Riverdale, GA Immigration Law Firms & Lawyers

Although not completely clear from your question, it appears that you are present in the U.S. with an expired J1 visa. That would not authorize you to be employed, notwithstanding your Social Security card. If you were to become married to a U.S. citizen, you may be able to apply to adjust status to become a Lawful Permanent Resident, and with that application you could apply for an Employment Authorization Document (an EAD) for use while your adjustment of status application remains pending. In order to adjust status, however, you either must have no two-year home residency requirement associated with your old J1 visa, or you must succeed in having the two-year requirement waived. It would be wise for you and your fiance to consult with an immigration attorney who, after learning all of the relevant information about your immigration history, your plans for marriage, etc, would be able to advise you about eligibilities, options and strategies and would be able to offer legal representation in the often quite complex application process.

Generally in a marriage-based case, the U.S. Citizen spouse must supply an Affidavit of Support, but if the U.S. Citizen spouse's earnings are insufficient to meet the requirements (in most instances 125% of the published poverty level for the applicable family size), then a "joint sponsor" will be required. The joint sponsor need not be a relative and instead could be nearly any U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident with sufficient income and who is willing to assume the obligations specified in the Affidavit of Support. As you can see from this answer, the period of time since the U.S. citizen received needs-based public assistance is not the focus.