Seminole, TX Immigration Law Firms & Lawyers

Simply attach your marriage certificate to your husband's application for a change of status, and have your husband explain the situation in the cover letter to USCIS. Considering the consequences of a denial, it might be a very good idea to retain a professional to handle this process: depending on your status, there are numerous rules that would have to be followed to minimize the odds of rejection of your husband's application by the USCIS.

It's not required that you live together before you get married and submit your application for adjustment of status with USCIS, but it can serve as evidence that you will get married in good faith. However, until you are married and file your application, you are at risk of being picked up and placed into removal proceedings by the authorities. It's probably best if you can get married as soon as possible and start the process for your residency status.

You do not have to own your home or apartment to sponsor your parents. But you need to be able to support them above the poverty level. Usually, it takes not less than 6 years from the date of immigration into the United States to become a citizen. Until your parents would become citizens, they will have no right to receive public support. It means they will get no welfare, no SSI, no food stamps, no Medicaid, no subsidized housing. The government will not approve your petition unless you file with it an affidavit of support (Form I-864) showing that you have enough income to support yourself, your family, and your parents above the poverty level. Right now, if you have 1 child, you have to show income over $35,512 a year (in March, this amount will go up a few hundred dollars); if you have 2 children, you have to show over $40,712 a year. If you would file a petition for only one of your parents at this time, the income that has to be shown would have to be $5200 less. If your family income is less than these numbers, you need someone who is a citizen or a permanent resident of the U.S., earns enough money to support his/her own family plus 2 more people above the poverty level, and would agree to file an affidavit of support for your parents. This is a serious matter, not "just filing some papers". If you find a sponsor, he/she files an affidavit of support, your parents come to the U.S., and find themselves in need of financial support, their applications for public support will be denied. In some cases, government agencies give the applicants the support they requested - and then charge the sponsor for it. Medicaid bills alone can easily amount to many thousands of dollars. Understanding this, few people will agree to sponsor your parents and take such a huge financial responsibility.