Is my fiance still eligible for a K1 despite this situation?

[ibanezgrind]

Hello all,

In less than a month, I will purpose to my Ukrainian girlfriend. To make a long story short, there is a question on the Visa Immigrant application that asks if she currently has family residing in the USA. So she would check off her mother, her brother, and myself (future fiance). Here is the catch. Back in 2007, her mother, brother, including herself traveled and lived in Georgia for 2 years with K1 and K2 visas. Her mother married this man but he never finished the paper work to make the 3 of them legal I guess is the word to use, or maybe for permanent status? Well whatever the case, he never did anything after that to finish the process. My girlfriend and I still don't know why to this day he never did. So as a result of that, my girlfriend had to immigrate back to Ukraine right before she turned 21. Her mother and brother are still here in the USA. Now here is my question. Its probably pretty obvious but what is her mother and brother's current status in the USA? The reason I ask is because one of the questions on the Immigrant application asks if she has family living here still. When it comes time to answer this question, what should she label her mother and brother as? The thing is, is that my girlfriend has a copy/proof of their marriage and visas that were used to immigrate over here at the time. My HUGE concern here is when it comes time for us to do this paper work, and furthermore, the interview, will this hurt her chances of getting her own K1 visa to come here and get married under the 90 day limit? I kept telling her it wont. Our situation is unique to her past situation. She left willingly to immigrate back before 21. And in all honesty, I am her sponsor now. I am in no way affiliated with this man and her mother's family in Georgia. I live in Arizona. And the main requirements of this K1 visa simply rely on OUR relationship and the proof we provide to the interviewers that our relationship is real. I mean the only ones that can get hurt here (correct me if I am wrong) are her mother and brother? Which means Immigration would track them down and are forced to immigrate back to Ukraine. And that would be only because her husband didn't continue the process to make them permanent residents. Her husband said this actually:" Our marriage and marriage certificate make you safe to stay here so its legal." I am not sure I buy that. So you can see my concern here. I don't think there is anything to worry about but I want to make sure. And if anyone has any information on what to call her mother and brother (hopefully other than illegal) when it comes time to answer that question, it would be most helpful! I guess I just want to put this to rest and know she can still get her own K1 visa because of our relationship, and most importantly that I am her sponsor now. Thanks!

[wavedom]

If they entered the US with K1 and K2 visas but never adjusted status, they should still be K1 and K2 status. The thing with the K1 visa is that I’m not sure if there’s a specific time from when you enter the country until you have to submit your AOS application. The only requirement that I know of is that you have to get married within 90 days, but the instructions don’t say anything about how soon you have to submit the AOS application. I have never seen any other instructions either that mention how long you can stay in K1 status before it’s “too late” to adjust status. Neither have I ever heard of anyone who falls out of K1 or K2 status because they don’t submit the AOS application “in time”. Her mother’s visa status shouldn’t affect her chances of getting a K1 visa. The only concern would be if there actually is a time limit for submitting the AOS application that would make people fall out of status automatically after a certain time. In that case it would maybe count as overstaying, which in some cases affect the possibility of getting a visa. However, it sounds improbable that it works that way. You might want to call the USCIS or schedule an InfoPass to talk to them directly.

[ibanezgrind]

If they entered the US with K1 and K2 visas but never adjusted status, they should still be K1 and K2 status. The thing with the K1 visa is that I’m not sure if there’s a specific time from when you enter the country until you have to submit your AOS application. The only requirement that I know of is that you have to get married within 90 days, but the instructions don’t say anything about how soon you have to submit the AOS application. I have never seen any other instructions either that mention how long you can stay in K1 status before it’s “too late” to adjust status. Neither have I ever heard of anyone who falls out of K1 or K2 status because they don’t submit the AOS application “in time”. Her mother’s visa status shouldn’t affect her chances of getting a K1 visa. The only concern would be if there actually is a time limit for submitting the AOS application that would make people fall out of status automatically after a certain time. In that case it would maybe count as overstaying, which in some cases affect the possibility of getting a visa. However, it sounds improbable that it works that way. You might want to call the USCIS or schedule an InfoPass to talk to them directly.

Thank you for replying. I did talk to an agency just now that specializes in the paperwork filling process from beginning to end. Although they do have an immigration lawyer on hand, he wasn't working today. And besides I need to pay the fee for them to do some investigation. From what he told me, the only concern is that my future fiance did overstay her welcome. He was telling me there is a 2 year window where her step-father should have adjusted her status even beyond the 90 days. If she kept in the 2 year time period, he said no problem. Now I don't know if she stayed over the 2 year period. If she did, not all hope is gone but the lawyer will have to be involved and find a loop hole. I mean how could the USA keep me from marrying my sweetheart? There has to be some loop hole. Anyways I am waiting to hear back my future fiance to exactly find out how long she was here. My good friend told me that the agency (BBB certified) was pulling my chain and making me worry so I could buy their services. I hope that is the case. If I find anything out, I will post it here.