Tornado

It really depends by state. on the bottom of the poverty guidelines, its tells some of what is means tested and what isn't http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-864P.pdf

but i found the 5 year statement too, but not sure how it works.

Immigrants and Public Benefits

What Public Benefits Do Immigrants and Refugees Receive?

Determining whether or not an immigrant qualifies for public benefits is a complicated matter. Eligibility for benefits depends on a number of factors, among them:

*

her immigration status;

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whether or not she entered the U.S. before or after the 1996 welfare reform law was enacted (August 22, 1996);

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length of residence in the U.S.;

*

her income and resources and the income and resources of the family member who sponsored her;

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work history;

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whether she is a child or adult;

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her state of residence; and

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the various other eligibility requirements of the particular benefits program.

Most benefits programs are open only to long-term, lawful immigrants. A small number of programs (such as school lunch programs and emergency medical services) are open to all people in need.

For federal means-tested public benefits, newly-arrived legal immigrants generally are: 1) barred for their first five years in the U.S.; and 2) subject thereafter to a process called "deeming" where the income and resources of the U.S. citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident sponsor of the immigrant are added to the immigrant's own income to determine whether the immigrant is poor enough to qualify for the benefit under the program's financial guidelines. Deeming continues until the new immigrant either becomes a citizen or works 40 "qualifying quarters" (at least 10 years). The work of a spouse (or of a parent in the case of a child under 18) also counts towards the 40 quarters. After becoming naturalized citizens, or working for 40 quarters, legal immigrants are generally eligible for federal and state programs provided they meet the general program criteria.

Ref Link

Thank you so very much for this wowsift. I wonder why so many people seem to be telling immigrants that they qualify for medicaid.... ive found countless links of other forums and things where people are asking would they qualify, and that they had only been here for 6 months, or a year, and people seem to tell them that they would qualify. According to this above information, none of them would qualify, and neither would my ex-wife.

if by chance my wife did qualify somehow, and Recieved medicaid, does anyone know how strict the government is about seeking reimbursment? Is it a fairly mandatory thing where they always seek it, or is it rare that they bother with it? Ive read some links that suggested the government is very loose in going after sponsor's for the reimbursment. However, I really dont know, im just going on the little im able to scrap up.

From my research so far, Im not able to find anything regarding a 5 year waiting period as a condition on the permenant residency. Ive came across some forums where people are asking if they qualify, who havent even been in the country for a year, and they are being told they could qualify. All the information im reading seems to suggest that you can qualify if you meet the income requirments, and that the sponsor will be footed with the bill of reimbursment.

PR = permanent resident

5 years from the date she was awarded PR

She's ineligible for Medicaid for the first 5 years as a PR.

for reference, the contract I am referring to is Form I-864.

as a PR? not sure what PR stands for. Also that 5 years, is that 5 years from the date of the I-864, or 5 years from the date she became a permanant resident?

Really? Is there somewhere i could read about that? Is that 5 year period in effect on any government aid, or just medicaid. Medicaid also varies by state, so is that 5 year period a universal thing built into the conditions of Permenant Residency? Im trying to educate myself in every single angle of this..... I cant afford to be wrong, or be blind sided. Thank you so much for your help.

She's ineligible for Medicaid for the first 5 years as a PR.

for reference, the contract I am referring to is Form I-864.

as a PR? not sure what PR stands for. Also that 5 years, is that 5 years from the date of the I-864, or 5 years from the date she became a permanant resident?

for reference, the contract I am referring to is Form I-864.

Some of you may remember I posted about 2 months ago in regards to this issue. I will re-cover my circumstance in a nutshell here, with some very bad news ive just learned this morning that could affect things. I'm seeking any advice anyone out there can provide in this hard time.

