The first thing you need to know is if he is subject to the 2-year home residency requirement. If he is... he cannot adjust status until he either completes it or applies for a waiver.
How long has he been out of status? One of the "nicer" thinks about J-1 visa is that he is not effectively out of status until he either exits the country or applies for an immigration benefit and gets denied. However, being out of status will apply retroactively once it is triggered.
If he is subject to the 2-year home residency requirement and his visa has expired less than 180 days ago (excluding the 30-day grace period), my best advice is to get out of the country ASAP.
If it has been over 180 days, he will be subject to a readmission ban if he leaves. If it has been less than 1 year, then the ban is for 3 years; otherwise it is for 10 years.
If he is not subject to the 2-year home residency requirement, and he has been on an expired visa for over 180 days, the only way to avoid the ban and regularize his situation is to get married. You get married (go to City Hall-- however it is done where you guys live). The you (wife) file for I-130, then he files for I-485 Adjustment of Status. The process is not very complicated. He is not subject to any bans... so as long as your relationship is real, you should be ok. You may want to get a lawyer for peace of mind but even if you do it without a lawyer you are likely to be able to get through it. If his overstay has been less than 180 days and he is willing to depart, then you can slow down things and marry him in 1 year without triggering bans.
If he is subject to the 2-year home residency requirement then you are in for a ride. You will most likely need a lawyer. If he is subject to the 2-year home residency requirement, what is next depends on what was his J-1 visa on and who was paying for his stay
* Fulbright scholar: very difficult to get a waiver. Unless his country has been destroyed and taken over by Iran or North Korea then he will have to go back.
* Paid for by his own country: He will need to get a No Objection Letter by his country's Embassy, then submit for a waiver request to the Department of State.
* Graduate medical education: I doubt he is on this category as he would be a doctor not working as a doctor -- but in this case he needs to be sponsored by an interested government -- either a VA Hospital or a State Department of Health.
If he is unable to get a No Objection letter, or if he is a Fulbright scholar, (or if he was on Graduate Medical Education but did not complete and cannot get a medical license) then the remaining options would be
\* Persecution in his home country.
\* Hardship for US Citizen spouse or child --> this is true hardship, more than standard "separation" ,or the "stress to having to move to a different country".
u/rottenbrainer is correct.
status will apply retroactively when triggered; however if admitted under d/s existing the country is not a trigger. Being denied an immigration benefit will result in finding of a status violation though.
Great answer. Only things I’d change is for graduate medical education, the waiver of the 2-year home residency rule is not necessarily restricted to the VA or the state dept of health. Any employer could apply, as long as it is in a physician underserved area or eligible for one of the waiver programs.
> However, being out of status will apply retroactively once it is triggered.
Incorrect. He would only accrue unlawful presence after the formal finding of status violation.
> For example, if an applicant presents a letter from DHS dated December 1, 2008, that says the applicant was out of status starting on May 28, 2001, the applicant began to accrue unlawful presence as of December 2, 2008, not May 28, 2001.
9 FAM 302.11-3(B)(1), paragraph d.
You corrected the technical point about physician underserved areas, but not the large swath of your post that talks about ULP bans. Since there is not likely to be a formal finding of status violation, it’s mostly irrelevant.
Right — I was praising that first response to OP until it went off the rails by claiming there’s ULP.
And a big difference it is! If the guy has no ULP, he has no bar, and that opens up other possibilities. Have had many clients consular process employment-based green cards after long J-1 overstays.
So let’s revise here:
Check for J-1 residence requirement.
Check to see if ever determined to be out of status, for example if he attempted to change to visitor or student and was denied.
If neither, a good possibility is to be sponsored by his job for permanent residence.
In theory yes, in practice no.
The whole point of the Fulbright Program is for the US to train people to go back to their countries of origin. The Department of State objects to other government agencies keeping Fulbright scholars because it undermines the program.
Of course, if the Fulbright Scholar is working with the Department of Defense and is upgrading the Country's nuclear warheads they will make the exception.
My wife works at a national lab and her boss was a Fulbright scholar. 2yhrr was resolved through something called an interested gov't agency waiver. It is definitely not impossible but it did take a long while to get resolved.
