F1 student, husband lied about sponsoring me and now jeopardized my status

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kaylee

Registered Users (C)
I met my husband when I was a student. He is a LPR and we got married in 2008 while I was still under F1 status. He told me he would file for citizenship and adjust my status as I had one year under my Optional Practical Training (OPT). I wrote him a check for the amount of filing the papers in July 2008. I just found out that my husband never filed while he told me the whole time that he did file. My OPT expired in June 2009 and at the time He told me I would be getting my papers soon so I did not think too much of it. Now, I realize it was all a lie while ITs too late coz Im out of status and I was pregnant and have a child while all of this was going on. My baby is just 3 months old now . Im out of status since June 2009. I wouldn't have stayed in the US had I known he did not file the papers. Also, we are still married and hes telling me i have to wait till June which is when he will get his citizenship. He wants me to be under his control till then. Hes been lying for about 2 years now and Im in this state because of him. Do I have any recourse to become legal? Please help! Thank you
 
With him not being a US citizen, even if he filed your immigration papers in 2008 you still would not gain/extend any legal status in the US. So you have to wait until he becomes a citizen before filing the papers will give you any legal status.

So you need to do two main things to stay on top of the situation. (1) look at his green card to figure out when he is eligible for citizenship (normally he can apply 90 days before his 5-year GC anniversary), and make sure he has filed the application for citizenship when the time comes. (2) You need to gain some understanding of your own immigration process, because some of the forms are to be filled out and signed by you, and you can be held responsible (with possible deportation) if there are mistakes or untruths on the paperwork. And you obviously can't trust him to handle it all correctly and promptly.

The citizenship application form is N-400. The green card involves much more paperwork; for details see http://forums.immigration.com/showthread.php?p=1975217#post1975217

And most importantly, do not leave the US until your GC is approved, or you will risk being banned from reentering the US due staying so long beyond the OPT expiration.
 
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Jackolantern,
Thank you about your feedback. My husband has his GC since he was 9 years old so hes been eligible for a long time now. What I am trying to say is had he not lied about this, I wouldn't have overstayed my visa, which means I wouldnt be in the predicament I am in today. More so, he told me in June 2008 that it would take him 6 months to get his citizenship and a few months after that he could file for my GC. At that time I still had a year on my OPT so to me everything would;ve worked out perfectly. At this point I don't have any trust in him and hes emotionally abusive coz he knows hes holding me prisoner due to my status. I really don't know what to do as I dont wanna stay in this marriage but I dont wanna futher jeopardize my status. Any thoughts? Thank you all for reading.
 
I don't know. Thats what Im trying to find out. What are my options given my situation. Thank you!
 
You need to reevaluate your priorities. Your only concern seems to be a GC. You claim to be in an abusive marriage yet are unwilling to do anything unless you can get a GC some other way - and you are putting your child in this situation as well. It certainly appears that you married only for a GC.

Your US citizen child can file for you once he/she is 21.
 
To be legal this is your only option, he files for citizenship and then files for your GC. Please find a good lawyer to advise you about custody of your child in a divorce. And I repeat what Jackolantern said: "And most importantly, do not leave the US until your GC is approved, or you will risk being banned from reentering the US due staying so long beyond the OPT expiration."
 
kaylee said:
Jackolantern,
Thank you about your feedback. My husband has his GC since he was 9 years old so hes been eligible for a long time now.
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So why is he telling you June, if he has been eligible for a long time? Has he applied for citizenship yet?

Did any of his parents become a citizen before he turned 18? If yes, it is possible he is already a citizen.
What I am trying to say is had he not lied about this, I wouldn't have overstayed my visa, which means I wouldnt be in the predicament I am in today.
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My point was that if you had a better understanding of the process, you would have caught his lies easily. You would have learned that his filing the papers as an LPR wouldn't give you any status anyway. You also would have known that some of the papers require your input and signature. You can't change the past, but now you can learn enough about the process so he can't create those problems for you by lying or making mistakes on the paperwork. I'm not blaming you, I'm just emphasizing the need for you to take control of and understand the process from now on.
 
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Concerned4us said:
You need to reevaluate your priorities. Your only concern seems to be a GC. You claim to be in an abusive marriage yet are unwilling to do anything unless you can get a GC some other way - and you are putting your child in this situation as well. It certainly appears that you married only for a GC.

Your US citizen child can file for you once he/she is 21.
Click to expand...

