It is going to be my second semester at college and my fiance and I want to get married, but we are not sure what will happen to me and to him. He came here with a visa,which is still valid until 2010, but his period of entrance was just for three month, so he became illegal here... He came here 8 years ago and also got married with a citizen woman, but they get separate for 2 years until now. they were not together but they are still married. The woman said that they never sent any paper to anywhere but. He went to the county and he realaized that they are still married. i know the first step is their divorce but I would like to know if I am allow to get married with him, if i will lose my status , and what will can happen to him,
tuart Jonas ReichImmigration AttorneyNew York, NY ·
Congratulations on your engagement. Your fiance really needs to speak with a lawyer to determine what options, if any, he might have.
As you say, he would need to be legally divorced for the two of you to be able to marry. If legally able to marry, getting married really would have no impact on your own status - you don't automatically lose it and you aren't necessarily in any trouble just for marrying someone who isn't here legally.
Remember that your F-1 requires you to have "nonimmigrant intent" - the intent to return home at the end of your F-1 stay. So, if you travel out of the U.S. and upon reentry - or upon application for a new F-1 stamp at a U.S. consulate overseas - you are asked if you have a boyfriend, fiance or spouse in the U.S. (you should never lie to an immigration officer), and then are asked the status of this person, they may question your desire to return abroad and deny you F-1 entry. Not incredibly likely, but it's possible.
Also, though this doesn't automatically do any damage to your own immigration status, you wouldn't really be able to help your new husband in terms of sponsorship. He couldn't get a derivative nonimmigrant visa (such as an F-2 under your F-2 or later an H-4 under your H-1B) since he's now out of status - he would need to leave to apply abroad and leaving once here more than a certain period of time without status subjects him to a long bar to returning (ten years, since he's been here longer than one year since the expiration of his visa).
You also could get him a green card along with yours if you are eventually sponsored by an employer or some other family member, since he couldn't Adjust Status here (and leaving to process abroad subjects him to that same ten-year bar). Only if you get a green card, have it long enough to be eligible for citizenship - five years in your case - apply for naturalization and get U.S. citizenship could you then sponsor him and get him permanent residence in the U.S. without him having to leave and be subject to the bar. And, this is only if he has no other problems which might come up (again, this should be discussed with an immigration lawyer to determine potential problems, time lines, etc.)
At any point before that - unless there is a change in the law - he really has no protection as far as remaining here in the U.S. Wish I could offer more hopeful advice...
