zay

A friend of mine's wife is from England, he's a USC. She came over on a 3 month trip on the VWP but they decided to get married. So she's been in America since June of last year, but they never filed for adjustment of status. He's in the military and now has orders to go to Europe. What will happen if she leaves with out filing for AOS. Will she be banned for 10 years when trying to come back, or will that be waived cos they're moving on orders. Will they be able to file for AOS from Europe? I was trying to help him, but this is way over my head!

Hypertweeky

Why didn't she file AOS?.
If she leaves she will be subject to the 10 year ban regardless of her husband's orders.
If she leaves, she will have to file a waiver and take the K3 or DCF.
I don't know how immigration works in the UK, but if he is married to a UK citizen and his destination is the UK (I don't know where in Europe he is going to reside) he might be able to take residency there and DCF to come back to the US.

zay

They're moving to Germany. I thought about DCF but can you do that if its a different country from where your spouse is a citizen, ie the UK? Oh and I don't know why they never filed for AOS, I asked him and he said they never got round to it!

Bob

Would suggest speaking to a solicitor about it....though the jag might be able to help? just a thought

Hypertweeky

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=248960
Tell your friends to read on
What a good friend you are!
Take care!

alex_lg

AOS stands for Adjustment of Status.
What's there to adjust if she leaves the U.S.? If the consulate in Germany would take their case, then they can do a DCF. If they won't, they can do a CP. The requirement for DCF varies from consulate to consulate so don't apply one rule across the board. I've never heard of a military personel special for the 3/10 year bar, but perhaps an attorney knows, which I think your friend's wife really should go see one. As far as I know, even if they apply for AOS and advanced patrol before they leave, she will still trigger the 10 year bar. My understanding is AP doesn't bail you out of the bar and if she wants to do it cheap and safe, she should do AOS here and wait here till her Green Card is approved. Look at the bright side - he can get separation pay for not brining her. If they can't separate for a while and she must leave now, she can always apply for hardship waiver as a USC's spouse. However, if he's being sent to Germany, I assume he's not senile. If she is here illegally, I assume she's not the bread earner. So I don't see where the hardship is right away. CIS doesn't consider "we miss each other" hardship or they will have to approve everybody.

Perhaps they don't like some info I provide here, but I'm just trying to share what I know and hoping it has some use for them.

Alex

meauxna

It is possible to DCF in a third country where neither party is a citizen.
My case: me = USC, spouse = UKC resident in Greece, DCF = filed in Athens

zay

I will pass this on to him, he seemed to think everything would be ok, cos they're being sent over there by the military, but that doesn't change the fact they've had over a year to do AOS and haven't! I told him to seek the advice of a lawyer, I guess the rest is up to him now! Thank you for your advice!

zay

Thank you, I will pass it on.

Rete

He's being sent; not her. She's tagging along. They completely disregarded the immigration laws of the country he is sworn to protect. Some protection.

BTW I thought I read recently that the US is pulling its bases from Germany.

Rete

Just Jenney

My thoughts exactly. No offense to the OP, but his friend seems to think that since he's in the military, all will be forgiven, and that's pretty stupid.

~ Jenney

Manc

ooops

zay

Yeah I heard the same thing about the bases in Germany, but thats where he's going! He never said, but I have a feeling they probably requested the move, thinking it would be easier for her to be nearer England. But if they don't get this immigration stuff worked out, thats where she's gonna be staying for a long time I guess!

hopelessinks

Tell your friend to get in touch with his local JAG office, they have immigration departments that will be able to help (they are free), they might be able to request that the local office speed up this AOS interview as the USC spouse will be out of the country soon...the only reason I know this is that I am in a similar situation myself...but we cannot use JAG right now, as my husband is in the reserves and cannot use JAG until he is 'active' by then it will be too late and he will be deployed so we are having to try and get the money together (real quick!) for a private lawyer!! (not an easy task on one pay!)

Just tell him to get all t paperwork togther NOW and get it all filed, once it is filed his wife may have to stay here until it is approved but she will be 'legal' and pending adjustment so she can work d occupy herself while she waits...and as someone else already stated, there is the bonus of the seperation pay while they do it all properly!!

Good luck!

Just Jenney

I wasn't aware that anyone could "speed up" the adjustment process -- not lawyers, not political representatives. It just takes as long as it takes, and military spouse applicants are no exception. Am I missing something here?

Just wanted to point out to the OP that simply filing the AOS application does not give the wife permission to work. She has to apply for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD), and that could take several weeks to several months. (For instance, it took 4 months to get Mark's EAD approval.)

~ Jenney