How can you say that? The only reason why im focusing on the GC right now is because he put me in a situation where I became out of status! Had I only married him for a GC I wouldnt have a child with him. I married him in good faith and trust me I had other options. Im focusing on my legal status right now because there is a child involved and also my parents sacrifice a lot for me to go to undergrad and grad school and get a good education to better my future. It hurts to see that allof that is ruined because of this. I could've been sponsored by my previous employer but my husband told me it was not necessary to seek for that as he was sponsoring me. Also, I wanted to leave the country so not to be out of status, he again told me I did not need to because everything was coming together. I did everything by the book, and never realized i was going to end up out of status, so do not judge~
 
Jackolantern said:
So why is he telling you June, if he has been eligible for a long time? Has he applied for citizenship yet?

Did any of his parents become a citizen before he turned 18? If yes, it is possible he is already a citizen.

My point was that if you had a better understanding of the process, you would have caught his lies easily. You would have learned that his filing the papers as an LPR wouldn't give you any status anyway. You also would have known that some of the papers require your input and signature. You can't change the past, but now you can learn enough about the process so he can't create those problems for you by lying or making mistakes on the paperwork. I'm not blaming you, I'm just emphasizing the need for you to take control of and understand the process from now on.
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1-He told me June because he said he applied 2 months ago

2-hes not already a citizen, ive seen his GC

3-I knew his filing of papers wouldnt have given me any status in June 2008. But he was supposed to file for citizenship then and I had 1 year left on my OPT and was still in status, he told me it would take him 6 months to get his citizenship and then file for my GC so when you addd it all, in a year, everything would've been fine which is when my OPT was going to expire, so I did not think too much of it.


4- From now on I wanna know what my options to become legal are as I have a daughter to take care of and can't just leave the country with custody battles and all thats gonna derive from a divorce. I don't wanna stay with a man who lies like that and jeopardize my wellbeing by telling me he loves me all the way. I want out of this marriage. My fears are for my daughter and my legal status once im out, I really need help. He took advantage of my situation, took money from my bank account and hes been lying in a deceitful way and unfortunately I have no recourse at this point and USCIS will never understand how I was taken advantage of :mad: :(
 
kaylee said:
1-He told me June because he said he applied 2 months ago
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If he applied 2 months ago, March/April is a more realistic time frame.

Have you seen the proof of him applying? A receipt notice? Fingerprint appointment notice?

When will you complete 2 years of marriage? It may be to your advantage not to rush the GC process, because if you can time things so the interview occurs on or after your 2-year anniversary (the interview is normally 2-4 months after the papers have been filed), you will receive a 10-year green card and be free of his clutches (from an immigration perspective), instead of a 2-year card that would require his involvement later on.
2-hes not already a citizen, ive seen his GC
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That doesn't mean he's not a citizen. It only means he thinks he's not a citizen. And maybe USCIS also thinks he's not a citizen because they haven't pieced all the facts together. Some people live for decades with a green card, not realizing they already became citizens as children.

So do you know if any of his parents became a US citizen before he turned 18?
 
Our 2 year anniversary will be in June. But I don't wanna stay in this marriage coz I don't trust him so its pointless. I don't wanna stay just for the papers. Also, his parents are citizens but I don't know since when so can't answer that question. Also how does the parents being citizens make him one?
I really dont wanna stay in this marriage because of the emotional abuse I will have to go through since he will be using this to hold me hostage.
 
I forgot, no I don't have any proof of him applying. He said he used a lawyer. I HAVENT seen any receipts or fingerprints appointment notice or anything else of that nature. Thank you!
 
kaylee said:
Also how does the parents being citizens make him one?
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There is a rule that if one parent becomes a citizen (or both parents, based on the date and circumstances), citizenship is also automatically conferred to their under-18 children (if certain other conditions are met, such as the children living with them in the US as permanent residents).

But many parents don't know about that rule (or they know and didn't bother to apply for any proof of citizenship for the children) and USCIS generally does not proactively notify the children, so their children often grow up thinking they are not citizens.
 
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kaylee said:
I see. But how about my situation, do I have any other recourses?
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You are in bad situation, there is pretty much nothing you can do to get a green card quickly without your husbands help.

Since you are out of status the only way you can get a green card in the US is as an immediate relative of a US citizen, so you would have to get divorced and find someone else to marry who can file for you or wait until your child turns 21 then they can file for you.
 
You have no good options in the short term:

(1) Hold on to the marriage, convince him to get his citizenship in order (whether through the usual naturalization process, or claiming it based on his parents) and try to get the GC.
or
(2) Leave the US on your own
or
(3) Remain out of status and hope you don't get deported.

As it is right now, you are deportable. Ask him if he plans to raise the child by himself. Because that's what is likely to happen eventually if he doesn't hurry up and do something about the situation.
 
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Jackolantern,

1-I want a divorce coz I've lost all respect and trust for this man

2- If I leave the US, I will be banned for reentry for 10 years and also there will be a custody case involving my daughter
3- I can't remain out of status forever, can't get a job or support myself in those conditions.

Im between a rock and a hard place :(
 
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