Pooler, GA Immigration Law Firms & Lawyers

Is your wife in the country now? If not, you have the option of filing a spousal petition to possibly get her into the country faster and then you can adjust status while she is in the country. If you are unsure about how to go about completing the forms, you should speak with an immigration attorney.

Generally, an approval of a marriage-based Form I-130 Petition for Relative Alien remains valid without any additional step needed, although issues raised in that application indeed could be re-examined by the USCIS at a subsequent Form I-485 Adjustment of Status application interview. Significant additional information is needed in order to analyze your husband's situation and advise about next steps. For example, are you a U.S. citizen? Are you a Permanent Resident? What has been your husband's immigration visa situation since the time he first entered the country? Etc. It would be wise for you and your husband to confer with an immigration attorney who, after learning all of the relevant information, could provide advice about immigration-related eligibilities, options and strategies, and could offer legal representation for the often complex application process.

A foreign national may remain in the U.S. lawfully only with a valid nonimmigrant visa. If your J-1 visa expired or otherwise was terminated, then you would be regarded as "out of status," and subject to being placed in removal/deportation proceedings. Note that depending upon the length of unlawful presence, a foreign national may become subject to a 3-year or even a 10-year bar to re-entering the U.S. When a foreign national who entered the U.S. lawfully and with inspection (such as with a J-1 visa) becomes married to a U.S. citizen, the couple may succeed with a marriage-based adjustment of status application process, so that the foreign national will become a Lawful Permanent Resident (will get a "Green Card"). This is true regardless of whether the foreign national spouse may have overstayed a visa, and even if the foreign national spouse may have worked without authorization. It would be wise for you and your fianc?/fianc?e to consult with an immigration attorney who, after learning all of the relevant information, could advise you about immigration eligibilities, options and strategies (this may include supplying documentary evidence, beyond what may be shown on the visa or Form 2019, that there was no two-year home residency requirement associated with the J-1 visa).