How can I get my fiance his green card? 10 Answers as of October 05, 2011

As your fiance entered the country without a visa, he cannot obtain a green card in the United States. He would need to return to Mexico to process his case through the U.S. Embassy/Consulate. You would be required to petition for him to receive an immigrant visa. As your fianc was present in the United States illegally for more than a year, you would need to file a waiver based upon extreme hardship to you if he was not allowed to re-enter. Otherwise, he is not eligible to re-enter for 10 years. It is in your best interests to meet with an experienced immigration attorney before your fianc departs the country to discuss how best to proceed and to learn in more detail about what steps must be taken.

If he remains in the U.S. because of his illegal entry he will not be able to obtain his residence. If he leaves he will be subject to a 10 year bar, which can be waived based on your hardship.

All of your questions depend on what happened during the time that he has been living here in the US. Of course, you can request a fianc visa when he goes back to Mexico, but he will still have to explain his unauthorized entry and stay in the US. Could be very tricky. You could also marry in Mexico and come back to process his visa in the US. In my view, I would prefer it if you would hire an attorney to help you with this. There might be opportunities that you havent thought of and an attorney can point them out to you according to your specific situation. Food for thought.

He would not be eligible for a fiance visa given his unlawful presence. If you marry him, either in the U.S. or Mexico, you can petition him for lawful permanent residency. He will have to file a waiver because he is subject to a bar to admissibility.

Since he has been in the US for more than 365 days illegally, he is subject to 10 year bar. If you get married ( I suggest in the US) we will be able to apply for a waiver for him to come back. Waivers are very complicated and you will need assistance of an immigration attorney.

If he initially entered without inspection and no one has ever filed for him or his parents in the past, then he cannot regularize his status from within the United States and will have to return to his home country to process his immigrant visa. If he has been in the U.S. illegally for more than one year, then his exit from the country to process his immigrant visa will trigger a 10 year bar to reentry and he will need to submit a waiver at the consulate to overcome the 10 year bar to reentry. To obtain the waiver, he must demonstrate that it will be an extreme hardship on a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident if he is not granted the waiver. It does not matter where you get married for immigration purposes. If you get married before you petition for him, he will enter on an immigrant visa. If you intend to get married after he enters, you would sponsor him for a fiance visa.

One strategy is to get married in the US and then file for his consular process immigrant visa with waiver for unlawful presence.

There is a possibility that he may be able to fix his status in the US.

He cannot adjust status in the US as he entered the US illegally. If he returns to his home country, he is barred to come back for 10 years. He may apply for a waiver but it is hard to get the waiver.

Unfortunately, remaining here for more than 1 year without status triggers a ten year bar to re-entry the moment he departs. A fiance visa petition does not avoid that bar. To re-enter he will require a special waiver. Under the law right now, and the info provided, he will never get a greencard based on a spousal petition here. You could marry here or there and try to complete the process through the US Consulate in Mexico with the waiver. That raises the cost and degree of difficulty. You must not only prove the validity of your marriage, but also that you will suffer extreme hardship without him or if you were forced to to move there to live with him. Anyone requiring a waiver should definitely consult with an immigration attorney that handles them.