Legal Question in Immigration Law in Illinois

Planning on getting married with an illegal alien

My girlfriend and I of 10 years are soon to be getting married. I am a Natural-Born Citizen, she came with a tourist visa back in 1989 when she was 9.

She was given a ssn and on the card it has stated ''not for employment''. She has been working with this number and filing a tax return for years with no problems. We have been hearing that even though we get married we are going to have a problem applying for her resident status because she has stated on her employment applications that she is a U.S. Citizen.

She has never had any criminal records nor has she ever used any public benefit provided by the government while being in this country. She has graduated from a public university with a bachelors but never utilized financial aid.

Will applying for resident status be a challenge for her once we are married? How long should we be married before we consider applying?


Asked on 1/07/09, 2:48 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Anthony Siliato Meyner and Landis LLP

Re: Planning on getting married with an illegal alien

So long as she did not indicate that she was a U.S. citizen on a government application, your girlfriend should be fine. Once married, there is no need to wait before applying for U.S. permanet residence.

You should not rely on emails alone as legal advice. You should consult with competent immigration law counsel on all immigration matters.

Please feel free to visit our web site at www.meyner.com

Regards,

Anthony F. Siliato

[email protected]

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Answered on 1/07/09, 4:35 pm


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