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**Melissa569** · 03-02-2006, 08:04 PM

I am an ordinary, caucasion, USA-born citizen. I live in California. I met the man of my dreams 2 years ago (on my birthday, no less)--He's kind, sensitive, smart, loving, devoted, honest, hard-working, romantic, etc. I'd never find another man like him, not if I searched for a thousand years!

We just got married. He's an immigrant who over-stayed his C1/D Visa (crewman/seaman visa), and it indeed is THE WORST VISA TO HAVE, in my opinion!

We went to our immigration lawyer and he said several dissappointing (and frightening!) things:

1--My husband cannot file for state residency, get a green card OR citizenship, because of his particular type of Visa doesn't allow it. 2--the only way to get immigration to forgive my husband for over-staying his Visa is to "file for a pardon" and basically BEG for forgiveness for over-staying...And even then, he still has the limmitations of his darn C1/D visa (RRRRR!!!) 3--The fact that he is married to me cannot and WILL not protect him from being deported if immigration decides to be ****s about his over-stay. 4--All we can do to keep my husband with me is stay away from cops, immigration and any borders, or else he can be deported!

So this is basically my life now--Waking up in the morning and watching my best friend/"love of my life" walk out the door to work and constantly fearing that I could have him torn from my arms by immigration nazis!

I really have no clue what to do! I thought that maybe he could file for political asylum, but its been more than a year, and he's over-stayed. Sometimes, I wonder--"What if we apply for a pardon, get it, then we both leave the country for a while? Since he would be married to a US citizen, and he would be forgiven, couldn't I then get him a new kind of Visa, one which CAN apply for residency/green card?"

Is there any way he can stay here safely with me at all? Or EVER get his residency??? I just CAN'T loose him. I could never handle it. It doesn't seem right that a "free" American citizen cannot marry who she loves and have him stay with her. That's bizzar!

I don't know how I'm going to fix this, but there has just GOT to be a way some how. Hope I can find it!

**Jeff** · 03-02-2006, 08:45 PM

Why didn't you check into all of this before you married him? More than likely the only thing you can do is move to his country.

**Melissa569** · 03-02-2006, 09:18 PM

I wasn't aware of all this stuff before. I was just an average American girl. I never thought I would marry an immigrant. I knew nothing of the laws. Like everyone else, I assumed all I had to do to keep him with me was marry him. He assumed that too. Back home, everyone told him that all he had to do was get on US soil and he had a chance. We were both missinformed most of our lives. Contrary to popular belief, immigrants don't know the law as well as most people think they do. Most of the stuff our lawyer was telling us was total news to BOTH of us!

**marmaduk** · 03-02-2006, 09:52 PM

Would your husband be willing to leave the country and legalize from overseas?

**brenda23** · 03-02-2006, 10:50 PM

Ok... I'm not the smartest in here but can you file petition for alien spouse? It costs like $170 just to file... no guarantees but if they don't know he's overstayed yet and you keep it that way, have him go back to his country and file. Maybe it's worth a try... if I had been married before my situation arised that's what I would've done. But you can't really wait til they catch him. Any other ideas??

**Someone12** · 03-03-2006, 04:27 AM

your "honest hard working husband" is a visa cheat - he knew the rules that control the C1D visa...he knew he was supposed to go back to his own country when his authorizeed work was over....it's not rocket science.
He is just another example of irresponsibility, and we are not impressed because you, the village idiot, think he is sooooo wonderful and that our immigration rules and officials are not on your side. Too bad. That's why we have laws - to be obeyed. But you would rather bash hard working American citizens who are carrying out their duties while weeping because your visa-cheating husband cannot get a green card without merely going back to his own country....I am sure there is a flight tomorrow. Boo hoo boo hoo.....gosh, somebody get me a Kleenex....

**Melissa569** · 03-03-2006, 04:29 AM

Oh sure, if it were safe, likely to work and possible, of course we would be willing to have him go back home, and then file from there. But we keep getting mixed messages about that. Some immigrants say "DON'T leave the country, they will never let you back in!!" But then I heard that he could go home (voluntary departure, which is more forgiven than being deported) and then I could go to his country, tell the embassy there that he is my LEGAL husband, show proof of it and they would give him a visa. Then we could come back and file for residency. Don't know if it would work, but if it will, I'll do it.

Niether of us want to go live in his country, because it's 3rd world, and there's no future. I mean, if he were from Europe or Australia, I might just go live there, but that's not the case.

A petition for alien spouse? How does it work? Seems to be worth a try. Um, they MAY not know he's over stayed, because frankly, if they did, they probably would have come after him by now. So it's possible they don't know. I guess We're gonna have to present all these ideas to our lawyer and see what he thinks. We haven't filed for anything yet, so he's not in any spotlights at the moment. Our lawyer's job is to keep us OUT of the spotlight, unless he sees a sure way to get it done.

**Melissa569** · 03-03-2006, 05:18 AM

Sumeone12---You sure are quick to judge. But I'm not going to take into heart what you say. I've heard a rant like that before....From the KKK!!!!!

First off---you clearly don't understand these "laws" you praise so much. "Merely going back to his own country" will not solve anything. If you over-stay your visa, they are not going to let you back in a second time, unless you come in...uh...what's that word? Oh yeah--- ILLEGALLY. And even if you were a good boy and you didn't over stay your visa, you still couldn't stay.

My husband did what he had to do. All he wants is to live here, work here and raise a family with me here. The same as YOUR own ancestors did! There are FAR more dishonest motives out there than that.

His father, who supported the entire family by working on a cruise ship, died suddenly. His sisters and mother (who has cancer) were depending on him to get a job here.

