Hi Everyone,
I became an LPR on Nov 18, 2005 and I am eligible to apply for Citizenship next month or so.
My wife is a canadian citizen, who joined me to live in the US since May 2007, overstaying her tourist visa. There is no stamp and she's didnt get an i-94 either. We since filed joint taxes and she has her ITIN no as well.
My plan was to legalize her when i become a USC. Spoke to an attorney in 2007 and he assured everything should be fine. However, the N-400 application seeks to know the current immigration status of wife with two options to choose from - either
a) LPR
b) Other.
Now here in my dilemma :
If I choose Other and put "visitor" in that space, I might be asked details of her stay in the US and "truthfully" i need to say that she overstayed her visa and that I housed her illegally, violating the "good moral character" requirement for USC. Also, this is punishable (by 250,000 or 5 years jail or both ) by law to willingly aid an illegal.
If i lie during interview stating that she goes back and forth between US and Canada, I will be able to become USC by lieing, but subsequently run the risk of being questioned when I file for I-485 for my canadian spouse. Its like a catch 22.
Please give me your insight or if anyone you know had a similar case.
Thanks a bunch to everyone
Shon