A friend of mine ,Jackie is from europe. she overstyaed her visitaion and has ben seeing her boyfriend for almost two years now.

Question: If this reform bill does pass; it will require anyone(undocumented) who has been in the u.s under two years to go back home and apply for a visa to return. Does'nt the fact tht she came to the u.s legally make her documented? would this bill cause her problems in trying to get her green card if she marries her boyfriend who is a u.s citizen, because she has been here less than 2yrs?

She would rather wait a while to get married because of finacial reasons, but if doing it sooner than later would help resolve her legal situation she may reconsider. She is very much in love with her boyfriend, and would like you to shed some light on this.

As long as your friend still has proof of her legal entry and presuming that her boyfriend is a US citizen, the existing immigration law allows her to stay in the US and apply for her green card after getting married. The fact that she overstayed her visa will not affect her application. In fact, she should not leave the country until she gets her green card.

As for the bills pending before Congress, nothing has been passed into law yet, so it’s too early to even speculate about any eventual new application procedure.

Edward Weiner
Attorney at Law

E-mail: E.Weiner@immigration-aux-usa.com
Internet Site: http://www.immigration-aux-usa.com/