A friend of mine, let’s call him Jack, is in love with a girl. Let’s call her Jill. The only problem (and actually, the question is: is this a problem and how big is it?) is that Jill is from a family of illegal immigrants while Jack is a citizen. The question is, what are the logistics of the two of them getting a legal marriage? Can Jill become a citizen through marriage? How would that work? Must she become legal to get a state-recognized marriage? How would she?
I understand that nothing that is said here will constitute real legal advice. They are naturally reluctant to get real advice because of Jill’s illegal status.
I know a guy who married an illegal immigrant. She got her green card after she married him. The INS (now called something else) made them jump through a lot of hoops, but they eventually did grant her permanent residency. One of the main things the government was concerned about was the legitimacy of the marriage - that the marriage wasn’t simply for the purpose of allowing her to stay in the U.S. She was Mexican, BTW.
This happened before 9/11. I’m sure things are harder now. The government is much more wary about whom they allow into the country, both because of security and the fact that immigration has become such a hot political issue.
Jack and Jill should hire an immigration lawyer if they plan to get married.
I am really out of my depth here but from the experience of an illegal Jack I know who is planning to marry a citizen Jill in the next month, the legal advice they have received is this: He will get legal residency when he marries but he will have to leave the country for a length of time twice as long as the time he was here illegally. There are mechanisms to dispute that and while he is disputing those he can be legally present in the US. Those disputes almost never proceed but they take so long that by the time they are resolved that is a moot point. YMMV
Read up on it at the Immigration website – it’s a very common occurrence and there are specific steps to follow.
When my wife and I were married, she had overstayed her visa, so she was not legally in the country. Note that they do make a distinction between sneaking in and staying too long, and I’m pretty certain that if she had been in the former group, she would still have been able to apply for a green card, but she would likely have been filing all of the paperwork out at the American consulate at Rio de Janeiro instead of in the comfort of our home. In other words, depending on the circumstances, there is a good chance of deportation, forcing Jill to sort things out from home.
As I recall, the paperwork was substantial and expensive (each form has a huge filing fee, in the hundreds of dollars), but I didn’t hire a lawyer. I simply read the instructions on each form and answered the questions.
Eventually we were interviewed and she was issued permanent residency.
I suspect that our documents were fairly well in order since the interview was fairly routine (if rude), with none of those silly questions about what type of toothpaste she uses or which side of the bed he sleeps on.
My cousin married a guy who had been here for quite a while illegally, from Mexico. This was after 9/11. It did take a long time (like maybe a year and a half after they were married?) and I’m sure quite a bit of money but he was able to stay here without returning to Mexico and eventually get a greencard.
Unfortunately that’s all of the facts I know - I don’t know the details.
IANAL, but this sounds like faulty reasoning to me. They DO need an immigration lawyer to give them “real advice”. I am pretty sure that the lawyer won’t turn her in to the DHS or anything like that. He or she will simply tell you what you need to do, what worst-case scenarios will be, and what do do if they occur.
Mrs. Map and I hired an excellent lawyer, and everything worked out in the end (always bumps in the road, of course). True, she was a legal immigrant. But I could not imagine our lawyer, at least, doing anything to hurt a client, whatever their legal status. I just don’t think it works that way.
That’s frighteningly cynical. I’m not saying green card marriages don’t happen, but given the lack of relevant information in the OP, I think it’s a bit unfair to jump to that conclusion.
A relation of mine recently married an illegal immigrant from Africa, and they’re doing the jumping through hoops thing (I’ve lost track of where they are in the process). They have an immigration lawyer guiding them. So far so good.
It’s not that easy - there would still be a ton of paperwork to go through afterwards. Yes, they’d be married, but she’d still have to go through the proper channels to get citizenship. I don’t know the specifics, but I think that anytime someone’s dealing with immigration procedures, it’s good to have a lawyer who can help show you which hoops to jump through, and in which order.
Well, she doesn’t need to get citizenship, she just needs the right to stay in the United States. Marriage to a US citizen doesn’t automatically grant citizenship, but it does allow you to reside here legally.
Also, there are people in the world that are frighteningly cynical enough to do it.
Remember: spouces of 30 years have been known to murder their “loved ones” for the insurance money. In contrast, marrying for a Green Card seems almost silly or harmless.
Back when I imported my wife, processing time for a permanent resident visa was a lot, lot shorter for a fiancee visa than for an already-married visa. Also, the requirements for getting married in Mexico were out of this world to this American – all kinds of strange documentation. It was easier to do all of the immigration paperwork, IMHO.
And also, I’d bet dollars to donuts (having worked as a legal assistant in immigration) that’d she’d still have to prove that she’d been in Mexico the whole time before they married. So, that’s not really a solution.
I strongly, strongly urge you to urge your friends to get a lawyer. If they can’t afford a lawyer, there are many non-profit organizations all over the US that can help them. If they need help locating a non-profit immigration attorney, Catholic Charities is a good place to start.
Also, no immigration attorney I’ve ever met or dealt with (and I’ve met and dealt with many) would ever turn someone over to INS under the circumstances you’ve described. Under NO circumstances should your friends deal with a Notario. Notarios are… uh… noTORious for being unscrupulous and uneducated in how the immigration laws and regulations really work. And their lack of ethics or ignorance of the law has certainly screwed many many people.