Hello,

Can anyone offer me any advice please?

My fiance is currently an inmate in Virignia, for gun and drug charges. ( I know how that sounds, but he had a license for the guns, he just couldnt tie that in with the drugs, which his friend was selling.) Please dont judge!

He has 14 months left to serve, and with his release date soon approaching we are begining to plan our wedding in October. Which will take place in the facility he is currently at. And then we plan to renew our vows once he is home.

Heres the hard part. I live in London, UK. And our plan is to live in USA.
I know i will require a visa in order to stay in America, but i have no idea on the process for obtaining this visa.
I understand he wont be able to sponsor me to stay in USA just yet, given the situation we are in.

After the wedding in October will i have to return home to engand? (This isnt a problem, however we are sick of being away from each other now, a few more months wont hurt, it would just make life a lot easier if i could stay.)

Can anyone shed some light on the best visa obtaining route? Or provide any information?

Thank you in advance!

You want to research the "Immigrant Visa" process, sometimes referred to as "CR-1" (that's the class of immigrant visa for marriages under 2 years old). Start here: http://britishexpats.com/wiki/CR-1

You don't have to go to England, but you must leave the USA before your 90 days is up on the VWP visit.

There are two routes...the K-1 fiance visa, and the CR-1 Immigrant Visa for spouse. If you want to be married first, you will need an Immigrant Visa. If you want to come to the USA as a fiance and then stay in the USA after marriage, you need the K-1 fiance visa. Comparison chart here: http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Compar...ge-based_visas

I highly recommend a consultation with an immigration attorney, to see how his jail time and convictions might affect any petition he will be filing (I-129F for K-1 visa, or I-130 for immigrant visa).

Rene

Sarah, his criminal record will not result in an absolute denial unless he was ever convicted for a sex crime against children, or unless an immigration official thinks his record and your circumstances make it probable that he is a risk to you, or that your application is fraudulent. The gun and drug charges, all by themselves, are not cause for a ban.

However, when he gets out of prison, he will need to show that he can financially support you, or that he can find someone else who can, in case you need public assistance for the first several years you are in the US. I know this is difficult for someone recently released from prison. Technically he could sponsor you right now, even from a prison cell, provided he can prove a legitimate relationship and supply the necessary bona fides and financial promises. In practice I think this is going to be ridiculously difficult to do before his release, although it might get a bit easier after you are actually married.

Rene is right about needing to leave the US by the expiration date of your VWP visit. Also, don't listen to people who say that you can turn around and come right back. They stopped allowing that years ago. The rule of thumb is that you must show more time outside the US than in. Currently my husband and I are facing at least three months of separation after he goes home next week, because he will have been in the country 85 days on this visit. Yeah, it's tough.

The marriage route is the best and fastest route right now, and fortunately it really is a viable one for you. Stay on this forum and read back postings, and also look into consulting a sympathetic immigration attorney to make sure you are not making mistakes in this sensitive situation.

Hi Speedwell,

I noticed a couple of posts where you refer to a "visa period" when talking about the VWP. Just for clarity, there is no visa. VWP means Visa Waiver Program, which means there is no visa involved, therefore no "visa period". I know what you mean, but I didn't want newbies to get confused. It's best if you refer to it as VWP rather than visa.

Rene

Understood, and of course you're absolutely right. I'll make sure I refer to the "validity date" for which they are approved instead from now on. I'd refer to the "entry stamp" but I think many people are still getting paper forms in their passport.

So if i was to get married in October whilst he is still in prison, and then i return home to England could we start a status adjustment whilst he is in prison? Or would he have to be home in order to start that process?

Can i work on a status adjustment?
(what is it adjusted to?)

My plan is to liquidate my assetts, leave my country and come to America with £20,000 2 weeks before he is home, and stay and live. ( get a home in america) There is no possible way i can return to England, as everything will be in America, Is there anyway i can avoid being forced to go back to England or do i say to hell with the system and stay illegally until the status adjustment is complete?

sorry i ment 20,000 dollas not pounds

Once the petition is filed, it takes about 8-10 months before you will get the visa and can enter the US on the immigrant visa (CR-1 visa in your case since you will already be married).

The petitioner will either have to show that he can support you (income of 125% of the poverty level or $18,912 per annum for a family of two and more if you have children), have a joint sponsor that can show support at 125% of the poverty level for the immigrant as well as family members ($23,862 for 3 people or more if more than 3 total), or can be self sponsored (3x the 125% poverty level or $56,736 in liquid assets belonging to you or your husband). Proof of any of the above will be required during the visa interview.

Any job you have in the UK will not count towards the income requirement unless the the income continues from the same source while in the US. Also any promise of a job in the US for you will not count count towards the income requirement.

http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-864p.pdf

It wouldn't be a status adjustment. It would be him filing an I-130 petition to get the ball rolling on your immigrant visa. But yes, he can file the I-130 while you are still in the USA.

There is no adjustment of status. You cannot work in the USA as a visitor. You cannot work in the USA until you enter the USA using your immigrant visa.

You cannot do this, unless you first do a K-1 fiance visa. Only with the K-1 fiance visa can you enter the USA and then remain to adjust status (legally, in your case)

It is illegal to misrepresent yourself as a tourist if your real intent is to remain in the USA and adjust status; don't do that.

Don't stay illegally. Don't enter as a tourist with the intent to remain in the USA. If you don't want to leave the USA after marriage, do a K-1 fiance visa instead of the immigrant visa!

About 8 months before you want to move to the USA, have him file an I-129F, showing proof that you have met in person at least once within the past two years. In about 6 to 8 months you'll get your K-1 visa. You can then enter the USA using the K-1 visa, marry within 90 days of entry, and then apply to adjust status without having to go back home. THIS is the method you want, if you don't want to leave the USA after marrage.

Rene

Since he is in jail, he wont have a passport photo or passport, however he does have a birth certificate and social security number, will this be okay to send with the CR-1?

Will i still need a sponsor if i get approved for the CR-1, with him in prison, this is impossible to have a Sponsor?

Will i still need a sponsor? Bearing in mind he is in prison?

OP, you don't say if you've actually met your fiancée in person yet, which in this digital age isn't beyond the realms of possibility. If that's the case then maybe visiting the US first is your best option before thinking of liquidating your assets and attempting to live here illegally (which no one sensible here would advise or endorse)
The circumstances you've described so far probably calls for a consultation with an experienced immigration lawyer which will cost a few bucks but maybe money well spent in the long run.
I'm certainly not judging you or your situation but your posts smack of desperation a little...and people in desperate situations don't usually make good decisions!

He will have to find a friend or relative that is willing to sponsor you or wait until he gets out of prison and finds a job that pays enough to sponsor you. The immigrant process may possibly be able to be started while he is in prison but not sure but I suspect it will be unlikely that the immigrant visa will be approved while he is still in prison.

Yes we have met, before he was sent to prison, and i have been to Virginia 5 times since he was put in prison.

This is a long term relationship, he was in the army prior to prison, and was in the UK for months before prison.

He does not need a SSN. Birth certificate is fine. He does not need a passport. But I think he will need to send in passport photos of himself (that goes for the I-129F petition as well).

You can ONLY get approved for the CR-1 if you have a financial sponsor. He does not have to be the sponsor, he can use a joint sponsor. Look at Form I-864 and I-864P at www.uscis.gov.

Rene