I overstayed tourist visa and about to marry a us citizen will that change my status

You will need to file a petition to adjust your status to that of a lawful permanent residents. It takes about 6 to 8 months to complete that. The US citizen can file an I-130 for the kids abroad to get that process started once you are married. Myron R. Morales, Attorney Morales PLLC [email protected]

You will remain out of status unless and until your application for adjustment of status is actually approved. While your application is pending, but not yet approved, you will not have an actual legal "status," but you will be in "period of stay authorized" by the government. You will also be able to apply for and receive work authorization. If your case is clean and clearly approvable, then it should take about 4-6 months from the time of filing to adjudication of your application.

Your US citizen spouse should file the petitions for you and your kids after the marriage. You will remain being out-of-status and risk detention by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement until your petition and adjustment of status are filed. After the applications are properly filed, your previous visa overstay will not matter, because your spouse if a US citizen, unless there are some exceptional circumstances. You should file the petitions concurrently with the adjustment of status for each of you. If you file your kid's adjustment of status together with yours, their filing fees will be reduced. You can also file your application for work authorization in the same package. There are 7 different forms that should be filed for each one of you, along with the supporting documents. After all forms are filed, you will be authorized to remain in the US until you receive your green-cards. It currently takes approximately 4-5 months for the USCIS to process a marriage-based adjustment of status. It is highly recommended that you contact a competent immigration attorney or firm, like ours, to handle your matter. Alexandria Virginia Immigration Attorney Ismail T. Shahtakhtinski, Esq. I.S. Law Firm, PLLC 1199 N. Fairfax St., Ste 702 Alexandria, VA 22314 (202) 904-3904 [email protected] www.islawfirm.com

Merely starting the process by filing the immigration paperwork will not put you in lawful status right away. You are however eligible to file a case for permanent residency (conditional) if married to a U.S. Citizen. There are other facts that are needed however related to your immigration history and other matters that may affect your eligibility to receive a green card.

Your processing will be about six months. Your children cued be processed ack home within a year.

After you get married, you may be eligible to apply for adjustment of status. Because you entered the United States using a visa and will be married to a United States citizen, you meet two of the basic requirements for adjustment of status. However, there are other requirements that need to be met in order for your adjustment of status application to be approved. You should consider discussing your case with an immigration lawyer to make sure that you meet all of the requirements for adjustment of status before you submit any forms to the government. You won't be "legal" until your adjustment of status application is approved. Among other things, this means that if you apply for adjustment of status but don't meet all of the qualifications, you could be placed in deportation proceedings. It looks like you are located in Alexandria, Virginia. If this is correct, you could possibly have your adjustment of status interview around five months after filing your application, but it could take a little longer if there is a backlog at the Fairfax USCIS office. The good news is that if your adjustment of status application is approved, you would also be eligible to petition for your children (or for your wife to petition for them as their stepmother).

As always, I suggest you retain the services of a competent immigration attorney near you to prepare your paperwork. Additionally, if the biological mother of your two foreign-born children is still living, and has parental rights to the children, you need to check the applicable laws of your home country, and make sure that you can legally bring the children to the U.S., and/or have consent of the biological mother.