do not know what to do

[veryworried]

Here is the story. I am an American citizen and my wife is Indonesian. She came here on a student visa where we met in college. She got pregnant with our first son and we got married. This was 21 years ago. Two years after that she had our second son. When we got married she was still legal. We filled out the paperwork and sent it in but while waiting she took a job(I realize she was not suppose to) because we had a baby and we needed the money. She had just graduated with a masters degree and I still had another year left. This is where things went bad as the paperwork was somehow lost along with the money we sent in and the proof was stolen out of our car. We tried to get help from a couple congressmen but had no luck there. Fast forward 21 years. We are still married and she still works. Because she has a well paying position nobody ever thought to ask. She has a drivers license and a social security card but when she applied we sorta photo shopped the whole cannot work without INS authorization out of the card and sent a copy. She did not put down she was a US citizen though on the forums. She is the only one that works as we switched roles and I took care of the children. With immigration so risky now we try and keep a low profile but that will get hard once her license expires and obviously she cannot get a real ID. If she was deported or lost her job from immigration we would be instantly homeless. An attorney said we can adjust status and will have nothing to worry about but let's face it- people are being deported right and left now and she could walk into her interview and never walk out. She has no criminal record, no past deportation order, came here legally, has always paid a ton of taxes, and after 21 years of marriage and 2 children the marriage is obviously real. What should we do? I see many people ripped from their American citizen spouses but most had former deportation orders or came here illegally across the border but mine did not.. Thanks

[MissTz1982]

Here is the story. I am an American citizen and my wife is Indonesian. She came here on a student visa where we met in college. She got pregnant with our first son and we got married. This was 21 years ago. Two years after that she had our second son. When we got married she was still legal. We filled out the paperwork and sent it in but while waiting she took a job(I realize she was not suppose to) because we had a baby and we needed the money. She had just graduated with a masters degree and I still had another year left. This is where things went bad as the paperwork was somehow lost along with the money we sent in and the proof was stolen out of our car. We tried to get help from a couple congressmen but had no luck there. Fast forward 21 years. We are still married and she still works. Because she has a well paying position nobody ever thought to ask. She has a drivers license and a social security card but when she applied we sorta photo shopped the whole cannot work without INS authorization out of the card and sent a copy. She did not put down she was a US citizen though on the forums. She is the only one that works as we switched roles and I took care of the children. With immigration so risky now we try and keep a low profile but that will get hard once her license expires and obviously she cannot get a real ID. If she was deported or lost her job from immigration we would be instantly homeless. An attorney said we can adjust status and will have nothing to worry about but let's face it- people are being deported right and left now and she could walk into her interview and never walk out. She has no criminal record, no past deportation order, came here legally, has always paid a ton of taxes, and after 21 years of marriage and 2 children the marriage is obviously real. What should we do? I see many people ripped from their American citizen spouses but most had former deportation orders or came here illegally across the border but mine did not.. Thanks

Ok. If you two are still married, you need to file ADjust her status ASAP. They are going to probably ask her why she overstayed and she can simply say because of her kids. Yes the current immigration climate is scary but it?s better to adjust her status now that she doesn?t have any deportation order. How she makes her income is none of USCIS business. All that is forgiven through AOS. The only thing is she will need a joint sponsor since you are not working. They won?t be able to accept her income since she is working illegally.

Don?t be scared.

[kaylip]

You guys should petition ASAP. Her working in that position is very risky in this political climate. What if the company she works for gets audited? They will find out that she's not legal or what if she gets pulled over by a cop and he runs her background check? It's too risky because if she is issued a deportation order she may be not get a Green Card when u guys file. File the paperwork so she can get the i485 receipt paper.

Persons who have been arrested at interviews have deportation orders. I overstayed and was interviewed 2 weeks ago and I haven't been arrested. The law is that if the Petitioner (you) is a US citizen then the overstay is exempted from penalization.
Good luck.

[S_R_E]

FWIW.

I filed for AOS last January after being out of status for over 25 years and married to my current USC wife for 17 years at the time. I entered on a B2 visa in 1988 and married my then USC girlfriend in 1989 and received a conditional green card via that marriage. We separated soon after the interview and as a result I never filed for removal of conditions as I didn't even realize that was an option as we were divorced.

My current wife and myself gathered all the information we needed to file AOS, but for one reason and another never filed. I had an unmarked SSN from my prior AOS filing and worked for many years at the same company I started at when I still had valid work authorization.

I have no criminal record, entered the US with inspection in 1988 and have remained here since. There was no deportation order ever issued against me (this was confirmed by our IO) at the interview.

With the current political climate we decided we really needed to finally file and did so in January 2017 (PD 1/17). Thankfully our case progressed quickly and we received our interview on 6/7/17. We were approved the day after the interview and I received my 10 year green card on 6/16/17. So our case took 150 days from USCIS receiving the paperwork to receiving my green card in hand. The length of my overstay and my prior work history were not even discussed during our interview. Our field office was Los Angeles.

My wife earns more than enough to easily satisfy the financial requirements for the financial requirements for sponsorship, so that was no issue there for us.

