fiorella

Hello everybody!! I really need help with this big issue for me. This coming december i am traveling to USA to work with a J1 visa for 1 year as an intern.
I participated in the J1 work and travel USA program 3 times in 3 different years, so this would be my 4th time that i travel there but this time with a different purpose (my internship)
The problem comes now because the first time that i traveled i met my boyfriend, he is an american citizen and last year he got arrested for driving under influence for a second time but in this time he got his license taken away for one year and he had to go to jail for 5 days. He came to peru after that and he didn´t work for almost one year while he was here with me.
This year he came to my country again making his third trip here in 3. After he left just in this last august he start feeling bad and one year and half later he had a car accident for the same reason: driving under influence, so he might have to go to jail for a longer time. I know what he is doing is not good but when i am with him he is a different person and i love him so much, i don´t really care, i just want him to do better with my help.
He is very sorry and we plan that when i travel to usa he is going to meet me and we are going to live together and start a new life, he would be working hard with two jobs and follow an alcoholic treatment and after 5 months we plan to get married and then ask for my residence.
My question is if after i marry him would i be able to get my american residence??? Or maybe it gets more difficult because he was on jail 3 times for the same reason, Does jail make things really bad???

I would really appreciate an anwser.

Rete

Leaving the issue of your substance abuser boyfriend alone and the fact that he can find money to travel to a foreign country while not working to make money and can maintain a life in a foreign country for a year without an income, his problems will not interfer with your adjustment of status.

However, the issue that you have a boyfriend and are planning on using another type of visa to intentionally enter the US for the sake of marriage is the issue that might well deny your adjustment.

When you completed the paperwork for your J visa did you put down that you have a USC fiancee? How will you explain this at the adjustment interview when you are asked when you met and how long you have known each other? How you will your then husband answer when he is asked about his many visits to Peru and the last one where he lived there, apparently, with you for a year?

Think long and hard about this and for your own sake when you arrive here, speak for an immigration attorney before you do something that might jeopardize your future life in the US.

nettlebed

If you want to marry him and take up residence in the US the correct way to do that is via a K-1 (fiancee) visa. This link:

http://www.visajourney.com/faq/k1faq.htm

gives all the detail you will need. Note that 5 months is not acceptable. You must marry within 90 days of your entry to the US.

I'm sure if he is in jail that will complicate things regarding getting married, but it should not affect his ability to get you a K-1 visa.

If you travel to the US intending to immigrate on a non-immigrant visa (your J-1) and USCIS finds out you will be in deep shit. Don't do it. The K-1 is the best way for you.

Noorah101

Also, don't some J-1's have some stipulation that you must return to your home country for 2 years after completion of the J-1? That also might be a factor in her decision.

With his instable work record, he also might not meet the sponsor financial requirements.

Fiorella, you have some deep thinking to do. My advice is to consult with an immigration attorney, and don't jump into this marriage too fast.

Best Wishes,
Rene

ian-mstm

You should care! The next time he drives after drinking you might well become his next victim. He is an alcoholic with repeated DUI's... personally, I would fear for my life.


You will not be able to help him *unless* he wants help. I speak from personal experience with this. Alcoholism is not some sort of character flaw. It is an addiction and a disease and the only way to stop is absolute abstention.


All abusers are sorry after the fact. I really don't think that immigration should be your priority with this relationship... but go ahead and do what you want. I hope it works out for you.

Ian

Seanus

That would be correct Reneeee. Some people are and then some aren't subject to it but If she is bound by the 2-yr home residency requirement she would either have to return to Peru i think it is for 2 yrs or get a waiver of that rule.

As some of you may know already, I came over on a J1 and had already previously met my then 'girlfriend' (as far as internet relationships go...) prior to coming here, but being in the US gave our relationship chance to grow and with the natural progression of love and a committed relationship we got engaged and will marry before my status expires, and from that I'll be adjusting status. But in no way did I come here with 'immigrant intent', unlike the OP who is suggesting that is what she wants to do. In my opinion she is seeing the opportunity of coming over on a J1 (or any other work related visa) as the chance to take a shortcut and not have to go the K-1 route.

~S~

nettlebed

Well, not ALL work-related visas: people on an H-1B enjoy dual intent, and immigrating from an H-1B is not a problem, though by no means could it really be considered a short cut. In fact, in would generally end up taking much longer than the K-1. However, it is clearly an abuse of the J-1 to which the OP refers if she is coming here with intent to marry and then apply for AOS, and she's risking her status by doing this.

As Ian points out, though, it is not necessarily a greater risk than hooking up with an alcoholic who likes to get behind the wheel when he's put more than a bit of the old sauce past the gills...

Seanus

Be it as it may, the point I was trying to make is that the route she is wanting to take with that class visa, appears to be with immigrant intent.

nettlebed

Agreed, and I was just editing my post to reflect this when you replied...

Seanus

Its all good

meauxna

A little reminder for BE posters:
Even if you edit your post on the web-forum, if the post has already been transmitted to Usenet, your original post will stand Out There.

If you're curious about the result, you can check your posts at google/groups (alt.visa.us.marriage-based) or through your favorite newsreader.

That is all

scrubbedexpat099

Do they ask if you have a boyfriend/fiancee when applying for a J Visa?

andrea874

Its not on the paperwork, but they certainly can ask you at the POE...

Seanus

I wasn't asked anything, on the paperwork or at POE. But as far as having a girlfriend in the US already goes prior to me coming here, it was an internet relationship that needed time to grow and develop into what we have now.

andrea874

When I came to the US on a J1 they asked me at the border if I had a boyfriend... at that time I did not so I was good to go