Permanent Resident sponsoring overstayed visa

[californiasentra]

Can a permanent resident sponsor a spouse that has an overstayed visa and is living in the US? what is process given that the Visa bulletin for F2A is current?

[newacct]

No, one is not eligible for Adjustment of Status if one is out of status unless one is in the Immediate Relative category (spouse, parent, or unmarried under-21 child of US citizen). The spouse has two options:

1. Do Consular Processing abroad. This requires leaving the US which will trigger a ban if they have accrued more than 180 days of "unlawful presence". Whether they have accrued "unlawful presence" and how much depends on many factors that you have not mentioned here (e.g. what status they entered on, whether they had a date or D/S on their I-94, whether they were under 18, whether they had DACA/TPS/etc., whether they had a pending COS/EOS/AOS application, etc.). If they will trigger a ban they can apply for a provisional waiver before leaving, but to get a waiver they would need to show that their spouse would suffer "extreme hardship" if they can't be in the US.
2. Stay in the US until the permanent resident naturalizes, at which point they become eligible for Adjustment of Status in the US.