To get up to speed, this is the story in a nutshell: I married a woman from London England. She was on a tourist visa when we married, and we went through the AOS process and got her greencard. We were married just shy of 2 years before I filed for divorce. I wont go into details of why I filed, as its irrelevant and you likely dont care for all the boring details anyways. Needless to say i was forced to divorce due to complications I wasnt able to work out with her. Our divorce was a very clean, very basic divorce. We neither one used lawyers or anything. We devided our own property and I moved out. We have no kids or anything. My divorce was Finalized Septembet 5th 2008 (Yesterday) by the circuit judge. So, I am now officially and completly divorced.

Now to get to the news I learned today. My ex wife is pregnant. the child is NOT mine, but another guy. While we were going through the divorce (which was a 2 month process to be finalized) she flew back to England for a 3 week visit, at which time she became pregnant by some guy in england. She flew back here after her visit, and has been back for about a month, and has now found out she is pregnant. Very irresponsible I know, and trust me im in extreme shock today. However, I am immediatly reminded of what some of you people pointed out to me in my last post- The Contract between myself and the US government that I made when I sponsored her to become a permenant resident. I am aware that this Contract is still 100% viable, and does not go away because of a divorce. Naturally, I am now extremely worried. My ex wife has spoken of going after Medicaid. She has no where near enough income to support medical bills, much less a child, in her current state. She can not even legally drive yet still...She only has a learners license. I gave up 90% of our posessions and moved out on my own, because I have a solid job and can support myself, needless to say however I have a lot I must now buy in order to furnish my new place I'm living in.

My fear is that she will seek government assistance. If she does, I am fully aware that the US government can then come to me for reimbursement of her medical bills. I dont think I need to explain to any of you why this has me so scared..... If this were to happen, It would screw me big time. I can easily support myself, but I can not afford expensive medical bills for my ex-wife's mistake. I do understand that it was an agreement I made, and I have to be held accountable, but I'm really in a bind here now. naturally, I never wanted all this ####### to happen..This was never part of my plans, but it is the nightmare that has become my reality. I am seeking any advice or knowledge regarding this..... If my ex wife seeks aid, how likely is it that the government would excersize their right and come to me for reimbursment? I have read in a few places that the government has been very loose in persuing this, but I have no idea.... Has anyone had this happen? Should I go ahead and prepare to be hit by this? What are my odd's if she takes medicaid or other government support?

Thanks to anyone who can help in this...... This community has been extremely helpful to me over the years.

You still need to file the change of form.

I guess I will if we didnt file for the AOS under the address im moving to. If we filed everything under that address, then ill leave it alone.

I just wanted to reinforce the fact that the Affidavit of Support is between you and the Government - not between you and your wife/ex-wife. Basically, it states that if your wife or ex-wife - while the Affidavit is still in effect - applies to the Government for means-tested benefits and receives them, the Government has a right to require you to reimburse them for the cost. It doesn't mean that she has a right to come after you, necessarily, although there have been cases where during a messy divorce the foreign spouse has tried to get the Affidavit of Support used to give him/her a specific level of ongoing income. When you read over the Affidavit carefully, you will see that that is not its intent.

From the sounds of things I don't really think you have any real worries. The Affidavit of Support will remain in effect until one of the following happens: she earns 40 quarters of employment benefits (10 years of full time work), she becomes a US citizen (5 years as a green card holder when she is no longer married to you), you die, she dies, or she gives up her residency and leaves the US.

It sounds like both of you are sensible, adult individuals who have no animosity with each other and are not trying to 'make the other pay' for the failed marriage, rather are each just looking at going their own way as easily as possible. Your wife, if she decides to remain in the US, has the right to file her petition to remove the conditions on her marriage after the divorce is final by also requesting a waiver from the joint filing requirement. She doesn't need to wait for the 2nd anniversary of her green card. She will need to prove that she entered the marriage in good faith and it just didn't work out - nothing illegal, or vindictive, or acrimonious. I have seen a number of marriages that have dissolved amiably where neither party wishes the other trouble. You may want to assist your ex-wife when the time comes by ensuring she has access to any applicable documents that help to prove the legitimacy of your marriage. This is by no means a necessity - just the act of a friend who still wishes their former partner well.

Maintaining a positive or at least neutral relationship with your ex also means that she will be less likely to want to try and 'come after you' so there are additional benefits to maintaining good relations.