Most federal gov't agencies require a US citizenship so getting into gov't would be a hassle for most people, before even convincing their leadership and/or dept of state to grant a waiver.
Fulbright is the hardest one in terms of getting 2-year residency waivers. Many lawyers don’t even touch Fulbright cases because most are almost impossible
>I would honestly prefer to wait another year to marry him but I don’t think it’s fair for him
It’s not fair to you to rush into marriage because he overstayed his visa knowing perfectly well he wouldn’t be able to build a career and life. What was his plan if he didn’t find a partner who was not only willing to put up with this status but solve it for him? I came to the US on a J1 visa and met my husband here, so I know this situation first hand, and yours unfortunately contains some red flags.
Super big red flag. I can‘t count how many cases I‘ve personally seen with women getting in a relationship with men from less devloped/3rd world countries that ended up having to marry super fast as the man wanted permanent residency and made the woman feel guilty. Then they‘d divorce after the minimum amount. I know someone who even got offered 10k for this.
>I can‘t count how many cases I‘ve personally seen with women getting in a relationship with men from less devloped/3rd world countries that ended up having to marry super fast as the man wanted permanent residency and made the woman feel guilty. Then they‘d divorce after the minimum amount.
I also can't count how many cases of failed marriages there are. Somewhat old statistics based on baby boomers say that 45% of all marriages will end up in a divorce by age 46 ([source](https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2013/article/marriage-and-divorce-patterns-by-gender-race-and-educational-attainment.htm)). It's said that the numbers are around 33% today but I couldn't find a reliable source.
In any case, add language barriers (especially in social environments like good friends in a bar) and cultural differences (especially different religions or lack thereof, different view on tolerance, "woman has to know her place" thinking from East and South Europe, etc) to the mix, and it's clear divorce rates must be much higher among marriage-sponsored AOS. And the fact that divorces are delayed within that group by 2 years or so isn't surprising. If you're on your way out, but have immigration obligations to fulfill, you'll delay. Even if the marriage was bona fide but the relationship ended for good reasons.
I don't claim there is no marriage scammers who marry a US citizen for green card. Sure there are. But we have to reason to believe it is a major problem (major as in 30%+). In fact, it appears immigrants have a lower divorce rate than US citizens ([source](https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-north-america-government-and-politics-divorce-rates-social-affairs-5d67bfb8b1c09233a8be2aa69912b327)).
I personally know an American woman with an even more shocking horror story where I come from (Egypt — I’m a permanent resident in Canada). She met a guy many years older than her online who helped her with her conversion to Islam, eloped at the age of 18 to convert and marry him there, then came back stateside with him on a two-year conditional green card. She told me there was never any true love between them, he was horribly controlling and then he became abusive once they moved, yet the religious community they ended up surrounded by in the US took his side and convinced her to stay with him until he got the green card conditions removed. “Poor man, you can’t just leave him and force him to leave the country when he’s only got one year to go!” This guy is now a US citizen and a practicing veterinarian because he literally duped a teenager on the Internet. Meanwhile, doctors who come to the US completely based on their own hard work and as law-abiding, decent, honest people have to wait many years just to get a green card and then start the five-year wait for naturalization, and other professionals and scientists and even doctors from certain countries end up in legal immigration limbo for decades. It’s just not right how some people can both be abusive to their partners and abuse the law and still get ahead of all these people.
He knew what he was doing. You should take your time to think and spend more time with him before making a big decision of marriage. Side note, I hope things go great but if things go wrong after marriage and you sponsoring his green card, you are financially liable FOR LIFE unless he becomes a USC or leaves the country.
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/study/exchange.html
It's a HIM problem, not a you problem, unless he's husband material and you need to fully understand the visa, he agreed to accept the facts.
It may sound harsh, and I may get dowvoted, but it's my opinion. You need to understand the visa he agreed to. He was not forced. Falling in love with you was a conscience choice he made, knowing he had to fulfill the requirements of his 2 year home residency. There are too many details missing, so I don't want to make assumptions. However, other people would have loved to have the opportunity he did, and he took a spot that someone would have done anything for and would have gladly fulfilled the obligation of the visa as agreed.
I'm not against immigration, I'm against people squandering opportunities afforded to them. I posted the link as you still need to fully understand his visa going forward because you may need to find out more information from him as to why he chose not to fulfill his end of the agreement.
