My husband and i have been married 2 years. He came in legal as visa student. Does this mean he is legal?

As long as his visa is still valid - everything is fine. However - unless he has started the process for applying for his green card he has to return to Dubai once his visa expires. If you are getting close to the visa expiration - you need to apply for a 'spousal visa' asap,

You generally will not need an attorney. You can go to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services website and download the forms and instructions. The wait times vary by area but in Los Angeles it took my wife 9 months between the initial application and her getting her conditional green card.

My wife was awarded her citizenship earlier this year. My expierence was that as long as you pay attention and fill out the forms correctly things work out pretty smoothly.

One work of advice put half of your household utilities in your name and the other half in his. USCIS will want to see evidence that you are truly married and living together as a married couple to consider it to be a valid marriage. Having both your names on the checking account also helps.

Marra,

A student visa has either an expiration date or it is stamped D/S which means duration of stay. The duration is limited to the time he is an active student in good standing.

After that's done, either he has finished studying or dropped out of school, he is "out of status." That's different from being illegal, since an out of status visitor can adjust status, i.e., through marriage to a US citizen, whereas an illegal, which is somebody who entered the US without inspection (EWI), cannot.

Someone is eligible to apply for US citizenship, after having been a lawful permanent resident for at least 5 years (3 if still married to the petitioning spouse). Yet your husband is still a visitor, not a resident. Therefore, you will have to petition for his Adjustment of Status via USCIS forms I-130, I-485, and I-765. The cost is $1,010 and it all takes anywhere from 6 to 10 months.

Your husband cannot leave the country until the AOS petition is decided upon. If he overstayed, the moment he leaves the US a 3 or 10 year ban will be triggered, preventing him from coming back.

After the AOS petition has been approved, he will get his Green Card. That's the first day he becomes a lawful permanent resident. Five or three years later he can apply for citizenship.

He was here legally under a student visa since 2006. This means he hasn't been a permanent resident since then, so he is not yet eligible to apply for citizenship. In order to do that, he needs to be a legal permanent resident (Green Card holder) for at least 2 years and 9 months before he will be eligible for citizenship. So save your money to start the Green Card paperwork, not the citizenship application. I hope this helps.

Many got confused with visa expiration and I-94 (or in this case is his I-20). A student is still legal if he is going to school, taking credits each semester and not working illegally until the date of study written on his I-20 (if his I-94 says D/S).

Visa is just a "ticket" for foreign person to enter the country. I-94/I-20 is what telling him/her how long he/she can stay in the country legally.

It is a tricky situation if he is now not legal but married to you. I suggest to talk to lawyer so the lawyer can present your case in such way that is not harming him (and you).

Now if he remains legal and still going to school, not a problem at all. He can apply for adjustment status for green card thru marriage. It might take few months until he gets his GC. Then 3 years later, he could apply for citizenship.

As the other person said he is legal while his visa is current. If he has alot of time left on the student visa you are probably ok but you may want to look into getting him another visa first and then go for citizenship afterwards.

No, one does not automatically become legal when marrying a US citizen; you must apply. And if his visa has expired, he is here illegally.

And yes, you definitely need an attorney. In my one horrendous dealing with USCIS, the agent told me that the two most difficult things to understand are the IRS Code and immigration law.

if he is here merely as a student-----then he is a guest and must leave the United States when his study visa expires...just because you married here does not mean either one of you is "legal"....