If I want to marry my illegal immigrant from Mexico, what should I do so he can become legal?

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If I want to marry my illegal immigrant from Mexico, what should I do so he can become legal?

How do I start this process? Do we have to get married there and wait many years? He has a US born child from a previous relationship does that help at all? Where do I start? I know now when you apply you risk getting deported even without any criminal record we are afraid of this.

Asked on November 1, 2011 under Immigration Law, New York

Answers:

SB, Member, California / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 12 years ago | Contributor

If he entered the US unlawfully, under the current immigration laws, he will not be able to legalize his status within the US.  He will need to go back to his home country and consular process for an immigrant visa.  However, because of his unlawful entry and overstay, as soon as he departs the US, he will automatically trigger a 10 year bar to reentry, which can only be waived by a showing of extreme hardship to a US citizen spouse and this is fairly difficult to prove in most cases.


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