Legal Question in Immigration Law in Massachusetts

Re: i want to marry an illegal immigrant

If she entered as an illegal/without a visa, you must do consular processing through brazil. This essentially means, she has to return to Brazil for an interview, and return to USA after a successful petition. If she entered legally / with a visa, and you are a US citizen, you may be able to petition her from within the USA. Please seek professional legal advice before submitting your petition.

Re: i want to marry an illegal immigrant

You need to first obtain a marriage license from your city/town clerk. Then go through a marriage ceremony. Once married, you can petition for her to start the process of obtaining her green card. If she was lawfully admitted to the US and subsequently overstayed her visa, then you can concurrently file the alien petition and application for green card at the same thing along with application for employment authorization. If she did not come to the us legally or was not inspected when she came in, then you only have to file the petition and then she has to go back to Brazil to finish the processing of her immigrant visa through the US consulate. Please note that if she has been in the US illegally for six months but less than a year, she will be subject to the 3-year bar if she leaves the US and then wants to come back. If she has been illegal in the US for one year or more, she will be subject to the 10-year bar if she leaves the US and then wants to return to US. 3-year bar means that she will be prevented from coming to the US for three years unless she can show that you will suffer extreme hardship if she was not let in. Same thing with the10-year bar--she will be prevented from coming to the US for 10 years unless she provides a reason that her absence will cause you extreme hardship. THE 3-YEAR AND THE 10-YEAR BAR DO NOT KICK IN UNTIL THE PERSON IS ACTUALLY OUTSIDE THE US.