Married to US citizen what is the next step?

Hello everyone, here is my situation, last November I married my boyfriend of 4 years. I did all my paperwork for DACA and was successful! Today we went to visit a lawyer for a consultation and in total they wanted to charge me $2500 to summit my paper work! That is a lot of money that I don't have. The lawyer said that all the immigration fees without their help would be around $1400. I'm currently a full time student and work part time at a grocery store in California. I enter the US without inspection! Also my uncle petitioned my mother along with all her kids back in 1998. Can anyone please help me? I don't know which forms I need or what to do! Thanks

You seems to qualify for 245i grandfathered in through your mom's petition back in 1998, so you may want to gather all information about that petition since you will need to use it. I would highly recommend you to spend extra $1000 with lawyer to handle your case, these cases are very sensitive and once its denied on first trial it becomes more complex and we all knows how complex immigration laws are. This $1000 investment will change your life forever so if you don't have enough money for now then just wait until you have it and apply, no need to rush and miss your golden chance.

I second the suggestion to pay for the lawyer. Unless you're willing to do a lot of research and educate yourself in the process, it's not very easy or cheap to handle EWI.

Yep looks like 245i for you if you were included in the I-130 filed for your mother in section C #17 listed as relative of the beneficiary (your mom), forms will be:

I130-$420
I485-$1070 (includes $85 biometrics fee)
I485A-$1000
Medical Exam-$100-300+

You need to include a copy of the petition(or something) proving that you were included in the 1998 petition beyond that you just prepare your packet like any other Adjustment of Status. That attorney was charging you pretty cheap too...We charged a bit more than that but we do everything for you. I know a lot of people here seem to think that getting an attorney is a scam and unnecessary but to each their own.

Good luck to you i hope this helps.

Pay the lawyer. You are not a lawyer. You are not in a good spot and have a complicated case with many pitfalls if you're not careful. Your uncle petitioned your mother, not you. There is no such thing as a petition for a niece so it doesn't sound like you have 245i. Do I know this for sure? No, because I'm not a lawyer and that's the point.

$2600 is relatively cheap for the whole thing. My sister's case ended up costing her about $10,000 after it was all said and done and it was worth every penny because she's been a citizen for many years now and she has earned many times more and has a new life now. Of course that was before DACA and she had no safety net like you do but make no mistake, married or not, you are still undocumented.

My suggestion would be to become a full time student and full time employee. Better yet, if you haven't signed up for classes yet, become a part time student and overtime employee and pay for this. $2600 is pretty low. A green card is worth gold.

Why did your sister have to pay so much money??? Sounds like she did this long time ago?

OP, my sister is going through this process. After it's over, she will have paid $8,000.

So I agree with the rest, you're lucky your lawyer is not charging you a lot of money. It sounds kind of cheap if you ask me. The lawyer who helped me with DACA said she'd charge me $6,000 for the marriage process if I were interested in doing it in the future.

This is the MOST important thing in your life right now. This is your chance... Do things right!!

I said ABOUT $10k so let's say 8-10k She had to pay a lot because unlike these days with DACA and such, that was a very very scary time for undocumented people "outing" themselves. One false move like showing up for an interview to the wrong office could have meant getting deported. She was so sick from worry that she had lost a lot of weight and could not eat or sleep for a few months. I would joke that it was the "Deportation Diet".

So because of that, we had to make sure there would be no room for error. The lawyer did research (which costs money) in her coming here, losing a court case, etc. which later helped another family member (they already had the research so it was cheaper) and the lawyer went with her for her interview.

Again, imagine life in the early 2000's. The only mention of "immigration" was to "deport them all". For all we knew, she could show up for finger printing and as soon as she entered the building they could ask for status and her life would be over. Some in the family were too scared to let her even go through with it. So yeah, now that she's still happily married and has a whole new life, I say the money was well worth it.

Did it suck to pay it? Of course. To be honest, I think something is up with the OP's lawyer because $2600 seems too low.

Thanks everyone for your advice! I just filed for my taxes and I'm going to get enough back to cover my fees!

Yeah... OP, make sure, he or she is A REAL lawyer not a notario or stuff like that. It does seem too low to be honest.

My other option is to go to a catholic charity