Anyone who tries to say that they wouldn't do WHATEVER was necessarry to get a job in this country if they were in that situation, is either lying or doesn't give a **** about their family, or their future.

Now, even for the immigrants who speak plenty of English and break the law on purpose, YOU clearly have difficulty understanding that for many people, there simply is no way to get into the USA within the law, no matter how they go about it.

You also have difficulty understanding the fact that you did nothing to deserve being here. You just got lucky. Darn lucky, if you ask me. And if you weren't so lucky, you'd probably be doing the same thing these immigrants are doing, for the sake of your future. You would do whatever you HAD to do to get in here, legal or not. You would take the chance.

And no, he didn't know all the terms. He didn't understand our grammer that well back then. It took him 4 years of living among us to pick it up properly. He wouldn't have had our lawyer explain all the terms of his visa in a broken down way for him if he could understand it on his own. Hell, after reading it, I MYSELF had some difficulty understanding it all. Some of you out there just assume that immigrants know everything about our laws and systems when even we citizens don't!

Once again, I, like millions of other Americans AND IMMIGRANTS was always under the impression that if you fell in love with a foreigner, all you had to do was marry them and they could stay with you.

No one explained the laws to him or me until recently. He's just been busting his tooshy at his job, working 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. That's more than many "hard working citizens" could handle. At least he's not laying around on his butt.

I know now that immigration people usually just quickly rattle off at the mouth when they give small briefings of visa terms. Most immigrants just stand there and nod their heads while its being explained, only picking up every 5th word or so, because their English ****s.

Back home, they got all their family and friends telling them that once they are on US soil, they'll be able to stay. Then they get over here, sharpen up their language skills a little more and find out all this dissappointing ****.

So, someone12---you're bashing immigrants for not knowing the law, when even you don't know it. You think it's sooooo easy....****, you think its so POSSIBLE to get in here legally. Frankly, you should be getting down on your knees and thanking the lord above that no one deported YOUR ancestors!

**spring** · 03-03-2006, 05:19 AM

You can petition for alien spouse by filing I-130 and/or I-129f. There are waivers available if he has a bar. They may or may not be approved. I'm not familiar with that visa so I'm not sure of the type of bar that would be imposed if he is found to be an overstay. I would encourage you to find out as much as you can on your own and not depend entirely on your attorney. Also, be sure that your attorney has handled cases similar to this before. Is he strictly an immigration attorney? Many people get in major messes, messes that affect them for the rest of their lives, because they depended solely on their attorney's advice. Consulting with several attorneys might be helpful, many will do initial consultation for free. There's a lot of material on the internet to read and many discussion boards. You need to learn exactly what you are facing.

03-03-2006, 05:28 AM

Melissa, do that - talk to your lawyer. Hasn't he/she mentioned the possibilities of going through a consular processing?

Your husband cannot change status while in the US. Once he exits, USCIS will know for sure that he overstayed and for how long.

You file the I-130 petition for him and when he has the interview at the embassy, he'll be denied visa because of overstay. At that point you file a waiver proving the extreme hardship that would be caused to you (like what would mean if you would have to move to his country) by him not being able to enter the US. After the approval of the waiver (and there are denials too), he'll receive his visa.

**Cayita** · 03-03-2006, 07:27 AM

Melissa,

Your husband overstayed his visa knowinly. What he probably didnt know was that his specific kind of visa wouldnt allow him to to adjust his status in the US. I am sure he was misinformed in that aspect but he knew that overstaying was wrong and ilegal when he did it.

Anyway, he wont be able to adjust his status in the US. Period. That is the law and no matter what you do, or what story a gredy lawyer tells you, it wont happen. Technically, he has to follow the same process as an EWI (person who enter to the US without a visa). You can petition him as a spouse, like Spring said. It will be denied. Then HE has to apply for a waiver (because of his overstay) so the 10 year ban wont applly to him. He files this waiver in the US Embassy in HIS country. For that he has to leave the US.

If the waiver is approved, he will get his visa. If not, he wont be allowed to enter to US again (because of the bar). Yes, the waiver is a begging for forgiveness and that is exactly what he needs to do. He did something wrong and he has to give good reason of why the law shouldnt be applied to him (the "I love him so much and he is a good person" argument is not enough). You have to prove an "extreme and unusual hardship", that is the exact language of the law.

If he has a criminal record, his chances of getting a waiver will be around zero.

**ImmortalE** · 03-03-2006, 08:39 AM

THESE ARE ALL LYING FASCISTS , I TELL YOU !!!

**Glühbirne** · 03-04-2006, 08:43 PM

You will have to file I-601. Get more useful and less judgemental information at: http://www.immigrate2us.net

**Houston** · 03-05-2006, 02:47 PM

Sadly, a person admitted as a crewmen cannot adjust status in the United States. There is a statutory bar that prevents such adjustment (245(c)).
The only option available to this person would be a re-enactment of LIFE ACT or consular processing. Since the individual overstayed the visa, additional waivers and costs would apply.
Filing for a waiver is not "begging for forgiveness". The waiver is a statement showing how the denial of a benefit would harm the interests of the U.S. citizen(s) or LPR relative(s). In light of those reasons and the equity presented, a decision is made considering the potential hardship suffered by the citizen or resident against the unlawful behavior of the alien relative. Begging for forgiveness is completely irrelevant to the documentation of the waiver.
This is not legal advice, consult with an attorney if you require legal help.

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Can my husband EVER legally stay in the USA with me???

Can my husband EVER legally stay in the USA with me???

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