Columbus, GA Immigration Law Firms & Lawyers

If you do not have a criminal record you can potentially adjust your status without leaving the country. You will have to satisfy the requirements for financial support and that may be difficult or impossible without someone to guarantee support.

Sorry to hear about the difficulties in your marriage and your contemplation of divorce. If you already are a Permanent Resident, then be aware that your husband will be unable to cancel your "Green Card." If after five years of being a Permanent Resident you apply to become a naturalized U.S. citizen, the fact that you became divorced will have no bearing upon naturalization eligibility (although the USCIS may require documentary evidence that you and your husband were living together in a bona fide marriage notwithstanding that it ended in divorce). You should consult with a domestic relations/divorce attorney where you live for information about responsibilities, rights and processes relating to divorce, and when you become eligible to apply to become a naturalized citizen, you should consult with an immigration attorney.

Generally, if a foreign national enters the U.S. lawfully and with inspection (such as with a visitor's visa), and then becomes married to a U.S. citizen, the couple can succeed in a marriage-based adjustment of status application process in the Immediate Relative visa category (so the foreign national will become a Lawful Permanent Resident - get a "Green Card"). This is true even if the foreign national spouse may have overstayed an initial visa by six months. Of course, there are many other details that determine eligibility too. There really is no substitute for you and your fiance to consult with an immigration attorney who, after learning all of the relevant information, could advise about eligibilities, options and strategies to attain your goals, and who then could offer legal representation in the often complex application process.