fiance

[OHRoadwarrior]

There is are ways to do it legally, all involve him going home after the visa expires. There is only a way to do it illegally and hope for forgiveness afterward if he stays.

 

[WayCo]

What if we married early, like November, and got all the paperwork filed ahead of time? I was told there would be a legal way to do it without him having to leave the US and return to Israel. I would have no problem sponsoring him, if that were required. (and it seems like it is)

My income would be enough to meet the sponsor requirements. But, that doesn't make budgeting "easy". Which is why I was asking the questions about the order of filing the three forms, and if they all had to be filed right away.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

Nope, there is not a legal way to do what you suggest.

 

[WayCo]

Nope, there is not a legal way to do what you suggest.

What if we married, and he returned to Israel. Would I just need to file the I-130 and the sponsor form to be able to bring him back? Or, would I need all three (I-130, I-485, and I-765) and the sponsorship forms to bring him back?

 

[Proserpina]

This is basically about intent.

When he entered on the R1, he obviously had no intention of staying permanently - correct?

Because he entered legally, and had no intent at that time to get married and adjust status, an overstay can be and often is forgiven. Getting married and filing before his visa expires may also allow him to stay in the US while the application is pending.

Now, ORW is also legally correct - but the exception I've just explained is also legal and possible.

And now, let's get realistic.

The burden of proof is on him to convince the officer that he absolutely had no intention of staying when he entered on that visa. How can he prove this? Does he have ties to his home country? This is very, very difficult to prove. I'll give you a real world example though.

Jane came to see her boyfriend who lives in the US. Unfortunately he is still married - and it looks like the divorce will take awhile. Jane explains this to the officer who spoke to her after the initial agent sent her into that wonderful back room that nobody wants to enter. Her boyfriend is married - even if he and Jane wanted to, they just couldn't marry at the time and thus the agent used common sense and was convinced that Jane obviously has no intention of getting married and staying simply because marriage just was not possible.

The officer let her in, stamped her passport and she went to see her boyfriend.

Very suddenly though, her boyfriend's wife agrees to the divorce terms and filed basically the same day as Jane entered on the Visa Waiver Program.

The divorce would take a few months, so Jane and her boyfriend went to see an immigration attorney. The attorney was actually the person who explained that if Jane overstayed it would be forgiven since it's obvious that she had no intention of getting married during the trip.
Jane overstayed by about 2 months. As soon as the divorce was finalized, she and boyfriend got married and went back to the attorney.

The AOS was approved with ease (they had oodles of letters, video, wedding album, probably boring the living crap out of the poor agent dealing with the case).

Yes, this is rambling somewhat but the point is that an overstay and AOS can be approved as long as they can prove that Jane couldn't have had the intention to stay simply because her boyfriend wasn't divorced yet.

(Gawd I can really blabber, can't I?)


In any case, the best thing you can do is get an attorney's help. The burden of proof is, again, on you guys. And believe me, they can ask you some really tricky questions.

(Jane's interview was about 15 minutes long - it took longer finding a flippin' parking spot in Philly).

 

[WayCo]

This is basically about intent.

When he entered on the R1, he obviously had no intention of staying permanently - correct?

Because he entered legally, and had no intent at that time to get married and adjust status, an overstay can be and often is forgiven. Getting married and filing before his visa expires may also allow him to stay in the US while the application is pending.

Now, ORW is also legally correct - but the exception I've just explained is also legal and possible.

And now, let's get realistic.

The burden of proof is on him to convince the officer that he absolutely had no intention of staying when he entered on that visa. How can he prove this? Does he have ties to his home country? This is very, very difficult to prove. I'll give you a real world example though.

Jane came to see her boyfriend who lives in the US. Unfortunately he is still married - and it looks like the divorce will take awhile. Jane explains this to the officer who spoke to her after the initial agent sent her into that wonderful back room that nobody wants to enter. Her boyfriend is married - even if he and Jane wanted to, they just couldn't marry at the time and thus the agent used common sense and was convinced that Jane obviously has no intention of getting married and staying simply because marriage just was not possible.

The officer let her in, stamped her passport and she went to see her boyfriend.

Very suddenly though, her boyfriend's wife agrees to the divorce terms and filed basically the same day as Jane entered on the Visa Waiver Program.

The divorce would take a few months, so Jane and her boyfriend went to see an immigration attorney. The attorney was actually the person who explained that if Jane overstayed it would be forgiven since it's obvious that she had no intention of getting married during the trip.
Jane overstayed by about 2 months. As soon as the divorce was finalized, she and boyfriend got married and went back to the attorney.

The AOS was approved with ease (they had oodles of letters, video, wedding album, probably boring the living crap out of the poor agent dealing with the case).

Yes, this is rambling somewhat but the point is that an overstay and AOS can be approved as long as they can prove that Jane couldn't have had the intention to stay simply because her boyfriend wasn't divorced yet.

(Gawd I can really blabber, can't I?)


In any case, the best thing you can do is get an attorney's help. The burden of proof is, again, on you guys. And believe me, they can ask you some really tricky questions.

(Jane's interview was about 15 minutes long - it took longer finding a flippin' parking spot in Philly).

