Moving out of Country , can we apply overseas ?

H

handxx

Registered Users (C)
Hi folks ,

I have a very urgent question that I need your advice. I am a US citizen. I got married to my wife 4 months ago. She was here with the J-1 visa and her visa is expired already 4 months ago. She is basically out of status right now. We were planning to apply for her Green Card in US but me and my wife are planning to move to my home country for around 2 years. If we can live there together without any problem , we will settle down in my home country. My question is since my wife is out of status and if she travels to my home country with me , in case if we decide to come back to US lets say after 1 year , Can I apply for a visa or for a green card in the American Embassy in my home country for her ? Is it really risky or since I am US citizen , it can be done ?? Thanks..
 
If she overstays by 180 days or more but less than a year, she will be banned from reentering the US for 3 years. If she overstays by 1 year or more, she will be banned for 10 years. So if you want her to be able to get a green card within the next 3 years, she needs to leave the US within the next couple of months (i.e. before overstaying her J-1 by 180 days).

If her J-1 has the 2-year home country requirement, she will have to live in her home country (not somebody else's country .... it has to be her own) for 2 years before becoming eligible for a green card, unless she gets a waiver.
 
Ah, that explains it. Best approach for you both is that she leaves the US before her overstay accrues more than 6 months.
Once you both are ready to move back to the US, depending on which consulate you are dealing with, you can either DCF or go via the CP route.

handxx said:
I am US CITIZEN but I also have dual citizenship from the county I borned ..
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Triplecitizen thanks for your reply. It is actually a little bit complicated. My wife's visa expired by September. We have not have chance to apply till right now. We plan to move in May or June 2010 from US , we can apply right now but my only concern is if we do not get interview in 5 6 months , almost $1500 will go to trash.

Can you tell me what is DCF ? If we leave by may or june and try to do CP in future , this overstay can cause problems even my wife is married to a US citizen ?
 
Direct Consular Filing is where a US citizen can sponsor an immediate relative via an I-130 at the consulate/embassy itself, without going through USCIS. Not available at all consulates/embassies.
Overstay will be penalised (when going the CP route) even if married to a US citizen. Marriage to a US citizen does not come with immunity from the law!!!

handxx said:
Can you tell me what is DCF ? If we leave by may or june and try to do CP in future , this overstay can cause problems even my wife is married to a US citizen ?
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