Vwp overstay - aos - married to US citizen

[Lilly1 2]

My story -

Me and my husband met online in 2007.

In late 2008 I broke up with my boyfriend at the time and moved back in with my mom. didn't have a job yet since I moved to a different city to move back home.

I thought to myself I deserved a vacation, whars better than Florida (where my husband is from).

He said it'd cool to meet, so I could stay at his house .

January 2009 we met, instantly fell in love and decided to get married almost right away.

Scared to be having to go back to holland we didn't file for aos (dumb decision ).

Love made me blind, I guess.

So now it's 2.5 years later, we have a now 3 month old daughter and my father in law is willing to sponsor me. My husband doesn't make enough on the books.

Our friend just got through the same process (only he's from Mexico and doesn't have a child), with the help of catholic charities, and he got approved and has a green card now.

He told us about it and it got us thinking.

We are planning on going to do it the same way he did.

How do you think my chances are of getting approved?

Could they deport me if my request was denied? Arrest me right at the interview ?

Im scared cause we have a daughter and I cannot be away from her since she is breastfed.

Hope someone can help.

[Mrs Green 6]

Is your spouse a united states citizen (USC) or legal permanent resident (LPR)? If he is a USC, you can file the I-130 form and I-485 and adjust your status while waiting in the USA. Pls read http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?autocom=custom&page=i130guide2

Edited July 13, 2011 by fashiondoll

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Overstay is irrelevant/forgiven for spouses of US Citizens. Best to file right away, study the guides, etc. Good luck and here is the VJ guide http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide2

[Anh map 2,098]

If the worst case scenario happened, you could certainly take your daughter with you. However, that is extremely unlikely.

Read through the guide here on VJ to learn the steps. http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide2 Prepare the forms properly. Your husband, regardless of income will be your primary sponsor. Your FIL will be a joint sponsor.

*Moved from Tourist visa forum to Adjustment of Status -Work, Student, Tourist forum*

[Brother Hesekiel 2,235]

Mexico is not a VWP country. Maybe you should not mix up different cases and give us the information on yours only.

[Lilly1 2]

Thanks for your quick replies!!

Yes my husband is a united states citizen .

Catholic charities will help us for a small fee, they have a package with all the paperwork for us and all we have to do is fill it out , get all the documents ready etc and they will send it off for us.

Do you think we might be able to just do it ourselves?

If I read your responses it sounds like we have a pretty good chance of being approved.. And it'll be unlikely we will need legal help?

Sorry I didn't know Mexico wasn't a visa waiver country.

I'm not familiar with all the facts on this, that's why I'm on here to ask questions and get my facts right

Thanks again!

[Lilly1 2]

Another question.

My husband hasn't filed any taxes in 3 years since he didn't have an income in those years. The past 2.5 years we have been living with a family member, living off my savings.

He does have a steady job now, but only since this year so no taxes filed yet until next tax year.

Like I said my FIL will be my co sponsor and I could likely find another, to proof that I am financially taken care off.

What to do?

Since my husband is my main sponsor but he has no recent tax returns?

Could we write a letter explaining why and include a letter from his employee?

Would this be accepted since I'll have 1 or 2 co sponsors?

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

FIrst of all, read the forms and familiarize yourself with the instructions. You cannot have 2 co-sponsors, you have 1 sponsor (husband) and one co-sponsor. There is an exception for people that live with your cosponsor - they can add their income to the co-sponsor's, but let's not concentrate on that now.

If your husband didn't work and didn't file taxes, then he will make a note that he was not required to file taxes because he earned under XX amount. Find the IRS wording and the exact amount under which one is not required by law to file taxes on their website.

[Lilly1 2]

Thanks!

[Brit Abroad 166]

Hopefully you still have the green I-94 that was stapled into your passport on arrival via the VWP. This makes it so much easier to prove that you entered with inspection, which is the major criteria you need to satisfy.

Gather all your paperwork showing joint finances, health insurance, a letter confirming that you live together as husband and wife in your family member's home (if you don't pay, or have no proof of paying, rent) along with as much other evidence you can. Having been married for that long, you should have plenty of paperwork to prove a joined life.

Good luck with your petition, hope it goes smoothly.

[Lilly1 2]

Hopefully you still have the green I-94 that was stapled into your passport on arrival via the VWP. This makes it so much easier to prove that you entered with inspection, which is the major criteria you need to satisfy.

