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DIVERSITY EMPLOYERS MAGAZINE
Spring 2011 - Anniversary Commemorative Issue

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Ice on Immigration: Can marriage confer lawful status to expired visa holder?

By L. Patricia Ice, Featured Columnist

Question: Several years ago I entered the United States on a C 1/D visa as a crewmember in transit to join a ship. I never joined a ship and I never left the U.S. I am now out of legal immigration status and I would like to get marry a U.S. citizen. If I marry him, will I be able to adjust my status to lawful permanent resident in the United States?

Answer: The general rule is that you cannot adjust status to lawful permanent resident in the United States if you last entered the country on a C1/D crewman visa. There may be a few narrow exceptions, but it is unlikely that you will be able to adjust. After you marry the U. S. citizen, you will have to return to your home country and process your immigration papers through the pertinent U.S. consulate there. This is called consular processing. I suggest that you consult with a qualified immigration attorney regarding your case before you marry and file any immigration papers with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

L. Patricia Ice

Featured IMDiversity Immigration Columnist L. Patricia Ice is an attorney and counselor who has taught immigration law at Mississippi College School of Law in Jackson, and also contributes regular immigration advice stories to La Noticia and The Jackson Advocate. A practicing attorney, Ms. Ice is a former Equal Justice Works Katrina Legal Fellow, focusing on immigrant family and employment issues in areas around the Gulf Coast. Ms. Ice trains law students in the extern program of the Mississippi College School of law. She is also dedicated to immigrants rights advocacy, and serves as the Director of the Legal Project of the non-profit rights education group, MIRA: The Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance at www.yourmira.org.

IMDiversity.com is committed to presenting diverse points of view. However, the viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at IMD.