Marrying a U.S. Citizen - Page 2

I agree with most of the comments but not all. Change of status would suggest you have a status and if you do then it will be straight forward. If you do not have a lawful status they can make you apply from your home country but I have seen several cases where they tend to turn a blind eye to lawful status in a marriage case. If you are in an unlawful status you do not want to be deported as this will seriously effect everything for a possible 10 year period.
There is no garantee you will be granted parole. If approved you will receive a two year green card with conditions attached. If you are not in lawful status one of the conditions might be that you can not travel. If you are DACA approved I am not sure what conditions they may attach. The main condition of the GC is that you have to remain in a marital union and you will need to prove this after two years to gain a 10 year GC. If you are still in the marital union after three years of obtaining your first GC you can apply to become a citizen.

Same situation right here, thanks for the info. Ill be getting married in more than a year so atleast i can have some knowledge of what my wife or i should be doing.

Change of status pertains to going from one visa type to another, example you go from F-1 to H-1B, going to permanent residency from any status (including no status) is called as adjustment of status. Generally you need to have arrived legally on a visa to adjust status via marriage, visa waiver program is done on case by case basis since part of VWP is that you waive your right to fight removal, generally with a good lawyer you can argue it your way. There might be a few cases where people who hopped the fence were allowed to adjust, however I do question the legality of that, since illegal entry is an inadmissibility in its own right*.

In regards to advance parole while undergoing adjustment of status - it is pretty much guaranteed if you file for it, most people do since it's free when filed with I-485. Travel on it is discouraged as CBP might not let you back into US. You can travel as soon as you receive the conditional green card.

* - in fact illegal entry is what is preventing people from adjusting via marriage. There is no waiver for illegal entry so only way to clear it is to depart US, however since leaving after living in US illegally for more than 6 or 12 months causes the 3 or 10 ban to trigger respectively, which is what causes the need for I-601 waiver.

Another interesting thing to note is that time under deferred action does not count towards 3 or 10 year bans. Also if you filed before hitting 18 also the time application was pending won't count.

So let's say that you've arrived illegally and filed for DACA when you were 17 and 9 months old. You got approved 7 months later at 18 and 4 months old - you have no illegal presence in US. Let's say that 1.5 years later when still under deferred action you marry, you have the illegal entry, but have no illegal presence, you can leave US and undergo consular processing abroad without the need for waivers.

Just note that I made a type in the original post, your spouse needs to prove that your absence would cause extreme hardship to them, not you.

Agree with everything said but I personally know at least two people who entered on VWP overstayed for a long time and gained conditional GC due to marriage to a USC. This goes against all that is stated in the criteria but it happens. Also at least one of these was denied advanced parole and I am guessing due to the nature of his status at the time of application.
To all who are going down this route make sure you keep all records to show marital union and once you have your GC keep records of all visits outside the US with documentation. Children within the marriage seems to make things move along more easily.

Thanks for all the information guys, I really appreciate all the help. Some of it is a little confusing, and seems case-by-case basis but I seem to get the gist of it.

Just have a few more questions and things I wanted to clear up. So thankfully, I got married to my fiancee a month ago, received my marriage certificate and everything. Now, for being an overstay, I understand that I have to submit two main forms, i 130 and i 485. Additionally, I can submit i 131 and the i 765(already have it for deferred action) if I want.

1. Do you guys recommend filing the i 765 again since deferred action expires every 2 years?
2. Its fine if I don't apply for the 131 right? I feel like it would be unnecessary, given I can travel freely upon obtaining the conditional green card. Do I need i 131 filed if I want to travel using the conditional green card?
3. Since form i 130 needs to be filed by the petitioner and i 485 by me, the beneficiary, when applying should I or my wife be the one sending the applications in together? I want to know because we live in different states right now and I would need to send her my paperwork and documentation if she needs to file everything together.
4. There isnt a problem if I provide my U.S. address on any of these forms right? From past experience, some relatives ran into problems with the address situation. Form i 130 asks for an address and then later an abroad address so I'm guessing providing one U.S. Address and one from my home country is what I'm supposed to do?
5. Lastly, the instructions for the i 485 says that "you are not eligible if any of the following apply to you":
"D. Your authorized stay expired before you filed this application."
This last thing confused me a lot because an overstay applicant would automatically not be eligible....

Sorry for so many questions, I'm just really confused with some things and want to be as safe as possible, because all of our situations are so risky.

Thank you guys, I really appreciate all the help!

You should definetly get a lawyer, he/she will be the only one that can truly answer all your questions and if you run into any trouble he/she can def help you!!! Do you really want to send this yourself and maybe ruin your chances of adjusting? There are a lot of immigration forums with a lot of info on AOS, check those out first but always consult a lawyer. It is better to be safe than sorry.

1. You can, but you don't have to, it doesn't make any difference. If for some reason your DACA expires while you're under AOS you remain in US legally under the AOS, you can file I-765 for free under category (c)(9) as long as your AOS is still pending, you'll just have to include copy of the notice of action of your I-485.
2. Yes, I-131 is completely optional if you wish to try your luck with travel while under AOS, personally I would not recommend using it, just wait till you got the conditional green card in hand and then travel. No you do not need Advance Parole to travel when you have a green card.
3. Yes, send both applications in 1 packet, sending them separately will likely cause delays since USCIS will take its sweet time to put them back together.
4. Use the US address.
5. It doesn't apply in cases of adjusting status via marriage. 10-F-2. Adjustment of status via a US citizen spouse also pardons other things like working in US illegally, unfortunately it does not pardon illegal entry.
Bla bla bla, get a lawyer. I really wish they would issue warnings for "advice" like that. It's definitely a good a idea to get a lawyer to make sure all the forms are filled correctly, and all evidence is assembled correctly, however for legal advice the forum does have plenty of competent users.

Hi, Guys
Im new to this Forum ! not sure if im posting this in the right place
I need your help ! I Am a US. citizen and I just submitted myself the I-130 & I-485 this Friday for my same sex partner, Were in California. She is under the Deferred Action Program. But I have a dilemma She enter the USA with out inspection when is was 7 years old. I Didn't submit the I-601 what should i do ??? I'm super nervous

I don't know if you still can, but if your partner received DACA she should try to get Advanced Parole. That would remove her EWI and would show that she entered the country legally. My wife was approved for AP because her mother was sick in Mexico and when she re-entered, it made it easier to get her green card.

Petitioning for a spouse or family member is such a delicate matter, that you should consider consulting a lawyer. My wife and I did our whole process starting with her DACA with a really good immigration lawyer here in Fresno and it made it a lot easier for us. I recommend you consult one to see if your partner can remove her EWI even after submitting the I-130/I-485 forms.