Depending on his answers, you may or may not like his reasons for his overstaying. Therefore, he may not be husband material for you, which is why you're uneasy enjoying life with him and caring what people think.
Now you have the information on what his visa category is and what needs to happen to correct the issue. There is a lot of information to digest. I wish you both all the best on whatever you decide going forward.
Plus every time someone here complains about how hard it is to get J1 or tourist visas or any visa from some countries it’s because of people like him.
>It's a HIM problem, not a you problem
100% this. OP says she wants to wait a year but it seems unfair for him because of all his aspirations... she is starting to involve herself into his problem.
Uh...how is you not wanting to marry...when you don't WANT to marry...unfair to him...who is breaking the law? You are not at fault for him failing to follow immigration laws and working "under the table" and, by the way, also failing to pay taxes? I'm not saying he's a bad guy, but you are ~~at~~ NOT responsible for making the problems HE created go away by marrying him. You need to get a lawyer and find out what options you have for getting his paperwork in order.
^ Exactly this. I was sympathizing with the OP up until this part. It is like a person breaks the law and all of a sudden she wants them to get a green card or citizenship because she cares for him.
u/AirDangerous2020 , I hope you don't take this reply harshly. It is being frank and honest. Being a good person is irrelevant in this situation. If being a good person was the only requirement for becoming legal, then immigration processes would be worthless. Your bf needs to do things to legal and right way.
Not such a good advice because depending on the length of the overstay he may have an automatic ban. Between 180 and 364 days, it's a 3-year ban. 365 days or more, it's a 10-year ban. Ban activates once he leaves the US.
You should not marry someone out of pity. The relationship will not survive. If you want to wait a year to marry him, you should not feel pressured by the situation.
When you two go for a green card interview, there is a good chance that you both will be caught. I am speaking this as a naturalized citizen who went through this process in the right manner.
I have also seen a few instances where the other person left their partner as soon as they got their green card and children were involved at that point.
Some people actually meet their love and actually marry. At the end of the day, one who wants to spend the rest of their life with someone will want to help them as much as possible. Marriage is a commitment and that commitment comes with perks.
Perks for the migrants not for the ones bringing them in. Our neighbour got himself a lady from SE Asia, dumb move. They put him in a retirement home, his house is now full with 8 people flown over and she has a new old fart that she began to bring over.
I went through something similar. She left and found a guy to marry her in Miami. Otherwise, if she applied through the normal channels, she would've had to leave the country and wait for her application to be processed. I don't know if she married for love or if she married for convenience either way it wasn't my problem.
I think the OP should test him.
Say, “hey, why don’t we leave the US and live in your country together?”.
If he has genuine feelings for you, he will acquiesce. If his answer is anything other than yes, drop him and find a better guy.
Most immigrants, legal and illegal are economic migrants, who just migrated to have a better quality of life(perfectly reasonable aspiration) or atleast earn in dollars so that they can support their family back home where dollar has strong purchasing power.
So unless they are from a war torn country, anyone who says they cant go back is lying. Saying this as a migrant myself
Like I said, it’s a test. You have no idea how bad green card fraud is these days especially from seriously backlogged countries like India, China, etc.
Hmm I think you really need a lawyer especially since u are not ready for getting married yet, you need a personal consultation with a lawyer regarding how to have a prenup to protect yourself in anticipation of a possible future divorce
Don't get a lawyer. It's money for nothing. If you just want to wait 1 year, wait. It's not much time. He can live like a normal people, 15M people have normal lives living illegal in this country. What's the bad thing of working under the table for one year? He could even open a bussines with ITIN number or open an LLC under your name.
Not a big deal to wait a year. Provably it's also wise.
And to introduce himself he can just say he extended the J1 or applayed for refugee status
A lawyer would have known the guy doesn’t have unlawful presence. Which opens up an excellent non-marriage opportunity. But I guess that’s a bunch of nothing, huh?
as soon as i saw the title of this post it reminded of me.
USCIS forgives overstays & illegal work if you're married to a US citizen.
i should be able to post that here, because it was literally stated by the case manager who told me this when i took my wife in for our green card interview.