We self filed our paperwork and received no RFE's. I had some questions that I wanted answered regarding some of the details of my case (past marriage and filing etc...) and asked these on an online legal website that had immigration lawyers where I had to pay a minimal fee for the consultation.

There will always be an element of doubt and uncertainty when going through the AOS process, not to mention the stress and anxiety. With the research we had done and the consultations, we saw no issues with us filing. We double and triple checked our paperwork. Gathered all the information needed and provided it in a clear and organized manner.

At the time of filing the only picture ID I had was an expired passport of several years, which I confirmed was acceptable for the purpose of the biometrics appointment. I did have to find a local civil surgeon that would accept that as ID for their purposes (which I did without too much trouble).

I hope this information helps in some way.

[kaylip]

BTW, what proof was stolen? Was everything filed and sent in to USCIS? If so, u guys should have had correspondences from USCIS with the receipt numbers and Alien Registration numbers...or u guys could have made a report to them and asked them what to do from there.

[veryworried]

Thanks for the replies. I have a couple more questions. We have one kid who is a year away from graduating college and another a year form graduating high school. Should we wait a year so they at least have a fighting chance if something foes wrong or is that even too risky. Also, what are the chances she loses her job? We do not have any savings so if they contacted her employer that would be bad. Thanks again.

[newacct]

The only thing is she will need a joint sponsor since you are not working.

She probably won't even need an Affidavit of Support if she has paid Social Security taxes for 10 years, as then she can just do I-864W.

[veryworried]

BTW, what proof was stolen? Was everything filed and sent in to USCIS? If so, u guys should have had correspondences from USCIS with the receipt numbers and Alien Registration numbers...or u guys could have made a report to them and asked them what to do from there.

IT was stuff like money order receipts. We never heard back and they had nothing received and that was our money at the time(just out of college with a baby and super poor)

[S_R_E]

She probably won't even need an Affidavit of Support if she has paid Social Security taxes for 10 years, as then she can just do I-864W.

We were not sure about this as I had over 10 years of paid work against my SSN. As my wife more than met the requirements for sponsorship we didn't pursue it. After we filed my AOS I did create an online Social Security account and from there I could see all my reported earnings correctly credited to my SSN and I am eligible for Social Security and medicare based on my reported earnings (over 40 units). If you haven't been receiving Social Security statements, you might want to create an online account to check your spouses earnings history / records.

[MissTz1982]

She probably won't even need an Affidavit of Support if she has paid Social Security taxes for 10 years, as then she can just do I-864W.

Oh cool. Didn?t even know about that. Learning as I go and that?s why I love this forum. It?s so helpful and informative.

[MissTz1982]

You guys should petition ASAP. Her working in that position is very risky in this political climate. What if the company she works for gets audited? They will find out that she's not legal or what if she gets pulled over by a cop and he runs her background check? It's too risky because if she is issued a deportation order she may be not get a Green Card when u guys file. File the paperwork so she can get the i485 receipt paper.

Persons who have been arrested at interviews have deportation orders. I overstayed and was interviewed 2 weeks ago and I haven't been arrested. The law is that if the Petitioner (you) is a US citizen then the overstay is exempted from penalization.
Good luck.

Yes I agree with Kaylip. Hurry and file AOS for her. Your case has 95% chance of being approved on the spot. Do it and then file for her citizenship. Even people with green cards are not entirely safe under this president. I just hope things change for the better soon.

[ember]

Guys

Okay, first, please consult an attorney. This forum is extremely helpful and full of wonderful, kind people who know a ton and have great experience but it's not a substitute for legal advice.

Second, and this goes to everyone - scan everything! Scan the entirety of the application before it goes in the envelope, then take a pic or scan the envelope with the address & stamp/postage. Keep a digital copy. Make a paper trail. Scan all receipt notices. Take screenshots of your eGov and DHS pages.

Third, OMG DO NOT WAIT 25 YEARS TO ADJUST BECAUSE OF "ONE THING OR ANOTHER". If I could insert a sob emoji here I would. You never know when things will change in the administration, or when your luck will run out. If you have legal avenues, take them!! It's not worth the risk!

[kaylip]

Okay, first, please consult an attorney. This forum is extremely helpful and full of wonderful, kind people who know a ton and have great experience but it's not a substitute for legal advice.

Second, and this goes to everyone - scan everything! Scan the entirety of the application before it goes in the envelope, then take a pic or scan the envelope with the address & stamp/postage. Keep a digital copy. Make a paper trail. Scan all receipt notices. Take screenshots of your eGov and DHS pages.

Third, OMG DO NOT WAIT 25 YEARS TO ADJUST BECAUSE OF "ONE THING OR ANOTHER". If I could insert a sob emoji here I would. You never know when things will change in the administration, or when your luck will run out. If you have legal avenues, take them!! It's not worth the risk!

True. Trump is looking to change immigration policies. You just never know when he will disqualify i485.

[newacct]

True. Trump is looking to change immigration policies. You just never know when he will disqualify i485.

Most of the requirements of Adjustment of Status are set in law, and cannot be changed unilaterally by the administration.

[krypton9591]

Most of the requirements of Adjustment of Status are set in law, and cannot be changed unilaterally by the administration.

thank you for this, I hate it when posts get too political