If my husband never filed the necessary papers to obtain my green card and I now divorce him will I have to return to my country if I entered under a marriage visa ?
When you enter the US under a k1 visa you have 90 days to get married and then you are supposed to adjust status before your I-94 expires. If you entered under a k1 and your spouse never applied for your adjustment of status and your I-94 is expired, you are eligible to be deported. If you get a divorce, there are some possibilities for petitioning without your spouse under VAWA (if he was abusive). I would contact an attorney right away to discuss your options. If you were abused (financially, physically, emotionaly, etc.) there are many agencies that can help you with your petition free of charge or at a reduced rate. Also, I am not assuming abuse and please don't be offended. It's simply that, in my experience, many times when a spouse is witholding immigration status there are other things going on as well. The witholding of your immigration status coupled with threats about having you deported or thrown out of the country can in and of itself be abusive.
Since departure from the US has such significant consequences i.e. 10 year bar to admissibility if you remained in the US for over 1 year after the I-94 card expired, we would want to interview you to determine whether there are any other viable self petition options.
Feel free to call us to schedule a free initial consultation.
