Q: Is it okay to finish filing for the petition without a lawyer? He won't be taken will he?
I'm petitioning for my spouse to stay, I'm in the process of filling out an I-130 form on citizenpath.com. I'm to the part where I have put in that he is an overstay and has never left the country since, we have two children together. His overstay started in 2005, I had gotten pregnant and was expecting twins so the money went towards them instead of the visa. His visa was for one year, but our issue is his paperwork was thrown out by one of the residents whom he lived with back then, and since then we have lost a child which was one of the twins, and later had another child. We just got married on February 10, 2018, and trying to at least get him a permanent resident card so he can work, get a license, ext. We live in Ohio.
A: You really need to work with an attorney on this. That amount of time out of status could become a real problem for you.
A:
Of course you can file the petition on your own; an attorney can help streamline the process. There is no guarantee your husband won’t be taken, but having an attorney will not necessarily prevent that, either.
You note that your husband originally entered on a visa, which means that he can likely adjust status in the U. S. An attorney can help you with the process in which you file a petition and your husband files a green card application at the same time. Spending a few dollars and doing the process right will increase changes that things will go more smoothly.
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