For Those Considering Marriage in Early yet Legitimate Relationship

With DACA on the verge of dying and the possibility of losing jobs many of us are considering moving forward with the only alternative to permanently fix our situation, marriage and AOS through a USC significant other.


I will share my situation as I assume many others might be going through the same or similar hurdles through this process.


Going this route is not easy, it will take a while.

In my case, I have been with my girlfriend for a year. I talked to her after the election and I explained what was going on and she said that she loves me and will do anything she can to end this nightmare. I honestly love her and I am convinced that she is the one I want to be with.

There are some complications, first, I do not think her parents would be too happy with our plans. She lives with her dad and is still in school working on her undergrad and she will still depend on her parents until she graduates.

She is not too close with her parents and she thinks it is a good idea if they know about this plan, yet. She wants to finish school before she tells them. Her parents are moving back to their country as they do not like the U.S and they want to live retirement in a stress free environment which means my girlfriend will be independent when that happens sometime next year.

She insist we go forward with the plan now but obviously there are some complications.

1. Living together : She will not be able to move with me yet. She is going to school, I currently visit her almost every weekend and this has made our relationship very strong but it is just not feasible to move in together yet. Specially because her dad still lives with her.


2. Filing Taxes : I asked her if she is still listed as a dependant under her parents and she said not anymore. She mentioned that her dad wanted her to file her taxes alone in preparation for their departure. The only issue is that she says she would rather filed separately (this first year) because she does not want her older brother who still has some oversight to intervene. She says unless it is extremely necessary she would file jointly this year.


She is agreeing to getting married in the next couple of weeks. This would allow us to open joint bank accounts, have joint credit and establish that we are serious about being together for real.

3. She wants to keep her name for now : She feels it would be too much of a pain to change her last name to mine right now because of the above points, she is still in school and wants to keep using her name. She says she would definately change her name in a year once we are settled completely and together. She does not even like her last name because of some issues with her family. But she thinks it is more convenient right now a to not create drama with her family.


I sincerely love this girl and I have date many girls in the past. We share the same passion for our careers, we are both engineers and enjoy the same things. We have spent weeks together and I have zero doubt that it will work out in terms of being happy together.

I do not fully understand what is the bare minimum a couple can have to build a successful case for AOS.

Please if you could provide some feedback.

It will probably take some time to build a solid case given the above mentioned, we do not have an option and we will most likely follow through with this plan.




Thank you for any feedback.

Lol marriage will never be easy, but it's something to pursue in as many baby steps as necessary.

Good luck to you guys though, we all are going to need a bit of luck on our side.

Are you sure you want to be with her for the rest of your life? A year is not enough to decide that. Even if you believe Trump will do bad stuff, this is something seriously you need to consider. She can take everything you own and love. Does she feel the same for you?

You will need to explain it to her parents. If she gets married and they don’t know it will look bad. Also, are you planning to do a real wedding later?

In my opinion, not being very close to their parents (neither of them) is a red flag. But everybody has their story, just check out why she is not too close and see if she is still worth it. Always check for bad flags.

Why is she insisting on going forward? Does she want money or is she concerned of you leaving? Another flag. But don’t listen to me on this one, I am most likely wrong. On my side she keeps pushing me to send in the paperwork.

This will be tricky. The number one reason why I have not send in my application. We do not live together. At least you have an excuse, she goes to school. Can you elaborate more on this? How far away is she? You need joint bank accounts at a minimum to make this fall through.

She can file married but not jointly. Make sure (if she works) that she has all her stuff changed to Married and that you are beneficiary of her benefits or 401k if she works part time.
You can open join bank accounts without being married. Ive done it for the past year. Do it now but make sure she is the ONE.

Keeping her name is fine. I told mine to keep her last name for now until we are married for real (real ceremony). I don’t want anyone to know we are married until the ceremony we have booked. Once again, evaluate issues she had with her family, is it worth it? Maybe she is maybe she is not. Please do not make a mistake just because you want papers.
Does she feel the same? She is an engineer cool, I like her too for you. If you feel right about everything then go ahead with what you must do. You are the only one that see if she feels the same.
Check out visajourney, the forums, and google the AOS through marriage list. There are plenty of them around. i.e.
https://dreamact.info/forum/showthread.php?t=73183
http://www.immihelp.com/forum/showth...etter-DACA-etc)
Ask questions here and I know Demise can always help.
Hope my feedback can help, and trust me Trump is not going to deport us.

Just make sure you can prove your marriage is bonafide which it is BUT it is not because you are actually marrying for papers. Make sure you can prove why you two do not live together.

Good luck.

Yes indeed, it will be a long road even going this route.


We are all going to need some help..

If you're serious about marriage, start developing evidence that will show you have a bona fide marriage. You can google what you need to prove that, I'm not going to get into specifics. Good luck!

She can't fully sponsor you if she did not make at least 30k last year. The person who fills out the I-864 (sponsor) has to make at least 125% the poverty line. Seeing as she's a student, my suspicion is that she didn't make that much. You can still go through the AOS process with her, but you'd need a financial joint sponsor to sign the I-864 also. This person doesn't have to be related to either of you but it's a big thing to ask. It's basically insurance that you don't become financially dependent on govt. aid, and if you do need help, you have your financial joint sponsor (if your spouse didn't make enough). This might be a lot to ask, and your financial joint sponsor should be fully aware of the implications. The govt. would hold them liable for your living expenses if things with your wife goes south.

I'm never getting married. I'd rather self deport to Pitcairn island.

#bachelor4life

I make 84K, wouldn't I be able to sponsor myself?

Keep in mind that you guys will also need a sponsor that makes at least 125% in salary above poverty.

OP makes 84k. Can he sponsor himself ?