Shared immigration status

[Anonymous]

"OP can I ask why you're not a citizen if you've been married for 12 years? I'm just curious because it seems like it puts you into a situation with this administration"

It is an urban myth that any foreigner here without proper documentation can marry a USA citizen and easily get citizenship. It doesn't work that way. A requirement is that the non-USA citizen entered the USA legally. You're SOL if you are here without a proper visa or if it expired. https://www.boundless.com/immigration-resources/marriage-based-green-cards-explained

And even if they did enter the USA legally, if they are from a country with a big backlog of people trying to come to the USA to join family, they'll wait for a LONG time.

"Over 1.17 million approved I-130 petitions were waiting for visa availability as of mid-2025
Countries with particularly high backlogs include Mexico, India, China, and the Philippines"

[Anonymous]

I've been living in the US for 20 years on various work visas and I'm waiting for a green card. We did not intend on getting US citizenship at first - we were just working here. But with US-born kids who feel American, first and foremost, and who wish to attend college here, we've come to realize that it's way less of a hassle to ask for a green card and later get citizenship, than it is to renew visas every few years. We've always paid taxes here so the only thing that would change is not having endless visa paperwork to do.

We're in a circle where a lot of wealthy, educated foreigners are making the same calculus - based on the cultural identity of their children, and what their children want.

This is how you live in a country legally for years without getting citizenship.

[Anonymous]

Did you not tell your DH and ILs that you were here on a U-visa? For the rest, look up U-visa. U-visa is very specific and very difficult to get. OPs circumstances don't apply to the 99% of immigrants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did you not tell your DH and ILs that you were here on a U-visa? For the rest, look up U-visa. U-visa is very specific and very difficult to get. OPs circumstances don't apply to the 99% of immigrants.

Yes I told my DH. I didn't tell my in laws. It never came up and we were not close. And yes U-visa is very specific. Maybe I should have told them? But I was young and thought what if they protest and it puts DH in a weird spot? I don't know. I really don't.

[Anonymous]

Did I miss this -- do you have kids? The inlaws, if they are Grandparents, probably now have an intense fear that, if the marriage goes wrong, their DIL will/might move back to your country and take the kids.

Even if not logical, Grandparents might be very afraid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did I miss this -- do you have kids? The inlaws, if they are Grandparents, probably now have an intense fear that, if the marriage goes wrong, their DIL will/might move back to your country and take the kids.

Even if not logical, Grandparents might be very afraid.

DH and I have a daughter. We've been married now for a decade and my status isn't tied to the marriage. Maybe but wouldn't they want to talk about that instead of just not calling their grandchildren (my daughter and her cousin)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP get a good immigration lawyer on retainer. Get yourself converted. Always carry at least a copy of your green card, even to the store--ask your attorney.

They have been detaining US born citizens who LOOK LIKE FOREIGNERS just in case. Sometimes their family doesn't even know where they were taken.

This is just so sad to me. And yes I will and I'm renewing my card this year and I'll file for an adjustment soon. I guess it's good I don't look like a foreigner just basic white girl with a slight texas accent

When you renew your card can't they deport you? Have you ever gotten a speeding ticket? If you are married to a citizen, why would't you become a citizen already? It's the only want to stay safe now.

I see posts on X about them dragging off citizen's spouses going for their naturalization.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP get a good immigration lawyer on retainer. Get yourself converted. Always carry at least a copy of your green card, even to the store--ask your attorney.

They have been detaining US born citizens who LOOK LIKE FOREIGNERS just in case. Sometimes their family doesn't even know where they were taken.

This is just so sad to me. And yes I will and I'm renewing my card this year and I'll file for an adjustment soon. I guess it's good I don't look like a foreigner just basic white girl with a slight texas accent

When you renew your card can't they deport you? Have you ever gotten a speeding ticket? If you are married to a citizen, why would't you become a citizen already? It's the only want to stay safe now.

I see posts on X about them dragging off citizen's spouses going for their naturalization.

U-visa recipients are protected from deportation. This is a very specific visa and its extremely hard to get approved. It comes with a good sense of protection and pathway to citizenship.

[Anonymous]

OP, you are an oddity to them. They just happen to be acting odd too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So that means you are a legal immigrant with a green card. Unless they also want green card holders kicked out?

Of course they do they are MAGA stupid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, you are an oddity to them. They just happen to be acting odd too.

No they are racist anti american shits fixed it for you.

OP you are better off without that crap in your life

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would recommend anyone with a green card to pursue citizenship; a green card isn't a permanent place to stay; it is a pathway to citizenship.

Not any more

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Were you a legal immigrant as a baby?

I'm not MAGA but my MAGA relatives are the most supportive of legal immigration.

BS no they are not!

They are racist and have zero understanding of immigration period.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, you are an oddity to them. They just happen to be acting odd too.

No they are racist anti american shits fixed it for you.

OP you are better off without that crap in your life

THIS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So that means you are a legal immigrant with a green card. Unless they also want green card holders kicked out?

I honestly don't know. I fear they think we married for citizenship even though I never went through our marriage. Or maybe they lump me into the people they claim to hate because as a child I was here undocumented and they can't accept that. I'm truly not sure without a conversation with them. I thought we could at least have one not that they would give us the silent treatment

I'm an immigrant myself, a citizen after 20 years, and know immigration laws pretty well. Nobody gets deported for running a red light 20 years ago. This is just nonsense. I support ICE. Fully. I'm sick and tired of illegals sucking up resources just because they can. Your ILs are not picking up your message, because it's confrontational. They don't know immigration laws, just like you don't know immigration laws of say, Bulgaria. Not sure what you want from them? A promise you'll not get deported? They cannot give you that. If you used any resources before becoming a citizen, it may become a problem. They don't know what to say, because no matter what they say, it seems to be a problem for you. It's not their fault you were here undocumented as a child. In most countries, in fact in all I know, and I've lived and had long-term residence in 10 different ones, you'd get kicked out as soon as you're found out. I'm sure you had a better life here than in your home country, or you'd not have arrived here undocumented (and I hate this word, because you sure have documents somewhere). And if you hate it here or think you're entitled to stay no matter what and cannot, you know where your home country is.

You are completely out of the loop, PP. I talk to immigration lawyers NOW, who tell me their clients HAVE been detained for entirely outrageous reasons. They get them out, but not before they suffer weeks, sometimes months, in the most horrendous detention conditions. And those are the lucky people who are rich enough to retain lawyers, and who were actually allowed to call a lawyer. A lot can't even do that, because ICE puts them on a fast track to deportation without due process, WHICH IS ENTIRELY ILLEGAL.

The government is not actually implementing immigration laws! It is detaining and deporting people illegally.

Well, I'm literally in the immigrant community and don't know a single person who has been detained and deported. I'm certainly not out of the loop. Stop distributing fear. It's impossible to detain and deport people illegally here since the lawyers are all lined up. You really think any other country would spend months in courts over some illegal? Allow me to laugh. Like this woman who is an "activist" in Colorado, was hiding in church, completely illegal, and they cannot get rid of her!

Just because you don't know anyone personally doesn't mean it isn't happening. What an ignorant way of thinking. I live in Chicago and I can quickly name 5 people who have someone close to them who has been detained by ICE for nothing more than having brown skin. Some of them are US citizens (born here) and harassed for no reason other than having the wrong color skin.