My boyfriend came to this country over a year ago on a fiancee visa to get married and go to school for his masters. Soon after he entered the U.S. his fiancee broke up with him and he moved to NY to try to start his life as a student. He has paid lots of money on lawyers trying to change his status to a student visa but he has not had much luck. Right now he is being denied a student visa and being told even if he marries a U.S. citizen he will still have a hard time getting a different visa or citizenship because his record is "dirty" from not honoring his previous visa. Why is it so difficult for him to switch from a fiancee visa to a student visa? Are there any other avenues for him to go down to gain a different visa or maybe a temporary citizenship? We plan on getting married but not this soon, so i'm sure a permanent citizenship is that an option for him right now. Any help would be much appreciated. I don't want him to continue working with the same lawyer if they are not giving him all his options. Thanks
Fiancee visa to student visa-please help!!!!
- Thread starter brfield
- Start date
elcupacabras
Registered Users (C)
Did he ever go through AOS? If not, then he is in deep trouble. Once his I-94 expired (90 days after he entered) he became out of status and began accruing illegal presence. Once he reached an overstay of 180 days be triggered a 3year ban. If he now has over 360 days of overstay, then he has a 10 year ban. As he entered on a K1 visa then the ONLY way he can successfully AOS (become a permanent resident) is through marriage to the original petitioner (his old fiance). If he was to marry you, then you would need to apply for either a K1/K3/immigrant visa. HOWEVER....in order to get one of these visas, he must return to his country of origin for the visa interview......once he leaves the US for the interview, the appropriate ban will be applied as explained above. There are of course waivers that can be filed in order to try and overcome such bans, but these are very few success stories.
It is his current overstay that is causing him these problems. A fiance visa is just that....a fiance visa, not a student visa. Had he been wise, he would have returned home before his 90 day I-94 expired and applied for a student visa from his country of origin. His unwise decision not to do that, as Im sure youre aware from the discussion with the lawyers, has well and truly turned round to bite him in the derriere.
It is his current overstay that is causing him these problems. A fiance visa is just that....a fiance visa, not a student visa. Had he been wise, he would have returned home before his 90 day I-94 expired and applied for a student visa from his country of origin. His unwise decision not to do that, as Im sure youre aware from the discussion with the lawyers, has well and truly turned round to bite him in the derriere.
Triple Citizen
Registered Users (C)
A K-1 allows the beneficiary to AOS only via marriage to the sponsor of the K-1 visa. Your fiance cannot AOS even after marrying you unless he leaves the country, serves his ban (or wins a waiver) and then re-enters the US.
Ok, well lets say we get married and he leaves the country so he can re-enter. What circumstances will allow him to win the waiver for the ban? And if he does win the waiver, how long after he is awarded the waiver will it take for the U.S. to allow him to re-enter? Also with the new immigration reforms approaching, is there any sliver of hope that there may be a circumstance where he wouldn't have to leave the country to be awarded a different visa or citizenship? Thank you for your help.
Triple Citizen
Registered Users (C)
To obtain a waiver, the US citizen has to prove extreme hardship if the alien is separated from him/her. Not an easy thing to do since nothing is stopping the US citizen from moving to the alien's country. If the waiver is obtained, he can enter as soon as he is given an immigrant or a K visa. I will personally not bank on any proposed reform. Spend your time and efforts on working with current regulations. It may sound harsh but the bottom line is, he made his own bed. He now needs to lie in it. Good luck!!!
elcupacabras
Registered Users (C)
The chances of having a waiver approved are EXTREMELY slim. As triple citizen already noted, extreme hardship on the USC must be proved which is a very difficult thing to overcome.
As far as I see it there are 4 options for the person in question:
1) He continues to live in the US out of status with the weight of knowing that he will never be able to gain legal status constantly on his shoulders. This will also mean that he is never allowed to legally work, obtain a drivers license, social security etc, and will constantly run the risk of being found out, deported and served a lifetime ban.
2) He returns to his country of origin and you follow him. You live together until the appropriate length ban is up. You file for the appropriate visa and then return to the States.
3) He returns to his country of origin without you. You continue your relationship and then file for the appropriate visa once his ban is served.
4) He returns to his country of origin without you. You discontinue your relationship. He either files for a student visa (or whatever one he wants at that time) on his own once the ban is served, or he continues to stay put and reside outside the US.
Triple Citizen
Registered Users (C)
For those who entered on a K-1 visa, the only way to AOS is by marriage to the K-1 sponsor.