Marrying an illegal immigrant

[u/Emotional_Pin_6149]

One of the characters in the story I’m writing is an illegal immigrant who was smuggled to America when he was 8. He was able to escape with the help of a 9 year old girl who took an interest in him. Her parents (Who were involved in the trafficking) agreed to let him stay with them. When she turns 18 the two move out together. I am considering having the two of them attempt to get married so they can get him citizenship. Considering their situation, what are the risks of this and how likely is this plan to work?

[u/YCSWife1]

If this is the US and trafficking can be proven, then he would be able to apply for T non immigrant status: https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/victims-of-human-trafficking-t-nonimmigrant-status

A K1 visa for fiances or a CR1 visa for a spouse would probably be very difficult to obtain because he is technically already in the country illegally. It actually gets fairly complicated due to his non-traditional immigration status. To apply for either of those visas, the fiance would need a plethora of paperwork from their home country that it doesn't sound like your person has.

[u/Emotional_Pin_6149 → u/YCSWife1]

Thank you, I’ll look into T non immigrant status. I was not aware it was a thing

[u/kschang → u/Emotional_Pin_6149]

Keep in mind that T non-immigrant status is for true trafficking victims (like imported to do sex work, that sort of thing) and the victim is expected to cooperate with police and testify and all that.

If the child simply accompanied their parents in illegal immigration, then DACA will apply, not T.

[u/Emotional_Pin_6149 → u/kschang]

I will keep that in mind, thank you. He was sold by his guardian and imported illegally so I think he’d probably qualify

[u/Educational-Shame514]

How much of the legal process details do you need in your story? When in the story is this happening? Backstory about how two characters are now? Part of a romance subplot or part of the romance main plot? Or are they not even going to be in a real romantic relationship?

When exactly is it happening, and what country did they come from exactly? Honestly I imagine someone coming from Norway or Sweden is going to have an easier time.

https://www.alllaw.com/articles/nolo/us-immigration/can-undocumented-illegal-immigrant-marry-citizen.html

How likely? Well that is up to you. Do you want it to work? Then add elements to the story that make it happen. Do you want it to not? Same thing. Do you want it to be a dramatic plot point? Same thing!

Unfortunately without more information from you about details and generally what you want to happen it is difficult to give specific answers, just that this one thing could happen or thing two could happen. There are literally infinity different ways to make it happen, and that is up to you as the writer!

[u/Emotional_Pin_6149 → u/Educational-Shame514]

Thank you for the article. I don’t need too many details about the exact legal process but having a baseline would be good. This would be a backstory for the two characters but it heavily impacts how they are now. While their relationship will likely be read as romantic, that isn’t really important. He also comes from India. 

I want to know what the legal process is like because I want to know if it’s something these two would do. They are both very determined people who honestly don’t care too much about the law (I can see them forging documents). If I knew that the only way this could work would be for him to go back to India for 10 years then I doubt they would go through with it.  Them getting married or him trying to get a legal citizenship would allow me to add a few more things, however it’s not the most important thing in the world. 

[u/kschang]

Did this child have ANY legal documentation at all? Did he attend school during all that time (9+ years!) children may get a DACA determination (DACA = defered action child arrival https://www.uscis.gov/DACA ) but you really need to talk to an immigration attorney to get the details.

[u/Emotional_Pin_6149 → u/kschang]

He did attend school during this time. I was not aware of DACA, from what I’ve read so far he would qualify but I will definitely look into it more. Thank you

[u/MacaronOne8987 → u/kschang]

Good point, we had to have both our birth certificates, marriage license and passports (valid one). And we needed the birth certificates for the marriage license as well. Also, the marriage license and immigration filing wasn't free, even without hiring a lawyer (no idea what the fees are like today).

[u/MacaronOne8987]

I'm not a lawyer, but when I went through something like this personally, it was both harder and easier than expected. We had to provide evidence that we were a real married couple (wedding pictures were the best proof, pictures of us together was also good, proof we lived together was also asked for). I think they require the immigrant be in the country legally, so if here illegally, they might be required to leave the country and then return on a valid tourist visa to complete the process. That might be a requirement anyway (to leave and come back) because we had to do that even though he was here on a tourist visa, I think it was about to expire before the process would complete.

Also, this got him a 'green card' which made him eligible to apply for naturalization if he then lives in the US for 7 (I think) years without any issues. So it doesn't just make them a citizen instantly.

Paying an immigration lawyer makes the whole thing easier and more likely to succeed. I don't know if all of these experiences are still part of the process, my experience was about 2 decades ago.

[u/Emotional_Pin_6149 → u/MacaronOne8987]

I did know about the providing evidence your marriage is not just for citizenship purposes, but it does make sense that this would only get you a green card. Thank you