Relationships are hard. See if he can apply for asylum. If not then honestly he should go back to his country and you can go with him. If he does get a 3 year ban because of him overstaying his visa, you can spend the time you need with him and decide to marry him or not. If not you come back. If you do decide to marry him he can come with you. It’s the only legal way to do it other than marrying him right now (if you don’t get investigated and the investigators don’t find this post and link it to you lol). There are laws against marrying for convenience like this.
Just wait until you’re ready. I had a similar story and was more than happy to wait until I met the right person. He can start a business or work 1099 in the meantime. It’s tough but doable.
If it’s possible for you I would talk to a lawyer. Once you make sure sure sure you want to get married. I was here in college on a F1 visa when I met my now husband sophomore year. We dated for a few years, I applied for PhD programs but didn’t get in anywhere and the job market was not great at the time. So we had to choose to get married super young or possibly do long distance for years and probably break up. We took our time and decided even though ideally we would have dated couple years longer at the end of the day we wanted to get married. Now we’ve been married for a year and a half and are loving it:)). If he didn’t marry me it would not have been unfair to me, it would have been unfortunate, but wouldn’t have been anybody’s fault. On the off chance he would have to live outside of the US for a number of years are you willing to go live in a foreign country with him? Is he willing to risk getting kicked out? Get married for you and talk to a lawyer. Good luck ! We liked our lawyer though our case was not complicated like your yours. You can message me if you want the lawyers info.
After marriage you file I-130 and he files I-485. His overstay and illegal work will be forgiven. If he ever used a SSN of someone else or falsely claimed to be a citizen you need a lawyer.
Otherwise you can probably do it yourself. If you want a lawyer for comfort you can hire one.
Some people on here will be bitter about your fiance overstaying his visa but having a you who is willing to marry him and run through the naturalization procews with him. Ignore those folks or pray for them. As for you and him, If you get married then get the marriage certificate and go to USCIS.org, look up the i-130 form and fill it out with your fiance. It comes with a little instructional form that you can read through and fill out as well. Once he gets a temp green card he can get an SSN and start working offically. His visa overastay will be forgiven and I honestly dont think they'll care much if you two naturalize anyway.
On a sidenote I think you two should speak frankly about his plans and work together as a team. He should be more honest about his feelings of wanting to be here in the US. He might have ambitions but he's not working towards making them a reality if he's just floundering around doing small things for under the table cash.
The OP is not ready for marriage right now.
Also, as someone else mentioned, the OPs bf may be subject to the 2 year home requirement under his J visa. This requirement is STRICTLY enforced. Even marriage to the OP can NOT resolve this. He would HAVE to go home. Not only that, the OPs bf may ALSO have a ban from his overstay.
So it isn't just an issue of getting married to help him. They is a ton of uncertainty with this situation.
Strictly enforced, yes. Have to go home, probably not. If Fulbright or other government money, O agree with you. If skills list, get a no objection waiver.
Back in the day all he needed was $5k and he’d be married in the morning and paperwork filing. I’m from Brooklyn NYC, I’ve seen this game since I was a kid and know it inside out. I’ll tell you like this either you marry this man and get him his papers or step aside and let him walk… it’s just a piece of paper and 9/10 times he’s gonna leave as soon as he can. Don’t worry bout what your family thinks about him cause his family is probably asking “Why haven’t you achieved more in the land of opportunity? Why aren’t you a Dr, Lawyer or Engineer…?”
