Overstay to LPR via Marriage to USC, HELP!

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Hello everyone.

US Citizen married to Overstay. Relationship can be documented through pictures, lasting over 3.5 yrs (dated during college). Both planning on attending grad schools and will be living away from each other. Planning on filing petition (i-130 and i-485) to adjust status of Overstay spouse. Both intend to live together after overstay spouse receives EAD.

How do you think USCIS will view this arrangement? Everything is bona fide and entered because of love, parents of US Citizen spouse can attest, friends, professors. Obviously, not a lot of shared accounts, etc. but working on consolidating finances and adding overstay spouse to insurance, phone bill, etc. Lived on campus dormitories, but obviously not in the same room throughout university studies (4 yrs). Important thing is that couple will be living apart for the length of time until overstay spouse receives EAD and US Citizen spouse is released from her house lease (recently signed).

Any comments and advice will be greatly appreciated: especially in dealing with i-130 and i-485 forms, evidence required, interview process, and problems (and fixes) that may arise from this temporary arrangement. Is it really important that we live together immediately after the marriage? We don't want to lie on the forms and say we live together when we dont, but this will be temporary - do we include a supplement to the petitions explaining the circumstances? Will living together be scrutinized more during AOS interview or at the beginning, starting with filing i-130, i-485, i-765?

"Also, if the couple does not live together, the USCIS will be very suspicious, even more so if they have never lived together." -Gregory Siskind (http://www.lexisnexis.com/practiceareas/immigration/pdfs/web623.pdf)
 
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You better start the process once the two of you are living together. It is NOT going to help your case a bit to file as living separately... You will be asked a lot more questions and if you do not have enough evidence (and it does not sound like you guys do) of co-mingled finances and such... then you are only asking for trouble.

The overstay should not be a problem. It will be forgiven.
 
I disagree with PraetorianXI. While living together is the logical thing expected of a couple, education/job and other considerations often force a couple to live separately. Maybe there will be more grilling at the interview, considering that you overstayed, but as long as the marriage is bonafide and you really are married, there is nothing to worry. It is also a good idea to work with an attorney rather than file the documents yourself since this is a delicate case.
 
del0175 said:
I disagree with PraetorianXI. While living together is the logical thing expected of a couple, education/job and other considerations often force a couple to live separately. Maybe there will be more grilling at the interview, considering that you overstayed, but as long as the marriage is bonafide and you really are married, there is nothing to worry. It is also a good idea to work with an attorney rather than file the documents yourself since this is a delicate case.
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The problem is that you have convince USCIS of that. That you yourself know its bona fide is nice, but in the end does not get you anything, well, possibly denied, if you can't convince USCIS of the truthful marriage. And not living together, no matter what the circumstances (unless spouse is outside the US) simply does not look good.
 
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You are correct. However you have re-iterated the point Praetorian made. Proving the marriage is bonafide to USCIS becomes a tad more difficult if the couple lives apart.

del0175 said:
Maybe there will be more grilling at the interview, considering that you overstayed, but as long as the marriage is bonafide and you really are married, there is nothing to worry.
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Thanks for the answers, still looking forward to more.

A couple of questions:

1) Is it true that the USCIS prefers religious weddings to civil ceremonies?

2) Does it make sense to file I-130 immediately after the wedding (while we are still living apart) then file I-485 after we are already living together? Would this offer some protection against deportation etc? What are the downsides?
 
When both parties don't live together, it does raise INS eyebrows to presume not a bonafide marriage. However, it's not uncommon for parties to live apart for the time being for a VALID reason. That's why it's so important to let the interviewing officer know WHY parties are living apart which must be substantiated with documentary proofs. Also, it's VERY important to gather as much as documentary proofs of comingling of life AND finances together so that officer wouldn't queston the bonafide of the marriage. Remember, the burden to prove the bonafide your marriage lies on you than on INS??

And no, this not true that INS prefers one marriage ceremony over another. It's just a matter of common sense that in a marriage of religious ceremony, it indicates parties' efforts, planning and having more proofs to a bonafide marriage. That's all.

I-130 and I-485 must be filed together, and it's advisable to file all these application right away after a legal marriage unless obtaining the legal status to alien-spouse is not the matter to either parties. And overstaying is automatically forgiven when overstayer is the immediate relative of the US citizen. Officer wouldn't even ask anything about overstaying...

Good luck...
 
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