Marrying a Visa-Waiver Overstay

Hi. My fiance came to the US (Ohio) from the UK in December of 2010 on a visa waiver. Of course, he is by now illegal. I am a college student who is set to graduate in May, the reason he has stayed is because we wanted to be together and didn't have the money to file forms (fiance visa etc) the legal way. We didn't intend on marrying and adjusting status for him during this trip, it's just something we've now been considering (at the border upon entry he told them we were engaged but did not disclose any intent to marry during the visit).

The first problem is, will we be able to get a marriage license? He has no SSN and no drivers license, which our county (in Ohio) says are required.

The second problem is, we only just have enough money to file the I-485 and I-330 so unfortunately hiring a lawyer is out of the question. I've read varying degrees of successes and failures of people filing without an attorney, but it's hard to tell how successful we would likely be based on our specific experience.

The final problem is a confusing one. In his passport he doesn't seem to have the I-94W slip, there's one page where the stub of the slip (just a thin green strip) is stapled and has obviously been removed. We think this is from a previous visit where it was taken upon leaving. We cannot even remember if he's definitely supposed to have this slip stapled in, and if so, cannot think of any reason why it wouldn't be in there (his passport has just sat in a drawer since the day he got here) Of course the passport shows the stamp when he entered. So this may or may not be a problem.

Apologies for the long post (I tried to cut it down as much as possible) and if anybody would be kind enough to take the time to read it and give any help, I would be extremely grateful.

Thanks.

If you don't intend on marrying or adjusting his status, the issues of getting a marriage license and of adjusting his status are irrelevant. Let us know if you change your mind. Under present policy it is possible to adjust status after a visa waiver overstay, but I'm not going to spend time discussing something you just told us you don't plan to do.

To get a replacement I-94, use Form I-102.

Wait, I didn't say we weren't going to adjust his status? I just said we couldn't afford to hire a lawyer, so we have to file the adjustment forms ourselves. And that's really what I'm asking - how successful will we be based on the situation outlined above?

I've indicated that it's possible. Whether or not you will succeed depends on the full facts of the case.

Some states require proof of legal residency before they will issue a marriage license. If you run into that issue, you can consider marrying in a state that doesn't have such a requirement (but you have to make sure you meet its residency requirements).

You just told me everything I already said I know in my first post. You know there's nothing wrong with just saying "I'm sorry I can't help you"

I've read these forums for a while now and you're always incredibly snippy and rude to people for no reason.

What do you want to hear? You say that you're unwilling to avail yourself of the legal process? The cost of filing the proper immigrant visa is going to be far cheaper than the legal effort to do things the wrong way and with a far higher liklihood of success.

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Quoting stressedandcrazy

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You just told me everything I already said I know in my first post. You know there's nothing wrong with just saying "I'm sorry I can't help you"

I've read these forums for a while now and you're always incredibly snippy and rude to people for no reason.

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Why the attitude?

I have a question though (if you can manage to find it within yourself to answer graciously, anyway) before we go further.

How are you going to sponsor him?

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Quoting flyingron

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What do you want to hear? You say that you're unwilling to avail yourself of the legal process? The cost of filing the proper immigrant visa is going to be far cheaper than the legal effort to do things the wrong way and with a far higher liklihood of success.

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Yeah obviously using a lawyer is the way to go, but as I made perfectly clear, we simply don't have the money. It's not a case of "unwilling"

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Quoting Dogmatique

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Why the attitude?

I have a question though (if you can manage to find it within yourself to answer graciously, anyway) before we go further.

How are you going to sponsor him?

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I have an attitude because I was as clear as possible in my opening post, and not rude ("would be very grateful" etc) and this guy skimmed my post, completely misread what I wanted and then got snippy with me because he was wrong. Like I said though, I've browsed these forums for over a year now and I always find him to be extraordinarily rude with people instead of just trying to be helpful.

