Re: Me-US Citizen / Wife-Illegally in US from Mexico

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Dear Andrew,

The process works like this. The U.S. citizen must submit a
visa petition to appropriate CIS Service Center to prove
that the marriage is bona fide, that is, entered into for
love rather than simply for the foreign-born spouse to
obtain a green card. Attached to the visa petition are the
following items: (1) Biographical forms for both the husband
and the wife with photos attached; (2) Proof of the
citizenship status of the petitioner. This can take the form
of a U.S. Passport, a Certificate of Naturalization or
Citizenship or a certified copy of the citizen's birth
certificate; (3) A certified copy of the marriage
certificate; (4) Certified copies of the documents that
terminated any previous marriages of the husband or wife,
including final divorce decrees, and certificates of
annulment or death.

The process begins when the citizen spouse submits a visa
petition to either the CIS office which has jurisdiction
over his residence or directly to the U.S. Embassy or
Consulate in the country where the foreign-born spouse
resides.

Sometimes, in order to avoid a lengthy separation, the
spouses return to the U.S. after the marriage and proceed to
file the necessary applications once they are both in the
U.S. Usually, CIS takes a dim view of this practice. It is
not uncommon for the CIS to stop the foreign-born spouse at
the border and exclude her from the U.S. as an intending
immigrant. However, if the foreign-born spouse is able to
enter the U.S., CIS will not deny her application for a
green card solely because he or she entered the U.S. on a
temporary visa when their real intent was to remain
permanently in the U.S.

If the marriage is less than two or three years old when the
foreign-born spouse becomes a permanent resident, the green
card will expire after a two/three-year period. Both spouses
must submit a joint petition to remove the two/three-year
condition within the 90-day period immediately preceding the
end of the two/three year period.

The husband may file the form (petition for relative) and
biographic data form for both him and her, along with the
future spouse application to register permanent residence or
adjust status form. Because she is illegal here in U.S. she
may have to file Supplement A to the application form which
has a $1000 fee or he may require to go back to Mexico for 5
years before she can apply.

However, the earlier you can work with an immigration
attorney the better outcome your case will be.

Thanks

On 2/06/07, andrew wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I am a Naturalized US Citizen. My wife came to the US
> when she was 17 y/o (from Mexico), she came here without
> inspection, therefore, she's in the country illegally.
>
> We were married 3 years ago and have two children. We are
> very anxious because of all the recent ICE raids.
>
> We would like to know if there's any hope for us.
>
> Our youngest child (6 months old) (our other daughter is 2
> years old) has a superficial birth defect called a fistula
> on his throat. He is under the care of an Ear/Nose/Throat
> Doctor and has been scheduled for surgery.
>
> I would like to know if there's any hope for us for me to
> be able to submit a petition for my wife.
>
> Please advise...
>
> Thanks... Andrew