Unlawful Presence

[homerjay1011]

Hi everyone,

 

So we sent in our I-485 monday last week, and I called to try and check the status and I come to find out that the application was rejected, because we forgot to have her sign it. We had printed out so many iterations of it and signed them that I guess when we we're on the final one we were so exhausted from all the forms that we missed it. I feel like an idiot.

 

Anyway, she came her on a K-1 and her 90 days are up on 9/10. We can't just put everything together tomorrow because we sent in her white book for her birth certificate. We could technically send in a copy of her original chinese birth certificate, but they are like scraps of paper practically. I don't think that they would be accepted. Plus they're obviously not in English.

 

Has anyone dealt with an issue like this before? Are we totally screwed?

 

Thanks!

[Randy W]

Hi everyone,

 

So we sent in our I-485 monday last week, and I called to try and check the status and I come to find out that the application was rejected, because we forgot to have her sign it. We had printed out so many iterations of it and signed them that I guess when we we're on the final one we were so exhausted from all the forms that we missed it. I feel like an idiot.

 

Anyway, she came her on a K-1 and her 90 days are up on 9/10. We can't just put everything together tomorrow because we sent in her white book for her birth certificate. We could technically send in a copy of her original chinese birth certificate, but they are like scraps of paper practically. I don't think that they would be accepted. Plus they're obviously not in English.

 

Has anyone dealt with an issue like this before? Are we totally screwed?

 

Thanks!

 

 

Going by your description, what you have IS a scrap of paper, or hospital receipt. Chinese birth certificates are official documents (issued only after 1996) that look like this

 

 

It's surprising that you wouldn't have copied the notarial certificate of birth, or that they wouldn't have returned it to you.

 

Get another one.

 

The 90 days is a deadline for getting married. You should get your I-485 in as soon as you REASONABLY can, within a maximum of, say, 6 months.

[homerjay1011]

Our whole application should be coming back to us within the next 30 days according to USCIS. So we will get her gong zheng certified translation here soon.

 

I guess I was just worried about the 90 days thing. I thought we had to have married and filed within 90 days otherwise she is unlawfully present. But, if we have another 90 days to work with them I’m not worried at all.

 

Thanks for the help!!

[Randy W]

Yes - WAITING for the package return from USCIS is DEFINITELY a good idea!

[newacct]

Hi everyone,

 

So we sent in our I-485 monday last week, and I called to try and check the status and I come to find out that the application was rejected, because we forgot to have her sign it. We had printed out so many iterations of it and signed them that I guess when we we're on the final one we were so exhausted from all the forms that we missed it. I feel like an idiot.

 

Anyway, she came her on a K-1 and her 90 days are up on 9/10. We can't just put everything together tomorrow because we sent in her white book for her birth certificate. We could technically send in a copy of her original chinese birth certificate, but they are like scraps of paper practically. I don't think that they would be accepted. Plus they're obviously not in English.

 

Has anyone dealt with an issue like this before? Are we totally screwed?

 

Thanks!

She is in the Immediate Relative category (spouse, parent, or unmarried under-21 child of a US citizen), and whether she is in status or out of status is irrelevant for Adjustment of Status in this category. She could have overstayed for years before filing I-485 and it wouldn't matter a bit for the I-485. Of course, the sooner she files the better, because in the period of time after her I-94 expires and before she files I-485, she is deportable, but the point is, filing after her I-94 expires is not an issue.

[Randy W]

 

Hi everyone,

 

So we sent in our I-485 monday last week, and I called to try and check the status and I come to find out that the application was rejected, because we forgot to have her sign it. We had printed out so many iterations of it and signed them that I guess when we we're on the final one we were so exhausted from all the forms that we missed it. I feel like an idiot.

 

Anyway, she came her on a K-1 and her 90 days are up on 9/10. We can't just put everything together tomorrow because we sent in her white book for her birth certificate. We could technically send in a copy of her original chinese birth certificate, but they are like scraps of paper practically. I don't think that they would be accepted. Plus they're obviously not in English.

 

Has anyone dealt with an issue like this before? Are we totally screwed?

 

Thanks!

She is in the Immediate Relative category (spouse, parent, or unmarried under-21 child of a US citizen), and whether she is in status or out of status is irrelevant for Adjustment of Status in this category. She could have overstayed for years before filing I-485 and it wouldn't matter a bit for the I-485. Of course, the sooner she files the better, because in the period of time after her I-94 expires and before she files I-485, she is deportable, but the point is, filing after her I-94 expires is not an issue.

 

 

 

This is VERY bad advice. Adjustment of status can be denied for failure to prove a bonafide marriage. One way to raise questions there is to delay filing the I-485 for "years".

 

File your I-485 in a reasonable time frame.

[homerjay1011]

I will absolutely file it as soon as possible.

 

But since you brought it up, her I-94 does expire in a few days. We’ve been married for almost 2 months now, but because the I-94 will expire, does that mean she will start accruing days of unlawful presence? If so we will need to mark the appropriate boxes on her I-485.

[Randy W]

I will absolutely file it as soon as possible.

 

But since you brought it up, her I-94 does expire in a few days. We’ve been married for almost 2 months now, but because the I-94 will expire, does that mean she will start accruing days of unlawful presence? If so we will need to mark the appropriate boxes on her I-485.

 

She IS (and will continue) lawfully present under her K-1 visa. The conditions under "NOTE:" do not apply.

 

No - the questions asks "for more than 180 days".

[homerjay1011]

Thank you for clarifying Randy!

 

Can you send me a link on USCIS’s website that says after marrying she has lawful status here? I can’t seem to find anything that says that. I just find things that says if she marries within the 90 days she can apply to adjust status

[Randy W]

Thank you for clarifying Randy!

 

Can you send me a link on USCIS’s website that says after marrying she has lawful status here? I can’t seem to find anything that says that. I just find things that says if she marries within the 90 days she can apply to adjust status

 

 

Nope, and yep. She will not have documentation proving legal status until she gets her EAD card (you probably want to apply for that whether she will work or not).

 

The only requirement is that she get married (to YOU, as the petitioner) within 90 days, and THEN file for AOS - which implies at least 91 days.

 

No unlawful presence will be accrued. Simply march steadily toward the green card.

[homerjay1011]

Awesome! Thanks so much as always Randy!