mag101

Hi everyone,
I am new to this forum and any advice would be greatly appreciated. My parents filed an immigration petition for me as an 'unmarried child over 21 of a legal permanent resident' in feb 2001. They became American citizens in 2007 and my preference category moved from 2b to first preference, and this basically sped up my application. I am currently at the stage of the application process where I have to complete form DS 230, get police records etc......Now here's the snag, in November 2004 I got married (in nigeria),and now have two children. Do I disclose my marriage on the DS 230 ( All my legal documents i.e passport and correspondence are still in my maiden name), or do I disclose my children but not my husband as this could invalidate my application. I am worried that my application would be invalidated if I declare my marriage because I got married whilst my parents were still only legal permanent residents and there is no category for a 'married child of a legal permanent resident'. PLEASE HELP!!!!I HAVE WAITED OVER 7 YEARS FOR THIS AND I DON'T WANT TO LOOSE OUT.

Noorah101

Yes!

You must disclose your marriage. It might change your category preference, but you must do it.

Your category will change to Married Child of US Citizen, yes. I don't know what the backlog of that category is, but whatever it is, you can't help the truth. You must be honest when dealing with immigration. If your marriage makes you wait longer, then so be it.

Rene

meauxna

You're married whether you declare it or not.

You can lie your way through the various visa stages; it always catches up to you.
If I were me, I wouldn't waste the application payment at this point. You & your parents can get a legal consultation in private to go over your options, but Lagos is sort of known as a high fraud post and home investigations aren't uncommon. Will all your neighbors lie for you too?
There is a difference between a long wait and never.

Noorah101

Your category has changed now to Family Based "Married Sons and Daughters of US Citizens", (Third Preference).

They are processing petitions from June 2000.

http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bu...etin_4310.html

Rene

mag101

Thanks for your reply Rene, if my category changes to 'married child of a US citizen' would I keep my previous priority date of february 2001 or would I loose this date because the I got married whilst my mother (the petitioner) was still a green card holder. I suspect the latter is probably the case because the new petition would commence from the date of marriage (November 2004). I really would rather be honest.........How can they expect someone's circumstances to stay exactly the same after 7 years especially marital status! Maybe they don't want to know that I am married but expect me to be.

Noorah101

I'm sorry, I don't know the answer to your question about when you start counting for your priority date again. I'm sure they don't expect anyone's circumstances to remain the same...it's good that they have another category for you at all, so you don't miss out on the visa altogether. Think of it in a positive way...you still have a path open to you to the USA.

Rene

ian-mstm

You ask that as though you think it matters to them! They did not do anything to alter your circumstances... you did that yourself... and now you must live with the decisions you made.

Ian

Ray

So do you want to leave the husband and kids behind ....

MsElui

if you lie and get in - presumably at some point would want to bring across your husband and kids. Will you have false documents to prove that you married AFTER your GC was granted? Otherwise they may revoke the green card if its apparent you lied on the orginal application?