Reply to ISO good immigration attorney who knows how to address AP who is getting married?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
Well, I am the op and have concluded that she does need some basic advice.  Not someone to file her forms but some advice.  I have Learned from well informed sources that if she gets married and stays she could have issues down the road, especially if her family wants to visit her on a visa.  To strictly comply, she needs to go home per her visa requirements and then apply  for a fiancée visa. Yes some people get married right before their visa and it works out fine.  But you never know. She wants to do it right.  Life is long. Plus she wants to visit her family in the next couple of months. [/quote]

OP, this is incorrect.  As long as she is in valid status, she can get married and adjust her status. Actually, even if she's out of status, she can get married and adjust. Marriage to a US citizen is THAT powerful as an immigration avenue.

There won't be issues down the road with regard to family visitation.  Her family's visits will be adjudicated based on their circumstances when they apply for a tourist visa.

If SHE wants to visit her family in the next couple of months, she can't.  If you file for adjustment of status, you CANNOT leave the country unless you have a travel document/advance parole, and that generally takes more than a couple of months.

Advise her that if she leaves and applies for a fiancee visa, it will be many, many months before she sees America again.  Fiancee visas take a loooong time to process.  It's must easier to marry and adjust status within the US.  This is not about "doing it right" because there is nothing wrong with adjusting from within the US.  She is free to marry and adjust status. That's not illegal.

J-1 visas do not come with the 2-year home country residency requirement unless her stay here is sponsored by her or the U.S. government (this typically applies only to fellowship holders like Muskie etc.)  Her visa stamp in her passport will be clearly annotated if this requirement applies to her. If there is no notation, it does not apply.

NOTE: if the 2-year residency requirement is attached to her visa, marriage to the U.S. citizen WILL NOT lift it.  Waiver of 2-year residency under J-1 requires a special petition and waiver, which is not easy to get. [/quote]

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