Can I Legally Marry?

[wantingtomarry]

Hello,
I have been with my boyfriend for almost two years and we would like to get married. I am an Americian born citizen and he is from the Phillipines. When he was 5 his father was murdered in the Phillipines. When he was 9, his uncle (who became an American citizen) brought him to America. He came as a visitor and obtained a social security card. He ended up overstaying his visitors time and has been here ever since, totaling about 15 years. His status was never changed, so to my best knowledge he is here illegally. My questions are: Can we legally marry?, How do we go about changing his status?, and if I marry him and change my last name to his, will I lose my benifets as an American citizen? Please help, any advice is appreciated
Thank you,
Wanting to marry (From California)
P.S. He has a social security card and a passport from the Phillipines that was stamped when he entered the U.S., however there was a mistake on his birthday and it is different from the birthdate on his borth certificate. Will this cause any problems?

[deadlock]

Hello,
I have been with my boyfriend for almost two years and we would like to get married. I am an Americian born citizen and he is from the Phillipines. When he was 5 his father was murdered in the Phillipines. When he was 9, his uncle (who became an American citizen) brought him to America. He came as a visitor and obtained a social security card. He ended up overstaying his visitors time and has been here ever since, totaling about 15 years. His status was never changed, so to my best knowledge he is here illegally. My questions are: Can we legally marry?, How do we go about changing his status?, and if I marry him and change my last name to his, will I lose my benifets as an American citizen? Please help, any advice is appreciated
Thank you,
Wanting to marry (From California)
P.S. He has a social security card and a passport from the Phillipines that was stamped when he entered the U.S., however there was a mistake on his birthday and it is different from the birthdate on his borth certificate. Will this cause any problems?

At the top of this website is a tab "Lagal Articles". If you click that tab you will see a list in the The ExpertLaw Library. Scroll down to the Immigration Law. You will find some interesting information under An Overview that may be a good place to start.

[mmadsen55]

No, you will not lose your benefits of US citizenship, you will just have to go through the processes to have your name changed on your Social security,drivers license, passport..etc which is a hassle.

Under "normal circumstances" you should be able to get married and then petition your husband for citizenship (Form I130) and also adjust his status (Form I485). Yes, you may run into problems with regards to the the birthday change. Immigration will scrutinize every document and this is an important one.

How easy the process will go also depends on how he entered the country and what documents he still has from that entry. A stamped passport may not be enough...usually they require and I-94 form that should have been filled out on arrival.

Your situation is a bit complicated and you probably should talk to an immigration lawyer to begin with...they should be able to tell you what chance you have in suceeding with the adjusting of status.

[michaellovesnyc]

You can legally marry anyone you want; immigration is a seperate issue

[electricshock]

You can legally marry anyone you want; immigration is a seperate issue

For my sake I hope you are wrong!
I married someone who was illegal. I've known him since we were kids, he moved back and we got married. I didn't realize he was actually using me the whole time. After 3 kids and now two affairs that I know about!! I hope there is a loop hole in the system so I don't have to go through the whole divorce process. Otherwise I will have to wait even longer to be free from him and he will be deported before we go to court so I will have to wait another couple of months on top of the 90 wait to get my divorce. (He will be deported since he hasn't paid child support in almost 4 months and technicly I could have asked for bk child support but I didn't want him to be behind right from the start and end up in jail and removed, now I still get nothing!! I love my kids but I am now providing for them alone and I'm only 25)
Divorce was never an option in my book, I was happily married, apparently I was the only one. I pray that it being so easy to just go get married was too good to be true. Because if the govt doesn't consider us "legally/lawfully married" due to the fact that he wasn't even supposed to be in the country that would be GREAT!!
I am getting remarried after 2 yrs of hell with all this crap! I have been married 6 to a liar and cheater unkowingly, blind love! My kids have been through enough and I'm ready to move on with someone who really loves me far more than I could have hoped for. So for my sake I hope you are wrong about the two having nothing to do with each other.

[Baystategirl]

For my sake I hope you are wrong!
I married someone who was illegal. I've known him since we were kids, he moved back and we got married. I didn't realize he was actually using me the whole time. After 3 kids and now two affairs that I know about!! I hope there is a loop hole in the system so I don't have to go through the whole divorce process. Otherwise I will have to wait even longer to be free from him and he will be deported before we go to court so I will have to wait another couple of months on top of the 90 wait to get my divorce. (He will be deported since he hasn't paid child support in almost 4 months and technicly I could have asked for bk child support but I didn't want him to be behind right from the start and end up in jail and removed, now I still get nothing!! I love my kids but I am now providing for them alone and I'm only 25)
Divorce was never an option in my book, I was happily married, apparently I was the only one. I pray that it being so easy to just go get married was too good to be true. Because if the govt doesn't consider us "legally/lawfully married" due to the fact that he wasn't even supposed to be in the country that would be GREAT!!
I am getting remarried after 2 yrs of hell with all this crap! I have been married 6 to a liar and cheater unkowingly, blind love! My kids have been through enough and I'm ready to move on with someone who really loves me far more than I could have hoped for. So for my sake I hope you are wrong about the two having nothing to do with each other.

You are married. But start your own thread to get advice.