Good luck to the two of you. I am sorry it didn't work out and I admire you both for handling this break-up so responsibly and intelligently.

Nicely and concisely put, Kathryn with one small addition, Tornado has the obligation of filing an I-865 if he moves and within 30 days of that move. Likewise his spouse should file an AR-11 within 10 days of any move, until the terms of the Affidavit of Support are satisfied.

Regarding the filing of the I-865. I looked it up and it looks like a simple straight forward form just to supply immigration with my new address. Im thinking I might can ignore this though. I am Indeed moving out of the place we were living in together, and she is staying in that place. The place I am moving to is just another condo right down the street. The difference in address is 2 digits on the house number. Couldnt I just leave things like they are? We will essentially be living a stones throw from one another.

Now that im thinking about it, we may have actually filed all our papers under the address I will be moving into, because we actually stayed in this other condo for a short time when we first met, before moving into a different one. I will have to dig up our papers and see the address we listed. If It is the address that I will be moving back into now, Im assuming im good to go.

My wife/ex wife has also told me that she plans to contact immigration and let them know what has happend. I guess thats fine if she wants to do that but is that advised? I had someone else here in my area tell me they knew of someone in my situation and that he simply called immigration and explained it all to them and that he never had any problems or heard from it again. I dunno, you hear all kinds of things. I dont see personally where I should have any more dealings with immigration aside from the affidavit of course.

I just wanted to reinforce the fact that the Affidavit of Support is between you and the Government - not between you and your wife/ex-wife. Basically, it states that if your wife or ex-wife - while the Affidavit is still in effect - applies to the Government for means-tested benefits and receives them, the Government has a right to require you to reimburse them for the cost. It doesn't mean that she has a right to come after you, necessarily, although there have been cases where during a messy divorce the foreign spouse has tried to get the Affidavit of Support used to give him/her a specific level of ongoing income. When you read over the Affidavit carefully, you will see that that is not its intent.

From the sounds of things I don't really think you have any real worries. The Affidavit of Support will remain in effect until one of the following happens: she earns 40 quarters of employment benefits (10 years of full time work), she becomes a US citizen (5 years as a green card holder when she is no longer married to you), you die, she dies, or she gives up her residency and leaves the US.

It sounds like both of you are sensible, adult individuals who have no animosity with each other and are not trying to 'make the other pay' for the failed marriage, rather are each just looking at going their own way as easily as possible. Your wife, if she decides to remain in the US, has the right to file her petition to remove the conditions on her marriage after the divorce is final by also requesting a waiver from the joint filing requirement. She doesn't need to wait for the 2nd anniversary of her green card. She will need to prove that she entered the marriage in good faith and it just didn't work out - nothing illegal, or vindictive, or acrimonious. I have seen a number of marriages that have dissolved amiably where neither party wishes the other trouble. You may want to assist your ex-wife when the time comes by ensuring she has access to any applicable documents that help to prove the legitimacy of your marriage. This is by no means a necessity - just the act of a friend who still wishes their former partner well.

Maintaining a positive or at least neutral relationship with your ex also means that she will be less likely to want to try and 'come after you' so there are additional benefits to maintaining good relations.

Good luck to the two of you. I am sorry it didn't work out and I admire you both for handling this break-up so responsibly and intelligently.

Thank you Kathryn for that wonderfully detailed reply. Ive been digging a lot today in regards to these issues and from what ive read online it seems that the government hardly never even persues this I-486 stuff, even if they "could" do so. That is just from what ive been able to read, so perhaps its all just a legality, I dont know. Either way this has helped to ease my mind. Thank you as well for the words of encouragement during this hard time im facing. This is a great community here at visajourney.com....I posted here for advice when we got married as well (what a coincidence eh? ) and have always gotten solid accurate advice here. You guys are all great, and thanks again.

