Immigration | I want to go to the US and adjust status

Good day, Mrs Walker-Huntington.

I am a Jamaican in a long-distance relationship. My fiance recently got his US citizenship and wants for us to now close the gap. We are making preparations to get married in Jamaica. I have a visa so he wants me to travel to the US after our wedding then apply to change my status after 90 days. Will our Jamaican marriage certificate be valid to be used in the application process or is it best to just go to the US and get married then make the adjustment.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Regards,

DR

Dear DR:

I cannot stress enough how detrimental it is to make plans to enter the United States on a visitor’s visa and intend at the time of entry to adjust your status to that of a permanent resident.

A person who does this has the intent to migrate at the time of entry and can be denied entry, their visa cancelled, and they be removed to their home country. If such a person is admitted, there still remains the danger of the adjustment of status being denied and a host of issues emanating from that denial if “intent” to migrate is found retroactively at the time of the entry.

The “90 day” period after entry is but one prong of the “intent” to migrate landscape. If a person moves to adjust their status after being in the US 90 days, it does not remove questions about intent at time of entry. Especially considering the current US administration’s stance on adjustment of status.

While adjustment of status remains viable in immigration law and, yes, it is and has always been a discretionary form of relief, the administration has a new policy on how they are viewing adjustment of status – as an extraordinary form of relief.

This leaves open some specific questions that anyone who is considering adjustment of status will have to ponder, including but not limited to why someone did not do consular processing, and why did they not return to their home country when their time to remain in the US expired.

Those and other answers will, of course, differ from person to person, but entering the US with the express intent to adjust status becomes even more problematic with the new adjustment policy.

A foreign marriage certificate is generally accepted in the United States as proof of a valid marriage – and marriage certificates from Jamaica are accepted.

Dahlia A. Walker-Huntington, Esq is a Jamaican-American attorney who practises immigration law in the United States; and family, criminal and international law in Florida. She is a mediator and former special magistrate hearing officer in Broward County, Florida. info@walkerhuntington.com.