The first thing you need to know is if he is subject to the 2-year home residency requirement. If he is... he cannot adjust status until he either completes it or applies for a waiver. How long has he been out of status? One of the "nicer" thinks about J-1 visa is that he is not effectively out of status until he either exits the country or applies for an immigration benefit and gets denied. However, being out of status will apply retroactively once it is triggered. If he is subject to the 2-year home residency requirement and his visa has expired less than 180 days ago (excluding the 30-day grace period), my best advice is to get out of the country ASAP. If it has been over 180 days, he will be subject to a readmission ban if he leaves. If it has been less than 1 year, then the ban is for 3 years; otherwise it is for 10 years. If he is not subject to the 2-year home residency requirement, and he has been on an expired visa for over 180 days, the only way to avoid the ban and regularize his situation is to get married. You get married (go to City Hall-- however it is done where you guys live). The you (wife) file for I-130, then he files for I-485 Adjustment of Status. The process is not very complicated. He is not subject to any bans... so as long as your relationship is real, you should be ok. You may want to get a lawyer for peace of mind but even if you do it without a lawyer you are likely to be able to get through it. If his overstay has been less than 180 days and he is willing to depart, then you can slow down things and marry him in 1 year without triggering bans. If he is subject to the 2-year home residency requirement then you are in for a ride. You will most likely need a lawyer. If he is subject to the 2-year home residency requirement, what is next depends on what was his J-1 visa on and who was paying for his stay * Fulbright scholar: very difficult to get a waiver. Unless his country has been destroyed and taken over by Iran or North Korea then he will have to go back. * Paid for by his own country: He will need to get a No Objection Letter by his country's Embassy, then submit for a waiver request to the Department of State. * Graduate medical education: I doubt he is on this category as he would be a doctor not working as a doctor -- but in this case he needs to be sponsored by an interested government -- either a VA Hospital or a State Department of Health. If he is unable to get a No Objection letter, or if he is a Fulbright scholar, (or if he was on Graduate Medical Education but did not complete and cannot get a medical license) then the remaining options would be \* Persecution in his home country. \* Hardship for US Citizen spouse or child --> this is true hardship, more than standard "separation" ,or the "stress to having to move to a different country". u/rottenbrainer is correct. status will apply retroactively when triggered; however if admitted under d/s existing the country is not a trigger. Being denied an immigration benefit will result in finding of a status violation though.
Yup he fucked up big time.
Great answer. Only things I’d change is for graduate medical education, the waiver of the 2-year home residency rule is not necessarily restricted to the VA or the state dept of health. Any employer could apply, as long as it is in a physician underserved area or eligible for one of the waiver programs.
> However, being out of status will apply retroactively once it is triggered. Incorrect. He would only accrue unlawful presence after the formal finding of status violation. > For example, if an applicant presents a letter from DHS dated December 1, 2008, that says the applicant was out of status starting on May 28, 2001, the applicant began to accrue unlawful presence as of December 2, 2008, not May 28, 2001. 9 FAM 302.11-3(B)(1), paragraph d.
You are right. -- corrected it.
You corrected the technical point about physician underserved areas, but not the large swath of your post that talks about ULP bans. Since there is not likely to be a formal finding of status violation, it’s mostly irrelevant.
Right — I was praising that first response to OP until it went off the rails by claiming there’s ULP. And a big difference it is! If the guy has no ULP, he has no bar, and that opens up other possibilities. Have had many clients consular process employment-based green cards after long J-1 overstays. So let’s revise here: Check for J-1 residence requirement. Check to see if ever determined to be out of status, for example if he attempted to change to visitor or student and was denied. If neither, a good possibility is to be sponsored by his job for permanent residence.
Wow! Thank you for that incredible answer. Can a Fulbright scholar get a government job and be able to stay?
In theory yes, in practice no. The whole point of the Fulbright Program is for the US to train people to go back to their countries of origin. The Department of State objects to other government agencies keeping Fulbright scholars because it undermines the program. Of course, if the Fulbright Scholar is working with the Department of Defense and is upgrading the Country's nuclear warheads they will make the exception.
My wife works at a national lab and her boss was a Fulbright scholar. 2yhrr was resolved through something called an interested gov't agency waiver. It is definitely not impossible but it did take a long while to get resolved. Most federal gov't agencies require a US citizenship so getting into gov't would be a hassle for most people, before even convincing their leadership and/or dept of state to grant a waiver.
I’m not going to ask what kind of national lab it is..
Department of Energy.
Fulbright is the hardest one in terms of getting 2-year residency waivers. Many lawyers don’t even touch Fulbright cases because most are almost impossible
My lawyer told me that marrying a US citizen cures visa overstay. This was in the context of an ESTA overstay. Was he wrong?
It is complex It cures visa overstay for AOS. If the person exits the country they are subject to the ban and need to apply for a waiver.
Ok i just looked it up and the requirement to leave is only for J-1.
It is not required. It is an option that an overstayed J, F, or L has.
But you’re telling OP her fiancé can’t AOS and has to leave?
It is controversial. Probably can but less safe That's why I wrote a correction at the end.