He did not have intention of staying when he first came. And he did not even know me when he first came. I only pointed that last one out because a friend said they would possibly look at that, too.

He has been in the US for about 5-6 years now. He originally came in as an international student for college. That is where we met. After college, he stayed in the US on an R-1 visa teaching Hebrew at a local Jewish Temple. He has been in the US on his R-1 visa for three years. We have been engaged less than a year.

He does have ties to his home country. He has a bunch of family there, and he has been there to visit. I think he may have had to go back to Israel between his student visa and his R-1 visa, but I cannot remember. He talks to his family all the time. Would emails, records of phone calls, letters, etc. all count as ties to his home country?

I do realize that if he "overstays" while paperwork is being processed, he would not be able to work, and I would be responsible for him. That is not an issue.

And I guess we will have to go digging up all the stuff we have written, etc during our relationship. And I will also make sure we take good pictures/videos at the wedding...even though it's going to be a rather small and inexpensive wedding.

Thanks for all your help. We are also looking into local immigration lawyers, doing all the reading we can, and I have also been looking into local non profit agencies that might be able to help, too. It is a lot to do. Definitely makes the planning of the original wedding (even though small) seem a lot less stressful. Lol.

 

[Proserpina]

Letters and phone calls to his family could easily go against him actually.

Does he have property there? Work? Home?

 

[WayCo]

Letters and phone calls to his family could easily go against him actually.

Does he have property there? Work? Home?

I thought he needed to show strong ties to his home country to be used as good proof. How would communications with his family be held against him? I am just asking to know.

He does not own property there. His family was a more communal multi-generational family. I know he has several job offers waiting for him if he were to return to Israel. While his family likes me, they do miss him, and they would love for him to return home.

 

[Proserpina]

I thought he needed to show strong ties to his home country to be used as good proof. How would communications with his family be held against him? I am just asking to know.

He does not own property there. His family was a more communal multi-generational family. I know he has several job offers waiting for him if he were to return to Israel. While his family likes me, they do miss him, and they would love for him to return home.

Because in all honesty, frequent communication can indicate that he knows he's not going to see family for awhile.

I know it may sound counter-intuitive, but you both need to start thinking like the USCIS agents. There are also some great immigration sites online and many have support and question forums.

 

[WayCo]

Because in all honesty, frequent communication can indicate that he knows he's not going to see family for awhile.

I know it may sound counter-intuitive, but you both need to start thinking like the USCIS agents. There are also some great immigration sites online and many have support and question forums.

Thank you. I can now see how the frequent contact can be a bad thing. But that is how he has always been with them, even when he first came over as a student. It's more emails and facebook messages than anything else. But there still have been a good amount of phone calls.

I will look for some of those sites, too. I am pretty sure an interview would not be an issue...but it would not hurt to do some research.

 

[LdiJ]

You cannot file anything to make his status legal on Jan 1, unless he gets an immigrant visa by then.

Sorry, but you are not accurate on this. If they get married in December and submit paperwork to change his status, his status would be "pending".

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

Sorry, but you are not accurate on this. If they get married in December and submit paperwork to change his status, his status would be "pending".

Nice try. FAIL.

 

[Mass_Shyster]

There is are ways to do it legally, all involve him going home after the visa expires. There is only a way to do it illegally and hope for forgiveness afterward if he stays.

The expired visa will trigger unlawful status, but not unlawful presence if the adjustment of status has been filed. Unlawful status is not a bar to inadmissibility, so no "forgiveness" is necessary. Unlawful presence (exceeding 180 days or one year) ARE bars to inadmissibility, requiring a waiver.

 

[WayCo]

Form question

This may sound like a stupid question, but I just want to make sure we are doing this correctly.

We plan on filing all three forms together (I-130, I-485, and I-765). There are some same exact things required on all of the forms. For example, all forms require a copy of his passport, I-130 and I-485 require a G-325a Biographic info sheet.

Since we are filing all three at the same time, in the same mailing, would one copy of the items like birth certificates or the G-325a be sufficient? Or, would we need to include an individual copy of his passport for all three (so, 3 copies of it in there) and two copies of the G-325a forms?

Again, I know it might be stupid, but I want to make sure we get this right. I do not want to send it missing stuff if multiple copies are required, but I also do not want to bury them in paperwork by sending too many copies if they are not required.

 

[LdiJ]

This may sound like a stupid question, but I just want to make sure we are doing this correctly.

We plan on filing all three forms together (I-130, I-485, and I-765). There are some same exact things required on all of the forms. For example, all forms require a copy of his passport, I-130 and I-485 require a G-325a Biographic info sheet.

Since we are filing all three at the same time, in the same mailing, would one copy of the items like birth certificates or the G-325a be sufficient? Or, would we need to include an individual copy of his passport for all three (so, 3 copies of it in there) and two copies of the G-325a forms?

Again, I know it might be stupid, but I want to make sure we get this right. I do not want to send it missing stuff if multiple copies are required, but I also do not want to bury them in paperwork by sending too many copies if they are not required.

Lets put it this way...what would be safer? Sending MORE copies of a certain document that may be redundant, or fewer copies when more are needed? Really though, you need an immigration attorney if you want to avoid any pitfalls.