Plan to marry a USC but worry about my family member

Hello, Everyone:

I am very fortunate last year to able to apply for DACA and received my EAD last year by myself. Meanwhile I was dating my USC boyfriend (naturalized since he was 18 years old or so) and things are looking good between us, so we are talking about marriage. However, I have a complicated situations so while I know many instructions are available in this forum/USCIS page, I would like to get some advices from here:

I came to US with my family (mom, dad, brother and a sister) with tourist vista and overstayed the visa for more than 10 years. Dad passed away years ago and none of us returned home due to the fear of the 10 year ban. Last year before I received my EAD, my sister who has mental illness, got in fight with us and it alerted to the authority (as we live in Arizona). It was a domestic case on one hand (in the city level) and another case involved immigration (as she was exposed as soon as the police realized she didn't have a SSN or legal status). Anyway we hired an attorney to help her fight the case. It is still in progress but so far it's ok. I mean, the attorney is working on the case and given it is not a serious, criminal-type of cases, it is considered as low profile case so just dragging out feet at this point.

Meanwhile, my concerns are as follow:
--1) If my bf can engaged with me now , can we start the filing? Like some sort of fiancé visa? I don't know much about it and not sure if I could apply for that given my circumstances. Or would it be easier to just go ahead and get marry and file it that way?
--2) Would my marriage with my boyfriend and thus filing for adjust for status/green card expose my family members?? Given my sister is already exposed, I am not worried about her. I am more worried about my mom and brother.
--3) Do I need to return to my home country during the filing time? And if I want to apply and sponsor for my mother, can I start to apply after receiving my green card or wait until I become a citizen?? and what is the typical length of time?
--4) Given my circumstances, would it be better to hire the attorney??


I greatly appreciate all feedback and inputs in advance!!! Thank you.

Always hire a lawyer. Always.
My feelings (for entertainment purposes and not legally binding) is
1. I don't think that visa works for this - you're an overstay.

2. It shouldn't. My sister filed when she got married and nobody came after me and I'm sure I'm in worse shape than your family.

3. If you're an overstay, no. You have the gift of readjusting your status. It will take about a year to get your green card and after 3 years you can become a citizen and file then....all goes well, in 4-5 years you can apply for your mom and the paperwork to go through. Good news is she's immediate family. Your sister is not however so if she's going to be older than 21 in 4 years, it'll take about 13 years after 4 years so she can get her green card through you in about 17 years...assuming the laws stay the same.

4. Once again, hire a lawyer.

1-No, you cannot do a Fiancee visa because you have accumulated unlawful presence by overstaying your visa. You will not be able to start the process until you actually get married.

2-While your parents name will be required on the application it does not affect them in any way. The office during your interview may ask as well but dont worry nothing will happen to them

3-You DO NOT have to go back to your home county, you were admitted to the US so you will apply to Adjust your status. You will need to remain married to your usc husband for 3 years and then apply for citizenship and only then will you be able to apply to adjust your parents status.

4-It is a fairly simple process but by this post i seriously think it will be a good idea for you to get an attorney.

Thank you for you guys' inputs.

If you are an overstay and are readjusting through marriage with USC, do you need to show your I-94 as proof that you entered legally?

I lost the passport that I used when I entered, and it had my I-94 stapled to it. I have a copy of the passport as well as the entry stamp and also the original ticket that we used to fly here. Should I still file the I-102 to retrieve my I-94 number?

If you have a clear copy of your passport with the entry stamp you do not need to get the I94. The stamp will be enough.

1) N0, you'll need to marry first before starting the process.
2) No, USCIS generally does not care who your family is.
3) No you do not. As a visa overstayer you're eligible to adjust status via marriage to a US citizen without the need for leaving US.
You need to become a citizen before being able to sponsor your mother.
Adjustment of status generally takes 6-8 months. You're eligible to naturalize after 3 years of receiving your green card if you remain married to your future husband.
4) Can't hurt especially since you're not familiar with immigration law.