Timing of CR-1 and Waivers for 5 year ban

[abmen 0]

Hello! I have been lurking on VJ since January when my boyfriend was deported in Dec 2018 for intent to immigrant on B1/B2 visa. He first came to the US in 2015 for 6 months and left to go work for 2 years, and came back in 2018 for 5 months. He had to attend a family funeral in home country Ghana so he left for 6 weeks, and when he got to the US in Dec 2018, he was detained at POE, and basically, the officer suspected that he may be trying to live in US because

 

(1) his return ticket was for June 2019, which is another 6 months. raising a question of why he would be staying in the US for nearly a year as a "visitor", and (2) the officer  found messages on his phone by searching the word "work" in Whatsapp and found that he had been working "illegally" with the B1/B2.

 

Aside this his record is very clean. He has never overstayed his visa.

 

At the end, he was deported under 235(b)(1) (7)(A)(i)(II), and was given a 5 year ban starting Dec 2018 - Dec 2023.

 

Thankfully since returning he has found a job and has been working hard. I am also a student at the moment studying hard to finish graduate school.

 

We were considering either K1 (fiance) or CR-1 (spouse) visa application because we want to get married. Our two options at the moment are:

 

(1) Apply for K1 and 601/212 so he can come back sooner than 5 years and get married here. Our only concern with this is that it may be hard to prove extreme hardship as I am currently a student living with my family, and he is working and living with his family. We don't have kids.

 

(2) Marry within the next year and put in our CR-1 and file 601/212 so he can come back sooner than 5 years. Our concern here is like above.

(3) Marry in summer 2021 after I am done with school, and apply for the CR-1. Assuming the process will take 1-1.5 years, we hope the approval will happen right after the ban is over, so that we do not have to go through the waiver process. 

Any similar experiences and advice on which route to take?

[Just Paul 4,595]

24 minutes ago, abmen said:

he had been working "illegally" with the B1/B2

Get married and file the I-130.  They will tell him if he is eligible or recommended for a waiver.  There may be no compelling hardship reason.  He didn't use the tourist visa wisely which led to further checking of his phone.  

[Cathi 5,771]

Get married and file for the CR-1.

 

You won't even know if he's eligible for a waiver until you file the petition and like Paul and Mary said, there really isn't a compelling reason for hardship.

[Dashinka 24,609]

As @Paul & Mary, and @Cathi stated, I wouldn’t worry about option 1 (K1) since I don’t believe a K1 is waiverable.  As to options 2 and 3, this really depends on your personal choice as to when it is best to get married, if it is before the end of the five year bar, then you will find out if a waiver is possible.

 

Good Luck!