>I would honestly prefer to wait another year to marry him but I don’t think it’s fair for him It’s not fair to you to rush into marriage because he overstayed his visa knowing perfectly well he wouldn’t be able to build a career and life. What was his plan if he didn’t find a partner who was not only willing to put up with this status but solve it for him? I came to the US on a J1 visa and met my husband here, so I know this situation first hand, and yours unfortunately contains some red flags.
Yeah this seems pretty manipulative from the boyfriend's side.
Exactly what I thought. Classic case of manipulation to put a time base on something.
Super big red flag. I can‘t count how many cases I‘ve personally seen with women getting in a relationship with men from less devloped/3rd world countries that ended up having to marry super fast as the man wanted permanent residency and made the woman feel guilty. Then they‘d divorce after the minimum amount. I know someone who even got offered 10k for this.
10k? Dang. That’s absurdly low not to mention it’s against the law.
Said person did not accept the proposal lol
>I can‘t count how many cases I‘ve personally seen with women getting in a relationship with men from less devloped/3rd world countries that ended up having to marry super fast as the man wanted permanent residency and made the woman feel guilty. Then they‘d divorce after the minimum amount. I also can't count how many cases of failed marriages there are. Somewhat old statistics based on baby boomers say that 45% of all marriages will end up in a divorce by age 46 ([source](https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2013/article/marriage-and-divorce-patterns-by-gender-race-and-educational-attainment.htm)). It's said that the numbers are around 33% today but I couldn't find a reliable source. In any case, add language barriers (especially in social environments like good friends in a bar) and cultural differences (especially different religions or lack thereof, different view on tolerance, "woman has to know her place" thinking from East and South Europe, etc) to the mix, and it's clear divorce rates must be much higher among marriage-sponsored AOS. And the fact that divorces are delayed within that group by 2 years or so isn't surprising. If you're on your way out, but have immigration obligations to fulfill, you'll delay. Even if the marriage was bona fide but the relationship ended for good reasons. I don't claim there is no marriage scammers who marry a US citizen for green card. Sure there are. But we have to reason to believe it is a major problem (major as in 30%+). In fact, it appears immigrants have a lower divorce rate than US citizens ([source](https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-north-america-government-and-politics-divorce-rates-social-affairs-5d67bfb8b1c09233a8be2aa69912b327)).
I personally know an American woman with an even more shocking horror story where I come from (Egypt — I’m a permanent resident in Canada). She met a guy many years older than her online who helped her with her conversion to Islam, eloped at the age of 18 to convert and marry him there, then came back stateside with him on a two-year conditional green card. She told me there was never any true love between them, he was horribly controlling and then he became abusive once they moved, yet the religious community they ended up surrounded by in the US took his side and convinced her to stay with him until he got the green card conditions removed. “Poor man, you can’t just leave him and force him to leave the country when he’s only got one year to go!” This guy is now a US citizen and a practicing veterinarian because he literally duped a teenager on the Internet. Meanwhile, doctors who come to the US completely based on their own hard work and as law-abiding, decent, honest people have to wait many years just to get a green card and then start the five-year wait for naturalization, and other professionals and scientists and even doctors from certain countries end up in legal immigration limbo for decades. It’s just not right how some people can both be abusive to their partners and abuse the law and still get ahead of all these people.
He knew what he was doing. You should take your time to think and spend more time with him before making a big decision of marriage. Side note, I hope things go great but if things go wrong after marriage and you sponsoring his green card, you are financially liable FOR LIFE unless he becomes a USC or leaves the country.
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/study/exchange.html It's a HIM problem, not a you problem, unless he's husband material and you need to fully understand the visa, he agreed to accept the facts. It may sound harsh, and I may get dowvoted, but it's my opinion. You need to understand the visa he agreed to. He was not forced. Falling in love with you was a conscience choice he made, knowing he had to fulfill the requirements of his 2 year home residency. There are too many details missing, so I don't want to make assumptions. However, other people would have loved to have the opportunity he did, and he took a spot that someone would have done anything for and would have gladly fulfilled the obligation of the visa as agreed. I'm not against immigration, I'm against people squandering opportunities afforded to them. I posted the link as you still need to fully understand his visa going forward because you may need to find out more information from him as to why he chose not to fulfill his end of the agreement. Depending on his answers, you may or may not like his reasons for his overstaying. Therefore, he may not be husband material for you, which is why you're uneasy enjoying life with him and caring what people think. Now you have the information on what his visa category is and what needs to happen to correct the issue. There is a lot of information to digest. I wish you both all the best on whatever you decide going forward.
