Starting the Green Card Process issues

[Scortea]

Hy, was trying for a week now to join your forums( i think yahoo mails are not accepted sence i did not get the confirmation subsriptions in 2 other mails), I have some issues with my aplication ... and since i did not find somebody with same situation ... i will explan hopeing somebody will help me .
So : I just got married 2 weeks ago with my angel USC who is the same nationality with me but she is here from 20 years ago (age of 4). I am here almoust since june 06 come with work visa for 6 months H2B, i decided to stay more and i applied for tourist visa at the end of 6 months .. i was denied becouse i needed some papers from my home country (Romania) but i was unable to provide, story short i was denied and i'm out of status from 1 november 06, ok here is my questions :
1) what are the form that i need to apply for AOS (green card)?
2) my USC spouse has no income Tax for last years becouse was still in school (college) and she worked by the hour (part time as a nanny), do i need somebody else, like a friend to sponsor me and which form i need for him?
3) My Passport is about to expire at the and of this month (march 08) can i go to make another one at the Embassy in LA after i send the papers to USCIS and go with both at the interview with the IO?
4) We are not living together yet (we are loking for a condo), when we fill the applications does it matter if we put our adresses separate until we move together?
5) I was working last year like a salesman for 10 months and i have my income tax already done ... does it matter or it's going to be a problem ?

P.S. I was thinking about a lawyer but i think is too expensive some any help would be apreciated .

 

[austriacus]

1. See this step by step guide.

2. If you and your spouse have $52,500 assets you may not need a joint sponsor. Otherwise, you'll need a joint sponsor who's a US citizen or permanent resident that is willing to sign that they will sponsor you until you become a US citizen or have 40 social security quarters. The person will have to send a form to USCIS everytime he or she moves, so it's a commitment over time. They'll have to show that they have at least $17,500 current annual income (or 5x the difference in assets); they may have to show more if they have a family themselves (see forms I-864 and I-864P).

3. Yes I believe that should be possible (I don't remember if you need a passport valid for any length of time, but I don't think you do.)

4. Be truthful about where both of you reside on the application. Not living together is an issue and will be questioned at the interview but it can be overcome. Submit an attachment to your application explaining why you don't live together and what your plans are to move together.

5. Your status violation and illegal employment will be forgiven if your petitioner is a US citizen spouse.

About the lawyer ... usually it's not required for a simple family based case. Some of the items in your application are slightly more complicated than the usually case, e.g. your out-of-status situation and not living together. So while you may still not require a lawyer, it would be good to find one that can help you if problems arise, and that you could perhaps consult about your case or that can review your paperwork before you send it. But I wouldn't get a lawyer to do the entire case, that's a waste. You can do 99% of the case yourself by following the instructions and finding information on the internet, if you're careful.

 

[Scortea]

10x

Austriacus ... thx for your help ... we decided to wait 1 - 2 weeks until we move together to eliminate the diferent adresses issue.

 

[austriacus]

Oh, if it's that soon, I think it's a good idea that you wait. At least then you don't have to deal with changing your address with USCIS and whether or not you might miss important correspondence from them. But I think USCIS would actually be pretty satisfied if you live together at the time of your interview or if you have a clear plan towards moving together as soon as your situation allows. To give you an example, we were approved even though we didn't live together yet (lived in separate cities) and stated that it might take about 2 more years until we move together (in reality we moved together about 4 months after our interview!). We had employment and education constraints that we were working around.