Very stressed out- Need some advice

[bumble 0]

Okay, so this is complicated. I met my wife in October 2012 via mutual friends, in a party thrown by by friend. It was unreal how soon we clicked, we talked for 4 hours straight that night, and long story short, we were a couple in November. I decided to purpose her in January. I belong to a very orthodox Christian family and knew how my (step) mother was going to react to the news of her son getting married to a foreigner non-Christian (my wife is a South African). So i never expected them to welcome her, and frankly i couldn't care less. But i was shocked to find out how hateful they were towards my fiance, my sister called her and cussed her out. She almost broke up with me, i used to be so conflicted and had mix feelings all the time, but the one thing i knew for sure was that i didn't want to do anything with my family after that. Anyway we got married in March in the presence of few close friends. Now, we're almost ready to send out required forms for her adjustment of status, i only needed my birth certificate, which was in my mom's house and i had to go look for it, i couldn't find it so i asked my mom, she asked me why do i need it and i told her that we have to send it with the immigration forms. She created a huge scene and said how could i get married without the family and why weren't they informed. I'm pretty sure they knew, and even if they didn't, i couldn't care less. And i'm glad we could get married without their drama and i could protect my wife from them.

Now something very disturbing happened yesterday. My wife received a call from my mother saying that she's going to report the marriage to cops (that she's marrying for GC only) and they will soon arrest her and send her back to South Africa. Now my wife is so stressed out and we've lost sleep over this. I can't believe they could stoop to low. Doing this can seriously hurt our relationship and make things 10x harder for us. We live together, we have pictures since we started dating, but we don't have any joint insurances because my wife doesn't have a social, i can't even add her to my lease due to this. I have no idea what to do, this has created alot of unwanted tension between us. I don't want them to deny our case, idk what are we going to do then. I don't know if i should wait before i send the forms or should i contact USCIS or get a lawyer.

Would greatly appreciate some advice.

[speedwell 224]

Hey Bumble. I don't think you have as much to worry about as you think. They don't just arrest someone on someone's say-so. They do an investigation. It is not difficult to tell when someone has in-laws from hell.

There's only one thing that concerns me, and that is that she could be accused of coming in to marry and stay to adjust status. This is illegal and if there is an investigation it might look bad. It might be better for her to fly back to South Africa before her visa expires and before there is an investigation to show that she did not have immigrant intent when she entered. Then you will file an I-130. It takes a while but it is more sure. You might also get a lot of friends and respected people (engineers, clergymen, important people you may know, your landlord maybe) to write affidavits in support of your relationship. You CAN add her to your lease since you are married. I did so with my foreign spouse no problem and I also live in Texas. You can add her to your car insurance as a non-driver: call them, they'll do it. Go to a bank and start a joint bank account immediately. They can and will do it; my husband and I did it through Wells Fargo. There are things you can do. Just do not risk her being deported. It could result in a permanent ban.

I do absolutely think you should get a good lawyer familiar with immigration issues. ASK them if they have dealt with a case of malicious reporting before.

Edited June 11, 2013 by speedwell

[bumble 0]

Ahh well here is the problem, her i-94 expired on May 20th, obviously she didn't need to leave because i was going to send her forms, unfortunately it took us that much time & at that time i had NO idea this was gonna happen to make it worst, now if she leaves, they probably won't let her enter because of her over stay.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Well, first the cops will NOT care if she married you for a GC, that's not their job. They WILL care if your family makes some sort of criminal accusation and of course could take her in for questioning... and while they're not supposed to ask about her status... stranger things have happened.

The sooner you file, the sooner her status is protected. If you cannot find your birth certificate, apply for a new one. Send the packet without it and you will get an RFE eventually but she'll get the receipt first (NOA1) which puts her in a period of authorised stay.

On another note, if you're concerned about the harassment, file a No Contact Order (or the equivalent in your state). This way if accusations by your family ever actually come to anything, there is that document on file.

[pushbrk 12,122]

Just order a new certified copy of your birth certificate, or if you have a passport, send a photocopy of every page (even the blank ones) instead of the birth certificate. Otherwise, don't worry about the cops.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Ahh well here is the problem, her i-94 expired on May 20th, obviously she didn't need to leave because i was going to send her forms, unfortunately it took us that much time & at that time i had NO idea this was gonna happen to make it worst, now if she leaves, they probably won't let her enter because of her over stay.

Well she did NEED to leave but she didn't because you were going to file the forms.

She only has a short period of overstay, it isn't relevant to re-entry on a spousal visa unless there's a ban. The ban doesn't kick in until she has 6+ months of overstay. The length of overstay determines the ban...

That's all moot though because I'd stay an AOS. You have only known her a short period of time so they may question your relationship, especially if your family sends in something stating it's fake, but they don't just believe it immediately, they just might ask your more questions than if it were a simple matter.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

You don;t need a birth certificate for adjustment of status if you have a passport. Do you have a passport? if not, order a new birth certificate.

[UK_Fan 192]

Okay, so this is complicated. I met my wife in October 2012 via mutual friends, in a party thrown by by friend. It was unreal how soon we clicked, we talked for 4 hours straight that night, and long story short, we were a couple in November. I decided to purpose her in January. I belong to a very orthodox Christian family

I hate to break it to you, but there is nothing "Christian" about your family... No Christian would ever act like that towards another human being, let alone black mail them.

On a related note, you can apply for a copy of your birth certificate as if you lost it.

[bumble 0]

Okay, so i got my birth certificate, that is not what i'm worried about. She said 'cops' because she didn't know anything else, but if she does reports, they will tell her to to report her to the immigration officers or call USCIS. It's not hard for her to do that, and now since my wife have overstayed and which isn't going to help us, that's why i'm worried.

I was looking it up online and if the officers are suspicious, they start investigating like raiding the house, or following them , and worst arresting the petitioner. And most of the time they deny the case resulting in deportation of the immigrant.

Edited June 11, 2013 by bumble

[batallion9 50]

What state were you born in? Look up the department of health. There you can get official copy of birth certificate. If you reside in the state you were born in, go to local health department ( some states you can get at county court house). It only cost a couple of dollars so get 2 copies. They can usually print them while you wait ( or at least in Tennessee).

[pushbrk 12,122]

Okay, so i got my birth certificate, that is not what i'm worried about. She said 'cops' because she didn't know anything else, but if she does reports, they will tell her to to report her to the immigration officers or call USCIS. It's not hard for her to do that, and now since my wife have overstayed and which isn't going to help us, that's why i'm worried.

I was looking it up online and if the officers are suspicious, they start investigating like raiding the house, or following them , and worst arresting the petitioner. And most of the time they deny the case resulting in deportation of the immigrant.

My advice is to stop worrying and file the package. This is not a CR1 or IR1 visa case though. This is an adjustment of status. You're filing the I-130 AND the I-485 concurrently, right?

[bumble 0]

Well i was going to file them concurrently but i485 isn't ready yet, my wife is waiting for her translated birth certificate and i don't think i should delay it anymore. So i'm sending i130 tommorrow.

[pushbrk 12,122]

Bad mistake. File them concurrently. Really, stop worrying about what mom said. Your relationship is legitimate and you're following the correct procedure.

[Hypnos 6,576]

A standalone I-130 by itself will not protect her in any way, only an I-485 will grant her a legal status that will persist until her application is adjudicated.

[vegas12 12]

Is she now a illegal Alien because she overstayed her visa?