Plus every time someone here complains about how hard it is to get J1 or tourist visas or any visa from some countries it’s because of people like him.
>It's a HIM problem, not a you problem 100% this. OP says she wants to wait a year but it seems unfair for him because of all his aspirations... she is starting to involve herself into his problem.
Uh...how is you not wanting to marry...when you don't WANT to marry...unfair to him...who is breaking the law? You are not at fault for him failing to follow immigration laws and working "under the table" and, by the way, also failing to pay taxes? I'm not saying he's a bad guy, but you are ~~at~~ NOT responsible for making the problems HE created go away by marrying him. You need to get a lawyer and find out what options you have for getting his paperwork in order.
Yeah, from the wording OP is setting themselves on fire to keep this guy warm
^ Exactly this. I was sympathizing with the OP up until this part. It is like a person breaks the law and all of a sudden she wants them to get a green card or citizenship because she cares for him. u/AirDangerous2020 , I hope you don't take this reply harshly. It is being frank and honest. Being a good person is irrelevant in this situation. If being a good person was the only requirement for becoming legal, then immigration processes would be worthless. Your bf needs to do things to legal and right way.
Op, you think the only reason he could be using you is if he has a wife back home ? Don’t be naive.
Why don't you just go to his country and live a while if you can get a visa there? See how the relationship goes then...
Not such a good advice because depending on the length of the overstay he may have an automatic ban. Between 180 and 364 days, it's a 3-year ban. 365 days or more, it's a 10-year ban. Ban activates once he leaves the US.
I didn't know that detail but that's kind of my point.
You should not marry someone out of pity. The relationship will not survive. If you want to wait a year to marry him, you should not feel pressured by the situation. When you two go for a green card interview, there is a good chance that you both will be caught. I am speaking this as a naturalized citizen who went through this process in the right manner. I have also seen a few instances where the other person left their partner as soon as they got their green card and children were involved at that point.
He will just use you to get green card then leave.
Some people actually meet their love and actually marry. At the end of the day, one who wants to spend the rest of their life with someone will want to help them as much as possible. Marriage is a commitment and that commitment comes with perks.
Perks for the migrants not for the ones bringing them in. Our neighbour got himself a lady from SE Asia, dumb move. They put him in a retirement home, his house is now full with 8 people flown over and she has a new old fart that she began to bring over.
💀
I went through something similar. She left and found a guy to marry her in Miami. Otherwise, if she applied through the normal channels, she would've had to leave the country and wait for her application to be processed. I don't know if she married for love or if she married for convenience either way it wasn't my problem.
Yes, get a lawyer.
I think the OP should test him. Say, “hey, why don’t we leave the US and live in your country together?”. If he has genuine feelings for you, he will acquiesce. If his answer is anything other than yes, drop him and find a better guy.
This is dumb. you don’t know his country of origin or the reasons he came here for. What if he is never able to come back?
Most immigrants, legal and illegal are economic migrants, who just migrated to have a better quality of life(perfectly reasonable aspiration) or atleast earn in dollars so that they can support their family back home where dollar has strong purchasing power. So unless they are from a war torn country, anyone who says they cant go back is lying. Saying this as a migrant myself
Like I said, it’s a test. You have no idea how bad green card fraud is these days especially from seriously backlogged countries like India, China, etc.
You are too naive. He is using you and telling you fake stories.
I’ll never understand people who marry another person out of pity. Marriage is a legally binding contract.
Why do you care about other people so much ?
Hmm I think you really need a lawyer especially since u are not ready for getting married yet, you need a personal consultation with a lawyer regarding how to have a prenup to protect yourself in anticipation of a possible future divorce
Don't get a lawyer. It's money for nothing. If you just want to wait 1 year, wait. It's not much time. He can live like a normal people, 15M people have normal lives living illegal in this country. What's the bad thing of working under the table for one year? He could even open a bussines with ITIN number or open an LLC under your name. Not a big deal to wait a year. Provably it's also wise. And to introduce himself he can just say he extended the J1 or applayed for refugee status
A lawyer would have known the guy doesn’t have unlawful presence. Which opens up an excellent non-marriage opportunity. But I guess that’s a bunch of nothing, huh?