Another fast question: In regards to all the steps my wife will have to take to remain in the country (having the conditions removed, the good faith waiver etc.) All of that stuff that she will have to do will be entirely between herself and the USCIS correct? In other words, none of that will have anything to do with me will it? If you cant tell I just really am trying to get out of the marriage now, do it right, do it clean, wish her the best, then be Free of it. Im trying to make sure that I am not going to constantly have to deal with the USCIS due to anything she may or may not do from this point forward.

Other than the hanging affidavit.... You are under no obligation to assist her any further.... Whatever participation you choose is exactly that... your choice.

Well that is good to know. I really do wish her all the best, but I have to look out for myself now as well. Ive poured a ton of money and resources into making the marriage work and it is now failing, so I have a lot of rebuilding to do on my own now. I just didnt want immigration stuff hanging over my head for years to come. I Will keep a close eye on things regarding this affidavit, and Id like to thank you fwaguy for all of your information and time. I needed to be made aware of the information you have provided me, as I was clueless to this. I will contact my mother and let her know of all of this as well, since she also co-signed the document. She likely wont be happy, but atleast we will be aware of it. Thanks again.

If anyone else has any info or experiances with what im going through feel free to post it. I will continue checking this thread for additional information.

Another fast question: In regards to all the steps my wife will have to take to remain in the country (having the conditions removed, the good faith waiver etc.) All of that stuff that she will have to do will be entirely between herself and the USCIS correct? In other words, none of that will have anything to do with me will it? If you cant tell I just really am trying to get out of the marriage now, do it right, do it clean, wish her the best, then be Free of it. Im trying to make sure that I am not going to constantly have to deal with the USCIS due to anything she may or may not do from this point forward.

Many people go through this process and the I-864 never plays..... I do not know how proactive the US government is on the enforcement side. In the two court cases, the immigrant introduced the I-864 into the divorce proceedings and the judge took it into consideration. From my standpoint ,I think the judge over reached in applying this, but nonetheless my opinion is meaningless.

No your information is GREATLY appreciated right now.

Mine and her divorce is as I said very smooth. She is not seeking anything against me, nor am I seeking anything. We have already decided which belongings will go where amongst ourself. The place that we were living is a place that is owned by her Parents, who live in England still, so she has a place to live and stuff if she stays in the country (She has spoken of possibly just going back to england.) Either way, she is not trying to come after me. She has no interest in trying to come after me, she wants to stand on her own two feet and take responsibility for herself. Given Our divorce is fortunant to be this friendly, does that mean this I-864 will likely be a non-issue? I mean- She would have to try and come after me for this I-864 to affect me correct? Even if she fell on hard times, unless she tried to come after me legally through the means of this *contract* then It should be a non issue? Her Parents are fairly well off, and will likely be taking up any burdens she may have after we are split,and they simply arent aware of this I-864, and wouldnt seek for me to take care of their daughter anyway after this divorce. Im just wondering if it will only be an issue if it is pushed, or made one.

Also- Is there anything else I should know about? I plan to file the divorce First of next week, and I am already moving into a new place by myself now.

My understanding is that this "contract" is between you and the US government... My understanding is that if the US government has to expend resources, provide benefits, etc.. to the immigrant that they have recourse to you for reimbursement. Again this is my understanding and is why I think the judge in the divorce proceedings erred. The judge was pre-emptive and required the USC to provide support before the immigrant even applied/received any resource or benefit. If the immigrant stands on there own feet then it should not play.... stranger things have happened and your eyes need be open.....

Well that is a little worrisom to say the least. Not sure what you mean by "stranger things have happend" but I guess that is just life heh. Whats worse is that my Mother also Co-signed the I-864 and supplied her income information and all as well. This could pull her into it as well Im sure. I guess I might as well buckle down and realize that Im not going to be able to simply shake this marriage off as swiftly as I had hoped. I could be dealing with it for sometime. My hope at this point I think is that she just goes back home. She is flying back home in 2 weeks from now for a 3 week visit, and there is a slight possibility that she will just stay there. I hope that is what happens, It would be easier for both of us that way I think.

Also- Is there any way to get out from under this I-864.

