Fear of My Fiancé Getting Deported After We Marry

[Amanda_Loving 1]

Hello, my fiancé and I have been circulating through what we can find on Trump's deportation laws. My fiancé lives in Ireland, and I live in Tennessee. We are wanting him to come over here and us get married here in the States. But with all the news reports of everybody getting deported, we are REALLY concerned and confused. When he was 18, (he is now 46,) he had overstayed by almost a year on his visa when he lived in Utah. But that was so long ago. He has since come over here on a tourist visa to see me and all, so we figured all was okay. However, with more news circulating around people getting deported for overstayed visas, it has us concerned. Surely, they would not have issued a tourist visit within the past couple of years for him to visit me here if there was an issue with it, right? Has or is anyone dealing with this and have some sort of feedback or advice? 

 

Thank you in advance. 

[Crazy Cat 45,077]

15 minutes ago, Amanda_Loving said:

However, with more news circulating around people getting deported for overstayed visas,

I have seen no cases of this.  If a person is CURRENTLY out of status, they are subject to deportation.  Any ban he had is long expired by now.  

Edited August 4 by Crazy Cat

[appleblossom 4,755]

15 minutes ago, Amanda_Loving said:

Hello, my fiancé and I have been circulating through what we can find on Trump's deportation laws. My fiancé lives in Ireland, and I live in Tennessee. We are wanting him to come over here and us get married here in the States. But with all the news reports of everybody getting deported, we are REALLY concerned and confused. When he was 18, (he is now 46,) he had overstayed by almost a year on his visa when he lived in Utah. But that was so long ago. He has since come over here on a tourist visa to see me and all, so we figured all was okay. However, with more news circulating around people getting deported for overstayed visas, it has us concerned. Surely, they would not have issued a tourist visit within the past couple of years for him to visit me here if there was an issue with it, right? Has or is anyone dealing with this and have some sort of feedback or advice? 

 

Thank you in advance. 

 

His ban is long over, I can't see any issue from what you've said. 

[Crazy Cat 45,077]

In addition, any previous or current overstay is not a bar to adjustment of status for  immediate relatives of US citizens .  Unless he has some other admissibility, I see no issues.

Edited August 4 by Crazy Cat

[smilingstone 716]

People who are getting deported have overstayed decades on a tourist or student visa, often working without proper documentation. Those who get deported are done so for breaking the conditions of their original visa. 

 

If he had anything to worry about, he wouldn't have been given the B in the first place. 

 

FYI, you know that if you intend for him to come on a tourist visa so you can marry, he must return to Ireland to start the spousal process. 

 

 

Edited August 4 by smilingstone

[TexasRafael 163]

Get married and not worry about that! 

[Amanda_Loving 1]

We are in the K-1 Visa process now (just waiting forever.) We are just afraid that even if we are married and he has everything in line that the overstay from 27 years ago will come back and bite us. I hope you all are correct and they don't mess with us. We are trying to do everything we can as legally as possible from what we know. 

[Crazy Cat 45,077]

7 minutes ago, Amanda_Loving said:

We are in the K-1 Visa process now (just waiting forever.) We are just afraid that even if we are married and he has everything in line that the overstay from 27 years ago will come back and bite us. I hope you all are correct and they don't mess with us. We are trying to do everything we can as legally as possible from what we know. 

 

Once you marry, and he files a proper I-485, he will be authorized to stay in the US until the I-485 is either approved or denied.  His past overstay is not an issue if you are a US citizen as shown below:

 

https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-7-part-b-chapter-8

 

B. Immediate Relatives

Certain adjustment bars do not apply to an immediate relative, including the spouse or child (unmarried and under 21 years old) of a U.S. citizen, and the parent of a U.S. citizen older than 21.^[2]

An adjustment applicant applying as an immediate relative may be eligible to adjust status even if: 

• The applicant is now employed or has ever been employed in the United States without authorization; 
• The applicant is not in lawful immigration status on the date he or she files the adjustment application; 
• The applicant has ever failed to continuously maintain a lawful status since entry into the United States; 
• The applicant was last admitted to Guam or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) as a visitor under the Guam or CNMI Visa Waiver Program and is not a Canadian citizen; 
• The applicant was last admitted to the United States as a nonimmigrant visitor without a visa under the Visa Waiver Program; or 
• The applicant has ever violated the terms of his or her nonimmigrant status. 

Edited August 5 by Crazy Cat

[Scandi 4,330]

34 minutes ago, Amanda_Loving said:

We are in the K-1 Visa process now (just waiting forever.) We are just afraid that even if we are married and he has everything in line that the overstay from 27 years ago will come back and bite us. I hope you all are correct and they don't mess with us. We are trying to do everything we can as legally as possible from what we know. 

I don't see an issue either. I would, however, plan on getting married ASAP after him entering the US so he can send in his AOS to USCIS immediately after receiving the marriage certificate. No reason to drag it out, get him his NOA1 for authorized stay even if there's still a lot of time left on his i-94.

Even back in the day when I went through this process I had my AOS 90% filled out and ready with almost all supporting documents before we even got married, I like to plan ahead and less stress this way too. 

[netsinb 1]

19 hours ago, Crazy Cat said:

I have seen no cases of this.  If a person is CURRENTLY out of status, they are subject to deportation.  Any ban he had is long expired by now.  

would that include someone awaiting decision on a pending application and on authorized stay? They are someone who are without any legal status.

[Crazy Cat 45,077]

1 minute ago, netsinb said:

would that include someone awaiting decision on a pending application and on authorized stay? They are someone who are without any legal status.

A person who submits a proper I-485 is granted "authorized stay" until the I-485 is either approved or denied.  "Authorized stay" is not a legal status, but the person is not accruing illegal presence while in that status. 

[S2N 403]

On 8/5/2025 at 10:55 AM, Crazy Cat said:

A person who submits a proper I-485 is granted "authorized stay" until the I-485 is either approved or denied.  "Authorized stay" is not a legal status, but the person is not accruing illegal presence while in that status. 

Late post but also worth clarifying what the changes people are worried about are for anyone searching. USCIS is giving NTAs to some people with authorized stays to initiate removal proceedings if they’re out of status when the I-130/I-485 was filed.

 

They are fully aware those people will never be deported: a claim to adjust status is a valid defense to removal. What the change in procedure amounts to is that they are requesting that immigration judges (IJ) adjudicate I-485s rather than adjudicating the cases themselves. The IJ has the option of adjudicating the I-485 themselves or dismissing the removal proceedings and sending the I-485 back to USCIS for adjudication. 

 

There are two likely reasons for this change: first, if the judge adjudicates the I-485 and denies it a removal order can be issued more quickly, second, it’s a deterrent to what many in the current administration view as a loophole in the immigration law that is fraud-prone. Going through an IJ essentially requires a lawyer and a lot more waiting. For all but a handful of countries it incentivizes doing consular processing over overstay and adjustment.

 

This wouldn’t impact someone in OP’s case adjusting from an in status K-1.

Edited August 19 by S2N

[Fr8dog 440]

On 8/5/2025 at 9:37 AM, Amanda_Loving said:

......the overstay from 27 years ago......

 

Few remarks here.

- First and foremost. He'll be fine. 

- depending on the exact date he may not even have had a "ban" to begin with. I'm pretty sure that went into effect in 1997 but the exact date I can't remember.

- This era was the wonderful time before databases. Everything INS(remember that name people?) related was paper based. Lots of those records having never been digitized and many have been lost.

- When he gets to the K1 interview stage he must declare the overstay. Again it's fine but if he does not mention it at it pops up during his background check he's toast.