Can he just pay the penalty fee to stay here?

Question

hi i married my husband(mexican/illegal) in 2006 we started the paperowk process and we are now on the part where he would have to go back to mexico to get the medical exam done and interview.. we don't want him to go back so i was hoping that it applied to us where he can pay the I-485 supplement A fee of $1,000 and the I-485 application fee of total $1,010 so he can stay here and get it all done and recieve his visa. a lady on the ohone for the immigration services told me he isn't eligible to apply for permanent residence or adjust of status because of the whole having to submit a petition before 2001. we didn't even known eachother then. help! can my husband pay the fees so he can apply or adjust so he can do the exam and interview here so he can get his visa without going back to his origin?

Answer 1

He cannot adjust his status from here if he lived here illegally. He has to return to his home country to complete process. He will probably be denied a visa because he lived here illegally and given a ban on returning. You will then have to file a waiver for him. The laws have changed since 2001. You are no longer able to just pay a fee and stay here,you must return to your home country.

Answer 2

My wife is from Africa, we simply paid an attorney to expedite her paper work so that she would not need to go to Africa. We paid $2500 for the attorney and it was well worth the money. It saved us a lot of time and headaches.

Answer 3

He has to go back. The legislation regarding the penalty fee required application prior to April 4, 2001. Congress repealed the act later, requiring illegal aliens return to their home nations, and apply for legal entry and pay the appropriate penalty fees. That is following the bar for a number of years..a year spent illegally in the US equates to a 10 year bar.