I can just see it now, long time down the road she gets in a bind, and decides to come after me with this legally binding contract, and blind sides me with it and I have no option but to answer it or fight it. Hard to believe that something like that could be legal, but I do understand. Sigh. What a mess.

Many people go through this process and the I-864 never plays..... I do not know how proactive the US government is on the enforcement side. In the two court cases, the immigrant introduced the I-864 into the divorce proceedings and the judge took it into consideration. From my standpoint ,I think the judge over reached in applying this, but nonetheless my opinion is meaningless.

No your information is GREATLY appreciated right now.

Mine and her divorce is as I said very smooth. She is not seeking anything against me, nor am I seeking anything. We have already decided which belongings will go where amongst ourself. The place that we were living is a place that is owned by her Parents, who live in England still, so she has a place to live and stuff if she stays in the country (She has spoken of possibly just going back to england.) Either way, she is not trying to come after me. She has no interest in trying to come after me, she wants to stand on her own two feet and take responsibility for herself. Given Our divorce is fortunant to be this friendly, does that mean this I-864 will likely be a non-issue? I mean- She would have to try and come after me for this I-864 to affect me correct? Even if she fell on hard times, unless she tried to come after me legally through the means of this *contract* then It should be a non issue? Her Parents are fairly well off, and will likely be taking up any burdens she may have after we are split,and they simply arent aware of this I-864, and wouldnt seek for me to take care of their daughter anyway after this divorce. Im just wondering if it will only be an issue if it is pushed, or made one.

Also- Is there anything else I should know about? I plan to file the divorce First of next week, and I am already moving into a new place by myself now.

Do you remember signing the I-864? Divorce does not end any responsibility under that affidavit...

I assume she only has her conditional green card... It will expire two years after its issuance... She will need to remove the conditions in order to remain.

What do you mean by "Divorce does not end any responsibility under that affidavit" ? Responsibility for what?

Our lawyer handled all of our paper work. Id have to go do some digging in regards to this I-864. She came over here on a Tourist Visa, then just married me. We didnt go through a proper K-1 type visa or anything. She went straight from a basic tourist visa to filing for permenant residency.

Could you explain what you mean by this I-864?

Does not matter what route to green card you took. As a part of the AOS application you signed an I-864. This affidavit essentially means you have guaranteed (to the US government) that this intended immigrant will NOT become a public charge. This contract (if you will) stays in effect until the immigrant works 40 qualifying quarters, becomes a citizen, leaves the country, or you or her dies.

I do not want to scare you but you must understand what you signed some months ago.

Cheshire v Cheshire (Florida)

Stump v Stump (Indiana)

I edited my post above after looking up I-864. I did indeed sign that form, and my Mother also Co-signed it as well, as the lawyer said it would help make the Application look "beefier" if both myself and my mother signed it. I remember this form now.

So does this now mean that I am forever responsible for her? She could likely end up moving to Pennsylvania where her Brother lives, and I am in florida. This means I will be responsible for no matter where she goes or what she does from now on? Or, atleast for the forseeable future. This might get stickier than I though then... I was hoping the divorce would cut all ties and we could both go our seperate ways.

Is this the only thing in regards to immigration that I need to be concerned with?

Do you remember signing the I-864? Divorce does not end any responsibility under that affidavit...

I assume she only has her conditional green card... It will expire two years after its issuance... She will need to remove the conditions in order to remain.

What do you mean by "Divorce does not end any responsibility under that affidavit" ? Responsibility for what?

Our lawyer handled all of our paper work. Id have to go do some digging in regards to this I-864. She came over here on a Tourist Visa, then just married me. We didnt go through a proper K-1 type visa or anything. She went straight from a basic tourist visa to filing for permenant residency.

Could you explain what you mean by this I-864?

EDIT: I looked up I-864, and yes I did sign this form. So that means that Even after we divorce and she goes her own way, i am still responsible for her? That does not sound good at all...

Hello everyone. I am trying to educate myself here and am hoping some of you knowledgable people will be able to assist me. Right from the top I want to say thank you in advance for any help you can provide me.

