Immigration Site

Hi there,

Pasted below is my story. There has been a huge progress to my situation since I last posted my story. Due to my illegal status, I was unable to obtain a current state ID in CA so I did my research and found out that Washington (State) is the only state in the US where I as an illegal immigrant can still obtain a valid, current state ID. I needed to have a valid state ID in order to get married to my US citizen fiance. So, I traveled to WA and got my WA state ID and came back to CA (where I live). Just two weeks ago, my fiance and I got married here in CA. We still are living together, August 2011 will be four years since we started living together. We were hoping to seek some advice on what is the next step I need to take to fix my illegal immigrant status. We just want to live our lives together without having my immigration status hanging over our heads. We are not wealthy but we are both smart and can follow instructions, so we intend to do the paperwork process without an attorney. Btw, I did read some of the postings on GC/Citizenship for legal immigrants (especially the one by nkumar7) and found it to be extremely helpful but my situation is a bit different since I am an illegal immigrant.

My Story - How I Went From Being A Minor To An Illegal Immigrant:

I came to the US when I was 16yrs old in Dec, 2000 from India. I left home when I was 19 and lived my own life, went to college etc. I didnt talk to my parents till I was 22, when we spoke I asked my mom for my documents...passport and such. At this time my mom told me that our visas expired 3yrs after coming to the US and refused to give me my documents because they (my parents) feared that if I did anything then our entire family could get deported. Dad was on a H1B visa and I along with my brothers were on a H4 visa, dont know what visa mom was on...I believe an H4 as well. I didnt know what to think of all this at the time because I didnt know squat about immigration. In fact, I didnt even know what type of visa we were on up until last month.
I was busy with college so I just let this whole deal sit on the back burner. Now that Ive graduated from college (June 2010), I want to take care of my paperwork and get married to my boyfriend (who turned into fiance in July 2010) who Ive been living with for the last 3yrs. So I met with an attorney, who advised that I obtain my passport and I94 from my parents. Earlier this month I contacted my mom and told her Im getting married so I need my documents...so she mailed me my birth certificate and my passport. The problem is that my passport expired in Dec of 2009! According to the attorneys advise, I tried to renew my expired passport online but it is not as easy as the attorney made it out to be. I need proof of legal residency and various other documents to renew my passport which I dont have. The attorney suggested that I could take care of my paperwork after I get married to my boyfriend so I did the research and found out that to obtain a marriage license, I need a valid government issued ID which I do not have...and have no means of obtaining. I used to have a CA ID which expired in 2007, which I went to go renew but they needed a passport which I didnt have at the time...now I realize after doing thorough research that even if had had my passport at that time I wouldve still needed proof of legal residency in order for them to have renewed my ID.
Ive been trying to reach the Indian consulate in SF but they dont answer the phone at all. I even left them a message but no word from them yet. The more and more I read about it and hear about it I just get so uncertain of my future...I want to continue my education so I can go to vet school and follow my dreams...please does anyone have any words of advice? This was my previous posting back in Oct, 2010 I believe.

You originally enetered legally. You are an "overstay". You married your USC fiance, just file the forms with USCIS. You dont need a current passport (or a lawyer). You cannot travel abroad until you get a greencard. Do you have an entry stamp in your passport? They can always run your passport # in the computer to confirm your old legal entry.

Your USC spouse files an I-130 CONCURRENTLY with your I-485 and I-765. Once you get your receipt notice you can work if you want or continue school. Since you had an H-4 and a CA ID then you probably already have a SSN. IF not you can get one with your EAD when it comes after ??2-4 months??

Your spouse will have to file an I-864 and show sufficient income per the I-864P (a new one will be posted soon with new $$ figures). The I-864 can be submitted later in the process. Get and READ all the form instructions at: www.uscis.gov THEN fill out the forms and file.

Just curious, why did the state of Washington issue an ID to someone who does not live in the state?

I needed to have a valid state ID in order to get married to my US citizen fiance. So, I traveled to WA and got my WA state ID and came back to CA (where I live).

There are legitimate reasons one might not live in a state but be granted its ID. Members of the military can elect to retain the ID of their registered state of residency even though they are stationed - and physically reside -elsewhere. This is true of their spouse, but the spouse may need to take up residency of the actual state of residency due to other obligations. So the couple has the odd situation where each is a legal resident of a different state although they live together. Since one must be present in the state with a photo, one might even have a WA DL without a photo. It makes it difficult for travel or other situation where photo ID is required since military ID or passport must be used.