Can you become a lawful immigrant via a consensual union?

In certain cases, there is a way to become a lawful immigrant when not married but living in a consensual union.

The most recommended is to marry legally. In the US, each State has its own law regarding family-related matters. In many States, an individual does not necessarily needs to be married to his/her spouse to be considered a couple. Certain laws in certain States respect consensual unions of individuals who live with their spouse but are not legally married under the court of that specific jurisdiction. It is possible that they live as if they were married and even have children in common.

In certain States, this constitutes a valid marriage, and, under immigration law, which respects each State’s law, if an individual is in this type of situation, it can be considered a completely valid marriage. Under immigration law, an individual can become lawful through that consensual union.

Each State has a different law. District of Columbia has different laws than Texas, California, and New York. If you live with your spouse in a consensual union, and the laws of the State where you live respect consensual unions, that can give you a way to become a lawful immigrant. Again, the most recommended is to marry legally, if possible. The law may let you prove that you are in a consensual union, however, this must be exhaustively verified with much evidence, such as children-in-common births’ evidence, joint federal taxes declaration evidence, and in-common bank accounts existence evidence, among other types of evidence.

In these situations, the risk of not having enough evidence to convince immigration that is a valid consensual union in that State is assumed.

2 scenarios that may allow becoming a lawful immigrant in a consensual union without marrying legally

• U Visa

Many times, a person lives in a consensual union with his/her US citizen or legal resident spouse but is not married due to marital problems. It might be that the US citizen or legal resident couple says things like: “I don’t want to marry you because I don’t want to help you become a lawful immigrant, and only want to marry to become lawful” even when having children in common with this US citizen or legal resident.

A person in a situation of mistreatment or domestic violence must call the police to submit a report and have a way to become lawful through a humanitarian U visa. U visa is one of the humanitarian visas, and gives a way to become a lawful immigrant without leaving the US if the person was a victim of certain types of crime in the US. that can be a way.

• T Visa

In case of not having a police report, another humanitarian visa that is not commonly talked about is the T visa. The T visa also applies to people who suffered mistreatment. The difference relies on the fact that, with the T visa, you must not only have been a victim of certain types of crime but the person was also forced to do some kind of work.

A common scenario for the T visa is that in which the US citizen or legal resident couple, owner of a company, forces his/her couple to work in such company due to his/her lack of documents, sometimes even without payment or in poor conditions. This type of situation can give a way to apply for a residence or a T visa.

A third way is via a VAWA visa. If you are living in a situation in which you are suffering mistreatment or marital problems with a US citizen or legal resident spouse, this may be an option.

VAWA is another humanitarian visa. This gives the way to become a lawful immigrant without leaving the US. It must be considered that a VAWA process requires the applicant to be married or recently divorced from a US citizen or legal resident.

It can be a good idea to check if the State where you live allows becoming a lawful immigrant if you break up, or are about to break up a relationship in which you suffered marital problems. For that, is recommendable to consult with a family attorney.

Why do I have to consult with a familiar lawyer if what I need is to become a lawful immigrant?

In some jurisdictions, those people breaking up relationships where they suffered mistreatment can ‘divorce’ from that consensual union. This is in order to have proof of separating from a US citizen or legal resident. This divorce record works to apply under VAWA law. This can be useful for those who are leaving a consensual union and want proof of have being in that consensual union with a US citizen or legal resident and suffering some type of mistreatment.

The most common factor in VAWA cases is that the US citizen or legal resident threatens the immigrant by not providing support to become lawful, accusing him/her before ICE, and that kind of threat. Is an important factor that helps many people to be able to become lawful immigrants through VAWA law.

If you are in a situation in which you are living with your US citizen or legal resident spouse, and wonder if you need to marry legally in order to become a lawful immigrant, or if you are leaving a toxic and difficult relationship and are looking for a way to become a lawful immigrant; these strategies may help.

In case you are looking for an assessment for your case, call us at (202) 933-3379 or send your data through the following form and we will gladly evaluate your situation at no cost.