Hi. I've been in the US out of status for 9 months ( I-94 expired ). I met a girl before going out of status and we want to get married now so that I can get a decent job. Do I have to leave the US and enter with a K-1 visa ?

Is your relationship with that girl for real or for obtaining immigration benefits?

The relationship is real. We moved in together and have lived this way for 2 months now. We really are in love but my job is not giving me enought to support the household. She works too but barely makes enough to support herself. I'm an educated person who can't get a decent job because of my ilegal status.

you can then get married and apply for AOS...Don't worry about overstaying your visa...
but as she is the one who will apply for you she needs then her last three tax payment..and there is also a minimum poverty something...

good luck

You don't have to leave. You can get married if you want...if you really want to get married now and not for immigration purposes.
After you are married, you'll need to file for adjustment of status. Until you do that though, they can deport you for being out of status.

Your girlfriend can have someone co-sponsor you if she doesn't make enough to support you. The forms will tell you if your girlfriend doesn't make enough money, she needs to make 125% of the poverty line. When the time for the interview comes, you can supplement that with your income that you will be making legally.

As for you, you will get a work permit shortly after filing. As for the work you are doing now, under the table...you are going to want to stop that. You are going to have to come clean about that as well when the paperwork comes in.


These pages form the INS website will help you:

How to become a legal permanent resident while in the US:

http://www.ins.gov/graphics/howdoi/legpermres.htm

Thank you so much Marie ! ss and bushmaster too. The reason why we haven't got married is simply because we're both afraid INS will deport me when they find out I was out of status, even after getting married. My girlfriend makes $21k/yr; with my engineering degree and experience I could be making at least $35k - $60k. I have to work as a construction worker at $12/hr. This at least pays for the food. Fortunately we're above that poverty line of $17k/yr. You're all great, God bless you all.

No problem, good luck to you!

You'll find all the documents you need to send on the INS page, you can print them and fill them out.

I made a check list of what this form needed and that form so I could make sure I had it all.

Don't send originals...copies are fine. Copy everything before you send it to the INS. I would start filing it now so when you are married you can file straight away. Being married without filing will not keep you from being deported. And last but not least DO NOT leave the country until you get your green card.

2Bkickedout? no you re not 2Bkickedout.... Well, I wish you well and I wish you all the luck you will need with the INS processes. By now, you should know about what to do about your case, would you like to hire a lawyer? They are not necessarily needed for just marriage cases but it's good to have one just have him/her keep an eye on what's happening with your applications...

Good luck to you guys...

Thank you guys ! My girlriend knows a lawyer who is going to refer us to an INS lawyer. Thanks again.

2Bkickedout, your country of origin is kind of important when you are going to see the lawyer, they sometimes get very very prejudice especially after Sept 11th...

In my case, I was turned in to INS by the first lawyer we intended to hire, he fit me in a terrorist profile in his head by looking at my passport... didn't ask much details... Be careful about that... He thought I was a muslim fundamentalist arab pilot ... LOL ... Contrary to his thoughts, I am a Christian Turkish Auxiliary Air Force graduate pilot... only if he asked... what some people need to learn is Turks are NOT arabs... I was a victim of consequence as you see... but FBI does the job very well... :)

BUSHMASTER: So is it really true that your LAWYER turned you into INS? How can that be? Isn't that AGAINST the law to do due to client attorney previliges? I have some lawyer friends that I mentioned this to, who were pretty much shocked and said it would never hold up on court of law so was curious about your situation.


Thanks.


Huskars

Well, he was "not" actually hired by us that time, he was collecting the information about the case. We intended to hire him.

Anyway, the guy was a pretty incompetent lawyer. He called a INS attorney to discuss the case, that's how they came and got me at home.