I am a United States Citizen, born and raised here in Florida. I married a girl from London England 1 year and 8 months ago. We got an attorney, went through the whole process of making her a permenant resident, and never had any trouble. She has had her permenant residency card for many many months now (if not a year now), and also has her Social Security card and everything. Unforunantly, we are now going through a divorce. It is not a bitter or nasty divorce, we are both still very friendly, but the marriage simply didnt work out for reasons I wont bother to go into here. We were neither one abusive or anything like that. We neither one have any criminal history or backgrounds or anything. It will be a pretty clean divorce. This is my question though, and it is a big one: Is there anything I should be aware of, or be doing, in regards to USCIS or immigration, during this divorce? Right now, we are just going through the divorce as if we were two citizens. I dont know if there is anything else additional I should be doing since my wife is not a citizen. I dont want to have anything come up down the road with USCIS due to ignorance on my part.

Can this divorce affect me in anyway? I have seen alot of chatter about how divorce can affect the green card holder, but does it affect the Citizen in any way? I simply cant afford to go through attorneys right now for all this information. Im lucky that my mother has worked in the court system for years and she is guiding us through the divorce without an attorney, but she of course knows nothing about immigration. We Dont have children, dont have a house, dont have any really high dollar stuff to split, so the divorce itself is going to be an easy one. Any information anyone can give me would be greatly appreciated. I just want to make sure I do everything Right, so that I dont pay for something down the road that i didnt do. Thanks.

Thanks Yordak for your advice. I do plan to try and get the best help we can find. I am hoping we can get a good lawyer. As I mentioned before, I live in a rural area, so to get a really experianced lawyer, I would probably have to drive a ways. There are some immigration attorney's fairly close, but Its still fairly small cities, and im not sure how experianced they are, compared to one who is based in a large city where things like this happen on a daily bases probably.

Awesome thanks Kungfufi, and indeed, keep me posted! You are right, I am stressing and worrying over this a lot, probably too much, but thats just how I am. Im just curious though- What happens if you do get married, and then fail the AOS interview? Will they actually take your wife and send her back home? At what point in the AOS process does the interview happen? Ive had, as already stated, lawyers tell us that the AOS process will take a year or longer to complete.

My one and only worry, and my girlfriends as well, is that she will somehow be forced to leave the country. We are willing to deal with 1 year's worth of immigration hassle, and lawyers, and the money, if we can just stay together, and not have our life uprooted. I guess im looking at everything to try and prove to myself that she will not have to leave, so I can then rest my mind. I cant rest if I know there is a chance they can take her away, and the thought of having her not only taken away, but then being bar'd from entering for a long time, is down right scary. It would be very hard to deal with something like that.

Thanks for the replies, and keep them comming! You guys are being a big help

First of all I want to thank everyone for taking the time to reply to me. Your replies and information are appreciated more than you will know. I checked this post probably 200 times during my work day yesterday to see if anyone had left me some information.

I understand that going the route wit ha K-1 or K-3 visa is the proper way to marry. However, As mentioned already, We dont exactly have plans for her to fly back home. It takes a lot of money to fly back and forth from the US all the time, not to mention the stress it can put on a person. Right now, She is trying to be strong, and stay focused, but at nite when everything settles down, she has her moments where she will break down. Just all the pressure she is carrying for a 22 year old woman. She is doing something that I personally could not do, and she does it all because she loves me. That makes me want to do all I can to fix it for her, and do as much as I possibly can to get the right answers, and make the best decisions. My biggest fear right now, is immigration makeing her leave the country against our will. I am also worried due to her overstay on her visa. At the same time, I wasnt sure how serious an overstay was, and if deportation was something I should be stressing over, Im what you would call a simple southern boy, you dont hear of people marrying outside of the country around here, so you are never exposed to these things. I have however done as much digging on the internet as I can, so much so that people are now telling me I need to stop reading everything on the internet, because it will just drive me crazy lol. You have some people who seem to make my circumstance seem very simple - "Get married and you will be fine" and then some people like to talk about how bad it is to overstay a visa, and talk about 3-10 year bans from the country.

