I plan on getting married soon to a US citizen. I am currently living illegaly because I overstayed my visa. I have been living illegaly for 15 years now. I have a social security number, and an ID. I am strictly marrying her for love and not to go around immigration laws. I have commited a crime of a misdimeanor Theft A $500-$1500 and have been arrested for it and finger printed. The jail found out I was illegal and spoke my way out of it being a convincing man that I am. Well, I was placed on deffered adjudification which is a probation that allows you to dismiss the first crime commited if successfully completed. I successfully completed it and paid all my fines and the case was dismissed.

My question is, can an illegal alien who entered legally, overstayed his visa, and has commited a crime that has been dismissed marry an american citizen and get his green card without any problems arising?

Thanks, Joseph

-- Joe Joe (traffictwist@aol.com), March 04, 2005

Answers

You ought to be able to get a green card, but it may be challenging.

The easy part: you need a real marriage and proof that you were inspected by the INS when you entered (i.e. a passport stamp or your I-94 card).

Depending on your state's deferred adjudication laws, your deferred adjudication may be considered a conviction for immigration purposes. In that case, you would need a waiver (immigration pardon) based on showing extreme hardship to your wife if you were to be deported. There is quite a bit of difference in how the USCIS (former INS) decides these cases from city to city. So you need to hire a competent immigration attorney in your area who deals with these kinds of cases and knows how the local office is.

If you are in Connecticut, feel free to call us. We may be able to recommend someone if you live in another states.

-- Law Offices of Michael Boyle (info@immigrantcenter.com), March 05, 2005.