As to your question about sponsoring. According to some of the help we've read online, it is possible to have somebody other than myself sponsor him (so my grandparents, for example) however, of course, this isn't something we know for sure. I'm a college student, so if I have to sponsor him I'm hoping the fact that I'm in full time education will make up for my small paychecks. We just really don't know though, the sponsoring is just one of the many factors that are not clear.

Obviously he cannot work (not even illegally, lord knows we've tried) and so I've been saving up for months from my part time paycheck to file these forms. If I were to keep saving to afford a lawyer, we'd be waiting another 6 months before we could even file anything. I appreciate that it's much riskier, but I know that it can be done - I was just hoping that perhaps somebody could help confirm things in a few areas (such as the potentially missing I-94W slip and the marriage certificate)

Also I appreciate that this is an internet forum and I don't expect to have all my questions answered, it's more of a long shot and if anybody can help then that would be great. Even if they can't but tried, that's cool too - I just don't appreciate being spoken to the way that I was.

I'll tell you straight, hon.

You being in full time education will not make the fact that you don't earn enough to sponsor him go away. You need bigger paychecks. If you can't do that, you'll need a co-sponsor.

I'm also going to ask if you actually truly understand what sponsorship means. In terms of commitment. It's vital that you - or your grandparents - understand what you're getting into. Please believe me when I say that. I can explain further if you wish.

With regards to marriage - well, some states make it easier to get married than others. Maryland, for example, doesn't have a residency requirement (I am also an immigrant, btw - I lived in PA, but we got married in MD). MD also does not require a social security number. So start researching.

Your bigger problem as I see it is the length of his overstay. Before the very recent changes to immigration regulations, a visa waiver overstay was virtually ALWAYS forgiven by bona fide marriage to a US citizen provided the marriage did NOT take place within the 90 day VWP period.

Now things have changed. Forgiveness of an overstay now apparently requires that the marriage DOES take place within the 90 day VWP period. It seems counter-intuitive, but that's seemingly what's going on.

In other words - you NEED an attorney. Seriously.

For what it's worth, Mr Knowitall is actually a very valuable member of the forum. Learn to love him. Or at least appreciate his knowledge and the time he donates here ;) :)

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Quoting Dogmatique

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I'll tell you straight, hon.

You being in full time education will not make the fact that you don't earn enough to sponsor him go away. You need bigger paychecks. If you can't do that, you'll need a co-sponsor.

I'm also going to ask if you actually truly understand what sponsorship means. In terms of commitment. It's vital that you - or your grandparents - understand what you're getting into. Please believe me when I say that. I can explain further if you wish.

With regards to marriage - well, some states make it easier to get married than others. Maryland, for example, doesn't have a residency requirement (I am also an immigrant, btw - I lived in PA, but we got married in MD). MD also does not require a social security number. So start researching.

Your bigger problem as I see it is the length of his overstay. Before the very recent changes to immigration regulations, a visa waiver overstay was virtually ALWAYS forgiven by bona fide marriage to a US citizen provided the marriage did NOT take place within the 90 day VWP period.

Now things have changed. Forgiveness of an overstay now apparently requires that the marriage DOES take place within the 90 day VWP period. It seems counter-intuitive, but that's seemingly what's going on.

In other words - you NEED an attorney. Seriously.

For what it's worth, Mr Knowitall is actually a very valuable member of the forum. Learn to love him. Or at least appreciate his knowledge and the time he donates here ;) :)

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Hey, thanks I really appreciate the input! The sponsor thing is a good example of how you can find one piece of information in one search, and then a completely contradicting piece of information in another. This is really what legal help is for, I know.

See, I know (from reading experiences on other forums) that it is possible to file the forms without a lawyer but we've got to be realistic and accept that each case is different and if the risk is too high, we could just be throwing money away.

I think our next step is going to be a lawyer. We can't afford to pay one to file our forms, but we need some straight legal advice which I believe they will provide for a one off fee (maybe? I'm totally guessing, I've never had a consultation so I'm in the dark on that too)