I will stop rambling and get back to the subject here. Yesterday my girlfriend called about 3 different lawyers to see what they would tell her. All 3 lawyers told her "Get married, and come see me, you will be fine, and wont have to leave the country" She was also told that the cost of having the lawyers help through the AOS process would be about $2500. We do plan to hire a lawyer through this process, because I want it done right, and I dont want any problems, if at all possible. The lawyers also told her that the AOS process would take about a year, possibly a little longer. Is that accurate? To be honest, we dont really care how long the AOS process takes, as long as she doesnt have to leave.

One person who mentioned about my girlfriend comming into the country, and said that as long as she came into the country without the intent to pull this off, it would be ok. I just wanted to address that a moment, because my girlfriend did run into some slight problems at port of entry. When she arrived, and was having the brief interview with the official, she made the mistake of mentioning that she also was thinking of looking at some colleges while she was here touring. She was pulled to a closed room and questioned further by another official, who pulled out everything in her bags, and was actually quite rude to her when she asked why she was being interegated, he pretty much replied that she would being done this way because they can. She replied with "I dont mind, I just didnt know what the problem was" he replied "I dont care if you mind or not." We were told by a lawyer that the reason she was flagged like this at port of entry is because she mentioned "taking a look at some colleges" when "Prospective Student" Was not stamped on her Tourist visa. She never mentioned having a boyfriend here, or seeing a guy, or anything. Now, wether or not that little hassle at port of entry could factor into anything down the road, I dont know.

I have also read that it is actually a good idea to wait a while once you get into the country, before pulling off a marriage or AOS, because it makes it appear that it wasnt your initial plan when entering. I guess that is one positive (if it even is one) of waiting 6 months.

I have one more question Id like to toss out there real quick, or concern of mine. It could be another week or week and a half before we could get the marriage thing actually rolling. Due to our time constraints, we plan to get married without a ceremony, and then come back later once everything is done, and have a proper ceremony. Will we be ok waiting a possible 2 more weeks, with her already 1 week now past her date? Or, should we try to just get it done asap? The only thing we could find out from a lawyer was to not overstay by a period of 90 days or so. He said we could start running into problems if she overstayed by around 90 days. We dont plan to come even close to 90 days, more like 3 weeks. I am jsut wondering if time is very critical right now, with her being illegal. This is also one thing that is stressing her out as well, she doesnt like the idea of sitting here in the country illegal, and is worried she is going to cause herself some problems.

I realize I am asking a lot of questions that one cant just give me solid answers on all the time, and I dont really expect a guarantee or in stone yes or no, but what im hoping I can find out, is what is most likely. The guy who went in detail and answered every one of my questions, I appreciate that, you made me feel a little better here, knowing that I shouldnt really be worried about deportation. I just dont want her to get ripped out of the country for some reason. We have encountered alot of dissapointment the past 6 months, with trying to get her into colleges and different things, so I guess our spirits are a bit low, and I know I am atleast scared of this failing as well, and causing us alot of heartache.

Thanks again for all the input everyone, Anything else anyone can give would be much appreciated. I will continue to visit the topic and answer any questions any has to help better answer my questions and concerns.

Hello everyone. I am new to this forum, so forgive me if I am posting my questions in the wrong forum, or go about something wrong. In my attempt to find answers to a few questions, I decided to try and use a forum, where people with knowledge and experiance could help clear up some of my questions.

On to the issue at hand. I am 23/ male, and am a US Citizen. I was born here and all of my family are from the US, but my fiancee is from London, England. Just so everyone knows all the details, I will provide as much details as possible here. We originally met online, and were just friends, would call each other back and forth etc. She had been planning to vacation to america before we met, and once we met, she decided to take the vacation and come to my location, in north Florida.

