USICS forgiveness?

[Tulient 0]

I'm a USC considering marriage to a J1 (not subject to the 2 year residence requirement) -> changed status to B2 -> currently overstaying by 10 months due to our relationship.

 

Since she's in the country, it seems like getting married then going the i130/i485 path is the way to go.

Though from what I understand, during the whole process (which is likely to take year for the petitions/filing) there's nothing preventing her from being detained for removal proceedings.

Naturally, that would put quite the hamper on our new marriage, so it's making me reluctant to proceed.

 

So my thought is to begin obtaining evidence for a bonafide relationship now, having a quick informal marriage in the near future, but then redo a formal marriage once she is safe from deportation, whenever that may be.

 

This seems like the natural thing to do, because why waste that time planning a marriage when your spouse could be pulled out of the country out of nowhere?

 

However, this raises a few questions -

Wouldn't USICS wonder why a formal wedding wasn't had?

Wouldn't having an informal marriage to avoid such a disaster negatively impact the petition due to less family in the photos/less proof of a marriage celebration?

 

Furthermore, the USICS wants proof that we cohabitate, file taxes together, share rent/utilities, share bank/credit info, etc.

However, someone on a B2 visa like her is not legally authorized to work.

For her to afford rent/utilities and the other documents they demand, she would need to work, which is not legally authorized.

It's like a catch-22.

 

Having said that, she does work under the table and hasn't filed taxes, but I believe that can be forgiven when filing i130/i485, but is it expected for us to detail that sort of employment information in the petition when it's not authorized to begin with?

Wouldn't filing taxes this year raise flags that could cause her deportation, and/or her employers/friends to be deported?

 

I suspect the answer is never to lie and include employer information in the petition and to tell the truth during the future interview, but she doesn't want her employer to get in trouble.

 

Does anyone have a similar situation and can you shed some light on my confusion? Thanks.

[geowrian 22,335]

Once AOS is filed, she has authorized stay while the case is pending. She won’t be detained or deported just for being in the country (but can be for other types of offenses such as criminal violations).

 

USCIS doesn’t care how you marry...just as long as it is a legal wedding. They don’t really care about wedding photos. They want evidence of a boba fide marriage, not a wedding.

 

The types of evidence they want is not limited to just joint accounts and such. Time spent together is #1. They know people who are overstaying a visa likely don’t have certain types of evidence. Show the types of evidences you can. When she gets an EAD, she can get an SSN and use that to show more evidences.

 

The unauthorized work is not a bar to AOS in your case. But she should not be working either since it is not legal. The employment MUST be reported on the forms where appropriate and she is required to file and pay taxes on any income earned. It will not cause an issue with immigration...IRS and DHS are separate departments anyway.

 

Technically the employer can get in trouble if it is discovered (not just by filing taxes though). But this is no different to the situation right now.

But it is what it is...NEVER lie to anybody in immigration or on any immigration forms. This is a permanent bar for misrepresentation. Don’t even consider it.