Overview of Marriage based Adjustment of Status

Marriage based Adjustment of Status is an immigration process that leads to permanent residence status (green card) through marriage to a US Citizen and in some cases through marriage to a US Lawful Permanent Resident in some cases. It is an immigration petition that adjusts an individual’s non-immigration status to Immigrant Status (Green Card) and only available if you are present in the United States.

Who is eligible to adjust status based on marriage?

Foreign national who are married to a U.S citizen (in some cases a lawful permanent resident); and
physically present in the United States; and
were inspected and admitted or inspected and paroled into the United States; and
have a pending or approved immigrant visa such as an I-130 petitioned by your spouse;
are admissible to the U.S or inadmissible but eligible for an inadmissibility waiver or other forms of reliefs such as a U visa or VAWA.

Potential adjustment of status issues for Married Couples

There are many potential issues affecting eligibility to adjust status including:

Preconceived Intent Issues;
Medical Issues
Criminal & Conviction Issues
Inspection Issues
Moral Turpitude Issues
Overstay and Unlawful Presence
Fraud Issues

Common scenario: Visa Overstay

A common problem associates with marriage based adjustment of status application is that a person previously admitted into the U.S. on a valid visa or a visa waiver program and overstays their authorized date of visit or the I-94 expiry date. Generally speaking, Immigration and Nationality Act provides that persons staying longer than 180 days past their authorized date are subject to a 3 year bar or, if in excess of 1 year are subject to a 10 year bar upon departing the United States. The so-called 3 or 10 year bar means that once the person accrues more than 6 months or 1 year of unlawful presence respectively and subsequently leaves the United States, he or she is not allowed to enter the United States until the 3 or 10 year bar ends. However, having an Immediate Relative sponsor such as a U.S. citizen spouse or a qualified U.S. citizen child, such violation can be forgiven if there is no departure following the accrual of unlawful presence, unless there are other inadmissibility issues involve.

What are the benefit of adjusting your status within the U.S?

You do not have to depart the U.S. while waiting for your immigrant visa.
Processing time is often faster than going through the consular processing with the overseas consulate.
You are eligible to apply for a work authorization card while your adjustment of status petition is pending, allowing you to work within the U.S. legally.

Why hire us?

To obtain a permanent residence status (green card) through the adjustment of status process can be a complicated process, especially if there are detrimental personal or immigration history. If you are seeking for an experienced Chicago based immigration lawyer to guide and represent you and your spouse, please contact us today to get your marriage green card process started.