Generally, the public, some of my clients and some attorneys who do not practice immigration have common misconceptions about basic immigration law. The common belief is that once married, the foreigner is legally entitled to stay in the United States or immigrate immediately if outside the states. Basically, the fact that a foreign national marries a U.S. citizen does nothing as it relates to that person's immigration status. The marriage only allows that individual to apply for a permanent resident status or an immigrant visa that is issued upon approval of a filed visa petition. A foreign spouse must show in the petition, and sometimes at an interview, that he meets a laundry list of requirements for becoming a permanent resident of the United States.
Some individuals come to the United States and overstay their approved time limit.
Then, they find themselves temporarily or permanently barred from re-entering the United States or otherwise obtaining permanent resident status. Not only does overstaying cause these problems, but bars are imposed due to disease, criminal conduct and a host of other grounds. Although the Elian Gonzalez situation has focused the public's attention on Cuban immigration matters, there are many other immigration problems that the Immigration and Naturalization Service and immigration attorneys deal with on a daily basis, which are confusing and complicated to those unfamiliar with the process and law. Enter words describing a concept or keywords.