Jade_3_x

Hi, I’m hoping someone can help me. I’m looking to marry my partner who was given an unjust sentence at the young age of 22. He was served 60-life. Does anyone know if I’m able to marry him and if I can will I be aloud to live in USA? I heard someone would have to sponsor me? Can some explain what the process is please what I need to do to make it possible?

christmasoompa

Correct, but not just 'someone' - a close family member (including a fiancé) or employer. Nobody else can.

I don't believe incarceration is necessarily a bar to him sponsoring you, but a quick Google tells me that there are certain convictions that would mean he couldn't. So it will depend on exactly what offence he was convicted of.

The two other things that may be an issue for you being issued a visa are him earning enough sponsor you (I assume not, so you'll need a co-sponsor) and proving you have a bonafide relationship which may be tricky. But those in the know will be along to give you details and let you know if your plan is feasible or not.

I think you've got a long tough road ahead of you if you do want to marry him and live in the US. I wish you luck with it.

Jade_3_x

Thank you so much for your response 🙏🏻

Noorah101

I think your best bet would be to have a consultation with an immigration attorney. They can tell you your chances based on his conviction, etc. We laymen wouldn't be able to help with that. I would say it's a unique case and you need a professional to guide you.

Rene

Jade_3_x

Thanks so much for directing me on what you think I’ll need

Nutmegger

Further to Noorah101's post, look for an attorney who is a member of AILA -- not any kind of "consultant." You don't have to be in the same country as the lawyer, and you may be able to find a good rate for an initial consultation to help you understand the situation.

https://www.ailalawyer.com/

newacct

To clarify things, is your fiancé a US citizen? When you say "sponsor", what that word means is ambiguous. To immigrate, you need a US relative or US employer to "petition" you. To immigrate in family-based categories, you also need an Affidavit of Support; the petitioner has to file an Affidavit of Support, but if the petitioner's household income is insufficient, you can have a "joint sponsor" file a second Affidavit of Support; the joint sponsor does not have to be related to you guys.

Rete

One of the conditions of the Fiancee Visa is that you two must have met in person with the 2 years prior to the filing of the I-129F which is the first step in the process to get the visa. Have you visited your bf while he has been incarcerated or is your only contact through telecommunications, i.e. computer and phone?

Also being remanded to prison for 60 years to life tells me the crime is one that is horrendous and may not let him see the outside of prison in his lifetime. I would suggest you speak not only with an immigration attorney but with his attorney and not just rely on his telling of the crime and his take on why the sentence is unjust.

newacct

Also since you are not really going to live with him since he's going to be in prison for such a long time, there will probably be suspicions that this marriage might just be to allow you to evade the immigration laws.

Jade_3_x

Rete Please don’t presume the worse you don’t know anything about his case. People are very judgemental and we’re taking about USA here.

I have only had telephone and video calls.

He isn’t just anyone I’ve know him my whole life I reconnected with him.

Pulaski

So did you live in the US previously, or did he previously live outside the US?

If you don't want us to just assume the worst, and if you believe that he was "unjustly" convicted and are will to speak up for him, perhaps you could/ should share his case here? Otherwise, despite occasional miscarriages of justice, if someone was sentenced to "60 to life", they were almost certainly convicted of committing multiple extremely serious crimes - a plain vanilla first degree homicide conviction commonly results in a sentence of (only) "25 to life".

So beating a sentence such as 60 to life becomes a matter of trying to challenge multiple crimes as even if an appeal is successful against one crime there are multiple layers of crimes such as: first degree homicide, conspiracy to commit homicide, attempted homicide, assault with a deadly weapon, interfering with an investigation/ concealing evidence, and abuse of a corpse/ preventing a burial of a corpse, as well as other connected crimes - robbery, arson, fleeing to evade arrest, etc. In this scenario it would be possible to be cleared of a homicide conviction and still face decades of incarceration for armed robbery and assault.

Noorah101

So, you will need to overcome this hurdle in order to start the fiance visa process. The requirement is that you must have met in person before the I-129F can be filled.

​​​​​​​Rene​​​​​​​

Nutmegger

Let's clarify -- you've known him all your life, but have never met him in person? Or you just haven't met in person during the past two years? I'm afraid details are important.

Jade_3_x

Yeah just haven’t met in the past 2 years but will be

civilservant

Presumably because he's in the slammer.

One has to wonder how he intends to provide the required affidavit of support. Would someone else be prepared to commit to supporting you while Mr and Ms John Q taxpayer pay for his extended stay in the Pokie?