In Response to a Man Inquiring About His Wife's Citizenship After Entering the US Illegally at 6 Months Old

If she entered illlegally, then, most likely, she will have to leave the U.S. to process her paperwork. The only excetion is if a family member or employer filed a petition for her or her parents or a previous spouse prior to April 30, 2001 in which case she may be covered by a law that would allow her to remain in the U.S. to do her paperwork. If she is not covered by this law and she entered illegally, she would have to eventually leave to process her immigrant visa. The process begins with the filing of an I-130 immigrant visa petition in which you must establish the bona fides of the relationship. Once the I-130 is approved, the case is sent to the National Visa Center which is the hub for consular processing around the world. The National Visa Center will send you forms that you must complete on behalf of your spouse, including the affidavit of support. The affidavit of support is to demonstrate that you have sufficient income to prevent your spouse from obtaining welfare. After you complete the forms and send them to the National Visa Center, your spouse will be scheduled for an interview at the consulate. There, they will determine if there is anything in your spouse's past that would prevent her from immigrating such as crimes, immigration violations, etc. If she was in the U.S. for more than one year unlawfully, she will trigger a 10 year bar to reentry when she leaves and will need a waiver to overcome that bar. To obtain the waiver, she will have to demonstrate that it will be an extreme hardship on you if she is not granted the waiver. We have had tremendous success with such waivers in our office -Joseph Law Firm.

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