Legal Question in Immigration Law in New Jersey

Re: marriage between an illegal and a person waiting for green card

There are two separate issues raised by your question:

1. Is the husband eligible to sponsor an alien relative ?

and

2. Is the wife eligible to adjust status ?

From the little information you provided I can only supply a very general answer but if the husband indeed qualifies under INA Section 245(i) he would need to complete his adjustment of status before he could petition on his wife's behalf as an LPR. Receiving labor certification is only the first step in the employment-based immigration, and although many work-based preferences currently have immediate visa availability the process of filing I-485 and receiving USCIS approval (essentially getting a "green card") is a pre-requisite for filing any relative petitions on behalf of third persons.

His wife, however, is likely to face more than an additional waiting period due to the fact that she entered U.S. EWI. Since she probably cannot qualify separately for 245(i), she would not be able to adjust status and would need to seek an immigrant visa from a U.S. Consulate abroad.

A note of extreme caution here -- departing the U.S. after a history of immigration violations, especially in the face of the 3/10 year "unlawful presence" bar, may mean that the person in question would not be able to re-enter the United States for a long time or at all. In some (but not all) instances, such person may apply for certain waivers at the time of consular visa processing, but the process is very complicated and uncertain. Seek assistance of a qualified immigration attorney before making any decisions to travel or to file anythin with the government authorities.

The above reply is in the nature of general information, is not legal advice and should not be relied on as such.