Re: Immigration: Married 10yrs and hadn't filed for Green Card / Citizenship

[Vee77]

Hi,
I have been married for 10yrs now and we did not get to process my citizenship papers mainly because of meager finances as we had three children to cater for from my wifes previous marriage. I have been in the country since 1999 and came in on an F-1 Visa. I still have to complete my college as I have about one and a half years to go. I got married in 2005.
1) What are the legal implications of this situation on employment opportunities as I had been working for the same person for over 7yrs and the business closed recently and now I have to go out and apply formally if I can use that word?
2) We are currently separated with my wife and might be heading for divorce. What implications again is this going to have on me if I attempted to file for citizenship after the divorce? Is it even a viable option?
3)What steps do I take from here to iron this out?
I do know this one is going to be a a tough one and I sure do appreciate any information or direction in this matter. Should I require a lawyer then I know where to come.

 

[newacct]

First of all, it's not citizenship you need to get now. Citizenship is way off. You need to be a permanent resident for a number of years before you can apply to naturalize (to get citizenship), and once you have permanent residency, you don't have to worry about your immigration status anymore, getting citizenship is not hard, and whether you get citizenship doesn't make that much of a difference on your everyday life.

It's permanent residency (i.e. green card) which is the thing you want to get now, and which is the hard thing to get.

You say you've been married for a number of years. Married to whom? A U.S. citizen? A U.S. permanent resident? Or what? In any case, if you are separated and divorcing soon, then your marriage is not going to help you immigrate anyway.

So if not the marriage, on what other basis could you immigrate on? Someone doesn't just randomly sign up to immigrate; they can only immigrate on the basis of something, e.g. a relative, an employer, asylum, National Interest Waiver, etc.

As for employment, F1 students generally cannot work outside campus except on OPT or CPT. If you need to work for someone else, they will want to see your EAD (which you get for OPT). You can have 12 months of OPT after you graduate.

 

[Vee77]

First of all, it's not citizenship you need to get now. Citizenship is way off. You need to be a permanent resident for a number of years before you can apply to naturalize (to get citizenship), and once you have permanent residency, you don't have to worry about your immigration status anymore, getting citizenship is not hard, and whether you get citizenship doesn't make that much of a difference on your everyday life.

It's permanent residency (i.e. green card) which is the thing you want to get now, and which is the hard thing to get.

You say you've been married for a number of years. Married to whom? A U.S. citizen? A U.S. permanent resident? Or what? In any case, if you are separated and divorcing soon, then your marriage is not going to help you immigrate anyway.

So if not the marriage, on what other basis could you immigrate on? Someone doesn't just randomly sign up to immigrate; they can only immigrate on the basis of something, e.g. a relative, an employer, asylum, National Interest Waiver, etc.

As for employment, F1 students generally cannot work outside campus except on OPT or CPT. If you need to work for someone else, they will want to see your EAD (which you get for OPT). You can have 12 months of OPT after you graduate.

I have been in the United states since 1999 when I came on a student Visa so I am not looking to immigrate. I am already here. I have been married to a US citizen. I was last in school about 2006 and am looking to finish my last one and a half years this coming year. Everything with the marriage went sour this year in May so it is still fresh. We had finally planned to tackle the PR or Citizenship issue within the two years starting this but obviously that is now a questionable case. So I am just wondering how all this will pan out if I push through with the divorce and if I do not push through with it.

 

[Jackolantern]

I have been in the United states since 1999 when I came on a student Visa so I am not looking to immigrate. I am already here.

"Immigrate" includes people who are already in the US on an illegal or temporary legal basis and want to stay permanently.

So I am just wondering how all this will pan out if I push through with the divorce and if I do not push through with it.

You have to stay married throughout the entire green card process if you want to obtain a green card based on marriage. Without marriage, you have practically no other options for a green card, given that you're not here legally and have not finished your degree (which is a minimum requirement for most employment-based visas and green cards).