Gaining citizenship by marrying U.S. citizen

Are you really sure it's for a book?

Even though I'm not an American citizen, I cannot see why immigration authorities would care about an American woman moving to another state...

If he were to divorce her, his ability to stay in the country would revert to whatever status he had before marrying her. If, subsequent to marrying her, and before divorcing her, he obtained citizenship by the normal process, he'd be free to stay. In your "novel," you'll want to explore his status to determine why he felt he wanted to marry her. If he already has the legal right to live and work here, then "romance" would be the only reason to marry her. If he is illegal, he'd be obliged at some point to reveal his presence in the country and his marriage to a citizen in order to take advantage of it.

Yes, Immigration and Naturalization do check to see if a married couple are living together. See also the response to one of your other questions.

Any person legally in the country who is not a citizen, whether as a temporary or permanent resident, has to report in January of each year to Immigration. Whether or not he were married would not affect that requirement. They would only have to appear before Immigration as a couple at such time as they attempted to establish him as a permanent resident based upon his marriage to a citizen. At that time, the two people are questioned separately in the attempt to determine whether or not they actually are a "genuine" married couple--the point of the questioning is to assure the Immigration Service that they are "legitimately" married, as opposed to a business deal in which she marries him simply to afford him the opportunity to remain in the country.

The State in which they live is immaterial to the Immigration Service, it is a Federal agency. He is still obliged to report to the Immigration Service each January, no matter where he resides.

I would suggest that you visit the site maintained by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The information i have given you is based on working with foreign students, many of whom were married to American citizens, more than 25 years ago. It is entirely possible that information i have given you has changed.

Yeah, it really is for a book. I was born in Seattle a lot of years ago!Thanks for the info. I'll check out the immigration Website.

Well, actually the houseboy has to stay married to his American wife
for a number of years. To discourage fake marriages, INS will ask them
to produce evidence of their relationship prior to marriage (letters, pictures etc.). Once they're married, the US spouse needs to file an application for a conditional green card. it will be granted for 2 years only. After the 2 years have passed, the non-US spouse needs to file a "removal of condition"
in order to obtain a more permanent status - 10 years to be exact.

However, after the non-US resident has lived permanently in the US
for 5 years he/she can apply for citizenship.

If the houseboy is currently here illegally before they are married, the marriage does not mean citizenship even though his spouse is a citizen.

After they are married, they must go before a judge to not only prove that the marriage is legitimate, they must also prove that the citizen spouse would face extreme hardship if his spouse were deported. This standard is very arbitrary and the result depends completely on the judge, and as recent news stories point out, it is a real crap shoot. Some judges have it out for all immigrants, and others are quite leniant.

I know a couple of mixed-status familes where one spouse is a American citizen. Most people in this situation choose to do nothing because it is very risky to even attempt to become legal and in many cases, even with a legitimate marriage, it ends in deportation (and very difficult decisions, especially when kids are involved.)

This is why the path to citizenship for people here illegally now is such an important part of any comprehensive immigration bill. (But, I digress)

This difficult situation would make an interesting backstory to a novel.

Good luck.

ebrown, Mauli didn't say that the houseboy is illegally in the US,
he just wants to continue staying in this country. Even the non-American spouse who is legally in the US won't receive citizenship through marriage
for another 5 years.

However, to play out your scenario: the illegal spouse won't have any
problems, if he/she leaves the country and files a K-3 spousal visa
for legal entry



Depending on the location, the K-3 can be granted within 4 weeks to 3 months.

Calamity Jane,

You are unfortunately incorrect.

As you may know from other threads I am involved in the Immigrant rights movement. Broken families are a big part of the problem.

I have a couple of friends who are in this exact situation (one spouse is a citizen). The lawyers tell them directly in most cases this strategy is not worth the risk-- and although I am not a lawyer, I think the advice is (if there is a chance to legalize) to never leave the country.

The problem is that people who have been in the country illegally can be faced with the penalty of being barred from the country for 10-years (or possibly permanently). The fact they are married doesn't matter and the fact that they left voluntarily doesn't matter.

The worst of it is the risk of their family being separated for 10 years or more is random. The decision is made by one official in one hearing with no real chance of appeal. My impression is that more often then not, the result is negative.

I think the estimate is that there are 2 million "mixed-status" families currently in the US (I don't know how many of these are solely US citizen kids which is an equally difficult but different situation). I also know that there are several families recently that have gone through the legal process that has resulted in a broken family. (I may be able to find a link to a news story if you wish).

But there are certainly a number of families where one spouse is a citizen and the other is undocumented who feel the best choice is to continue as a mixed status family..

It is a difficult choice; to continue living together as a mixed status familiy-- or to turn themselves in and take the real risk of having half the family unable to live in the US. My impression is that most people don't want to take the risk of being separated when the prospects are so uncertain..

Would you?

This is why the Immigrant Rights movement agrees that the current immigration law is broken and needs to change. It is cruel, treacherous and often leads to impossible decisions.

I do think this would be an interesting story in a novel.

Also, just in case anyone who reads this discussion has more interest than material for a fictional character...

First and foremost, make sure you are getting real, proficient legal advice from a real experienced lawyer.

There is a troubling practice of people making money by representing immigrants-- often with grand promises of guaranteed results. The "techinques" these bastards use are completely ineffective, put the immigrant at more risk and are sometimes make a bad situation even worse by breaking more serious laws.

There are good immigration lawyers to whom you should talk before you do anything.

Better yet, there are many advocacy groups that will help undocumented immigrants and their families. I think the nation organizations, such as La Raza, may be able to help. Some of these groups can provide low-cost legal aid from real lawyers (working pro-bono).

Best yet... if you are a citizen who cares about immigrants-- Register and Vote.

Electing officials who can act with understanding and compassion, instead of nativist fear and harsh punishment of families, is by far the most important part of the Immigration Rights movement.

Hm, ebrown, being an immigrant myself and having just recently seen
the process with a European friend, it works quite differently with Europeans. However, they weren't living illegally in the United States,
and I have no knowledge of how undocumented foreigners could attain
legal status other than leaving the country or waiting for amnesty.

But let me ask you this: If an undocumented immigrant is leaving
the United States, gets married to his US citizen spouse in Mexico and
upon returning to the US (the US spouse only) they file for a K3 visa,
wouldn't the INS handle this case like any other? I mean, who would
know of his/her prior illegal status?

How can an illegal immigrant get married in the US without proper
paperwork, ie. passport, birth certificate etc.?

My understanding is that as part of any application process, they specifically ask you if you have been living in the US (or if you have ever lived in the US). The fact that you had met your spouse in the US would certainly invite further digging.

Lying to the INS (I keep forgetting the INS doesn't exist any more... the DHS) is one of the best ways to screw up your immigration status for good. Especially if someone has been in the US for several years, it wouldn't even be that hard for immigration officials to find out you have lied.

Yes, you are probably right. Thank you, ebrown, for a different
insight.

A book really? You can't even spell Philipino!!! All lies