She came from London, flew through Atlanta, then into FL on the Visa Waiver Program, and stayed here for 3 months (the maximum amount of time allowable by the visa waiver). Needless to say, we were fairly involved at this point, but never considered breaking any immigration rules. She returned to London, and started the process of obtaining a Tourist Visa. Within 1 month she had obtained the Tourist visa, and returned to me. She was stamped for 6 months on port of entry (after a bit of a hassle from airport immigration).

Our plan was to get her here on a tourist visa, and then she would get accepted into a college, and change her status to a student visa. She was a mental Health nurse in London, England, and wanted to further her medical studies, so this is what we set out to do.

For the past 3 months, we have been doing everything the college has been asking for, paying money for companies to validate her 2ndary education (highschool), and get her into this community college. We have come down to the wire now, and was supposed to have everything done and submitted to immigration for approval about 2 days late on her visa deadline (entire 6months now being exausted). We had read that its not really a bad thing to file late, but that you would need to submit reasons for filing late, and she had that ready as well. (The college gave us a lot of run around, requesting new documents each time we would visit their office). Needless to say, trying to get her into college exhausted the 6 months. After showing up to the school 2 days past her allowed time on the visa to finalize everything, we ran into a huge problem. She was missing some grades in Math, and the college said they could not accept her. Without going into a lot of annoying details on the subject, she was now denied entry to the college, and was 2 days overstayed on her visa now.

We are about to pull our hair out now. She is about 5 days past her stamped date on the tourist visa, and school has, atleast for now, been removed as an option. Being faced with having to let her fly home now, and be flagged for staying past her date, and not knowing when she would be able to make it back over here if she is forced to return home again, we have had to put our heads together to figure something out fast. We fear that if she returns home now, it could be some time before she is able to return, not to mention any trouble she would get in for overstaying her date. Im under the impression she could possibly even lose her visa.

So, of course, the topic of marriage came up. We had talked about marriage a lot in the past, but had planned to let that fall in place after she was a student, and was settled into her studies. We are in love, and want to be together, but I didnt want to rush into marriage. Being faced with our options now, It would appear we have to either get married, or say goodbye. She is 22 years old, and has exhausted a lot of her personal savings comming back and forth and paying countless fee's. Her family is well off however, and has been supporting her through this, to give their daughter the life she wants. I say all that to help anyone reading understand where we stand on this decision. Her family simply tells her to marry me and end all this hassle (lol). So this is where we are right now as I type this.

I have never doubted wether I wanted to be with her Longterm, but now that marriage is on the table, I personally have some questions I want answered in stone, or as close to "in stone" as I can get them. Anyone who is able to answer these questions for me, or help me with them, I would appreciate it tremendously.

1. If we do get married, with her being a week or two past her Tourist visa allowed date, will we run into any problems?

2. If we do get married, given the above circumstances, is there anyway they could still make her go back home? Ive been told that if we marry, that they cant send her back home, but this is just people talking. I need solid answers on this question. Could her overstay on a tourist visa cause such problems?

3. If we get married, will we be guaranteed to be able to remain together, and work through everything without her ever having to return home at some point?

4. If there are still risks of her being sent back home after marrying me, what are those risks, and where would they arise?

By the questions most people can see where my concerns lie. I would hate to go through the process of marriage just to have her ripped away and sent back to london for something that we werent aware of. I am doing all I can to educate myself on every aspect of immigration law that relates to our situation, but I have never dealt with this stuff before, and to be honest I feel overwhelmed, and a bit scared. I do not want to do something wrong and screw up our chances, or mess up her life. We simply want to stay together, and have a normal life together. Everytime I discuss this with someone, they simply say "Just marry her, and they cant touch you". Does this saying actually hold up in reality? Her family is standing by ready to fund an all out wedding, they have insisted that we made this decision they wanted to pay for it. We just need to make a decision, and we are already out of time.

For the record, we are both honest people, we neither have any criminal records of any kind.

Any comments, suggestions, answers, anything at all that anyone can give me will be appreciated greatly. I will check back often and try to answer any further questions if it will help assist people in answering some of my concerns. Thank you everyone, and I apologize for the essay of a post, I wanted to get everything out there, so you can better help and understand my situation.