Gather all your paperwork showing joint finances, health insurance, a letter confirming that you live together as husband and wife in your family member's home (if you don't pay, or have no proof of paying, rent) along with as much other evidence you can. Having been married for that long, you should have plenty of paperwork to prove a joined life.

Good luck with your petition, hope it goes smoothly.

Thanks.

Yes I do have the I-94!

We are moving to a place soon, I'll make sure to put both our names on the lease.

We also have tons of pictures with both our families in it, of the birth of our daughter (our first as a family of 3 pictures), our daughters birth certificate, letters and cards from my family abroad, etc.

We don't have health insurance so we can't use that, my name is not on anything since I don't have a SSN and I'm staying here illegally so we figured it wouldn't be "safe" to put my name on anything.

I can put our family phone plan on my name.

Thanks so much for helping me/us!!!

[Lilly1 2]

Well they won't let me put my name on anything cause I don't have a SSN...

[Brother Hesekiel 2,235]

Put a common sense approach to this. If a couple is newly wed, it's normal that they don't have much to show for. But if you have been married for 2 and a half years, be prepared to somehow document that you two shared a life together. I understand that it is very difficult to obtain certain things, such as a credit card, without a SSN, but surely you have some items that you can show. For example, you don't need a SSN to have a joint bank account, despite the fact that some bank employees will tell you otherwise. You may need some Affidavits from people who know you and can attest that you have lived together under one roof as husband and wife.

[BenjaminUKtoUSA 7]

Get your name jointly signed onto the phone bill, Verizon let my wife put my name on the phone bill, while I did not have an SSN.

You can also get a joint bank account as long as you have two forms of I.D.

I do not know if this was covered earlier, but do NOT let the catholic charity, or whatever it is, try to help you "for a fee". That's such a scam. You said they provide you with the documentation (so does USCIS for free) and they send it off for you? (So does the USPS for a $1.44 tops)

At the end of the day you're married to a USC, you have a child together and have been living together for over two years. I don't think anything says marriage / relationship, any better, than having a child together.

The documentation should be easy:

I-485, adjustment of status.

Your husband will fill out: I-130 Petition for Alien Relative and I-864 Affidavit of Support.

Your Father in law or whoever else is sponsoring you will file along side your Husband, by signing the I-864A Affidavit of Support from Additional member of household. (He does live in the same household as you both?)

I-693 Medical Examination - Will be filed by a doctor which HAS to be pre-approved by the USCIS Civil Surgeon section, on the USCIS.gov website.

(If you want a quick and easy process, you will send this in with the rest of the package.)

Also send in the I-765 Petition for Employment Authorization This EAD (Employment Authorization Documentation) should arrive before your initial interview, providing your I-485 petition is pending smoothly.

Your I-485 should include a copy of:

• Passport Stamp
  
• Passport Picture ID
  
• I-94 showing your last arrival date.
  

There are other things to include also, but these must be added for extra guarantee. If you can't find your I-94W, the passport page showing the stamp and the passport photo will be enough.

Good luck and DO NOT panic over this. I was just as worried as you because my wife and me were in a similar situation.

Met online, Known eachother for years, lost contact, regained contact, arranged to meet, fell in love, married within three months. We sent out our AOS package a month after my Overstay period. USCIS understand different people have different situations. As long as you haven't entered the country illegally, you'll be fine.

Again,

Good luck!

[Lilly1 2]

Thanks so much!

I'm kind of freaking out because of that he doesn't have his tax returns for those years because he made $0 in those years.. Therefor he was exempt to file his tax returns.

As I said we lived with a family member (not my FIL).. This person doesn't pay their taxes at all so there's no proof of us living there at that time. How else can we proof that he was unemployed? I mean im sure that that person would write a letter/note stating we lived there for that time.

Do you think a letter/note would be enough just stating that he made $0 those years and therefor was exempt to file income tax returns according to the IRS website?

He does have a job since about 3 months. But again no income tax return until next year.

His employer could write a letter if needed, and we could bring paystubs to the interview.

My FIL will be cosponsoring me, he does have tax returns for the past 3 years and makes above 125% of the poverty guideline.

This whole thing is making me nervous cause it's hard to proof that my husband was indeed making $0 . But I guess as long as the IRS website says he was exempt from paying taxes (will print that out and send/bring it with us too) everything will be ok right?

Thanks for helping again.

And yes we decided to file it ourselves ! We can do this