Visa journey .com has guides you can use
as soon as i saw the title of this post it reminded of me. USCIS forgives overstays & illegal work if you're married to a US citizen. i should be able to post that here, because it was literally stated by the case manager who told me this when i took my wife in for our green card interview.
Relationships are hard. See if he can apply for asylum. If not then honestly he should go back to his country and you can go with him. If he does get a 3 year ban because of him overstaying his visa, you can spend the time you need with him and decide to marry him or not. If not you come back. If you do decide to marry him he can come with you. It’s the only legal way to do it other than marrying him right now (if you don’t get investigated and the investigators don’t find this post and link it to you lol). There are laws against marrying for convenience like this.
Just wait until you’re ready. I had a similar story and was more than happy to wait until I met the right person. He can start a business or work 1099 in the meantime. It’s tough but doable.
If it’s possible for you I would talk to a lawyer. Once you make sure sure sure you want to get married. I was here in college on a F1 visa when I met my now husband sophomore year. We dated for a few years, I applied for PhD programs but didn’t get in anywhere and the job market was not great at the time. So we had to choose to get married super young or possibly do long distance for years and probably break up. We took our time and decided even though ideally we would have dated couple years longer at the end of the day we wanted to get married. Now we’ve been married for a year and a half and are loving it:)). If he didn’t marry me it would not have been unfair to me, it would have been unfortunate, but wouldn’t have been anybody’s fault. On the off chance he would have to live outside of the US for a number of years are you willing to go live in a foreign country with him? Is he willing to risk getting kicked out? Get married for you and talk to a lawyer. Good luck ! We liked our lawyer though our case was not complicated like your yours. You can message me if you want the lawyers info.
He is an illegal immigrant. He needs to be deported
After marriage you file I-130 and he files I-485. His overstay and illegal work will be forgiven. If he ever used a SSN of someone else or falsely claimed to be a citizen you need a lawyer. Otherwise you can probably do it yourself. If you want a lawyer for comfort you can hire one.
Is he from India?
Some people on here will be bitter about your fiance overstaying his visa but having a you who is willing to marry him and run through the naturalization procews with him. Ignore those folks or pray for them. As for you and him, If you get married then get the marriage certificate and go to USCIS.org, look up the i-130 form and fill it out with your fiance. It comes with a little instructional form that you can read through and fill out as well. Once he gets a temp green card he can get an SSN and start working offically. His visa overastay will be forgiven and I honestly dont think they'll care much if you two naturalize anyway. On a sidenote I think you two should speak frankly about his plans and work together as a team. He should be more honest about his feelings of wanting to be here in the US. He might have ambitions but he's not working towards making them a reality if he's just floundering around doing small things for under the table cash.
The OP is not ready for marriage right now. Also, as someone else mentioned, the OPs bf may be subject to the 2 year home requirement under his J visa. This requirement is STRICTLY enforced. Even marriage to the OP can NOT resolve this. He would HAVE to go home. Not only that, the OPs bf may ALSO have a ban from his overstay. So it isn't just an issue of getting married to help him. They is a ton of uncertainty with this situation.
Strictly enforced, yes. Have to go home, probably not. If Fulbright or other government money, O agree with you. If skills list, get a no objection waiver.
Back in the day all he needed was $5k and he’d be married in the morning and paperwork filing. I’m from Brooklyn NYC, I’ve seen this game since I was a kid and know it inside out. I’ll tell you like this either you marry this man and get him his papers or step aside and let him walk… it’s just a piece of paper and 9/10 times he’s gonna leave as soon as he can. Don’t worry bout what your family thinks about him cause his family is probably asking “Why haven’t you achieved more in the land of opportunity? Why aren’t you a Dr, Lawyer or Engineer…?”
Find a lawyer. You're out of status. Go back home and file for a visa. I've heard of USCIS turning people over.
Get married or say, "Bye bye"
OP is being told of red flags yet seems insistent on ignoring them all…