Immigration Site

I met my husband when I was a student. He is a LPR and we got married in 2008 while I was still under F1 status. He told me he would file for citizenship and adjust my status as I had one year under my Optional Practical Training (OPT). I wrote him a check for the amount of filing the papers in July 2008. I just found out that my husband never filed while he told me the whole time that he did file. My OPT expired in June 2009 and at the time He told me I would be getting my papers soon so I did not think too much of it. Now, I realize it was all a lie while ITs too late coz Im out of status and I was pregnant and have a child while all of this was going on. My baby is just 3 months old now . Im out of status since June 2009. I wouldnt have stayed in the US had I known he did not file the papers. Also, we are still married and hes telling me i have to wait till June which is when he will get his citizenship. He wants me to be under his control till then. Hes been lying for about 2 years now and Im in this state because of him. Do I have any recourse to become legal? Please help! Thank you

With him not being a US citizen, even if he filed your immigration papers in 2008 you still would not gain/extend any legal status in the US. So you have to wait until he becomes a citizen before filing the papers will give you any legal status.

So you need to do two main things to stay on top of the situation. (1) look at his green card to figure out when he is eligible for citizenship (normally he can apply 90 days before his 5-year GC anniversary), and make sure he has filed the application for citizenship when the time comes. (2) You need to gain some understanding of your own immigration process, because some of the forms are to be filled out and signed by you, and you can be held responsible (with possible deportation) if there are mistakes or untruths on the paperwork. And you obviously cant trust him to handle it all correctly and promptly.

The citizenship application form is N-400. The green card involves much more paperwork; for details see http://forums.immigration.com/showth...17#post1975217

And most importantly, do not leave the US until your GC is approved, or you will risk being banned from reentering the US due staying so long beyond the OPT expiration.

Jackolantern,
Thank you about your feedback. My husband has his GC since he was 9 years old so hes been eligible for a long time now. What I am trying to say is had he not lied about this, I wouldnt have overstayed my visa, which means I wouldnt be in the predicament I am in today. More so, he told me in June 2008 that it would take him 6 months to get his citizenship and a few months after that he could file for my GC. At that time I still had a year on my OPT so to me everything would;ve worked out perfectly. At this point I dont have any trust in him and hes emotionally abusive coz he knows hes holding me prisoner due to my status. I really dont know what to do as I dont wanna stay in this marriage but I dont wanna futher jeopardize my status. Any thoughts? Thank you all for reading.

If you divorce him, what avenue you intend to take to legalise your status?

I dont wanna stay in this marriage but I dont wanna futher jeopardize my status.