I'm trying to find information on what process I can follow in order to get papers for an immigrant already living in the States. Most anything I've found addresses immigrants in another country but not those already living here.

What papers?. what is their current status? What is your relationship to them?

My apologies for being vague. The person entered the US legally but overstayed authorized time more than 7 years ago. In that time, person has been gainfully employed and filed Income Tax return yearly, has no criminal record and still has valid Passport and Visa. She is my Girlfriend and have been dating each other for about 2 yrs and talking marriage...

I'm going to recommend you find an immigrations attorney. Because she WAS here legally but overstayed by that long is going to complicate things greatly, there are a lot of wrong things to do and very few right ones. Because of that overstayed status a lot of options will have gone away. The right lawyer knowing ALL the fine details might know of a way that's more likely to work. But keep in mind... there are no guaranteed ways to get the desired result. Its going to take time... be expensive and very frustrating. Having someone that knows the system well is worth that money.

She may have a valid passport... but you stated she has overstayed by 7 years... that indicated that VISA has expired and no longer valid. But if she has a valid VISA to be here right now, that's currently valid... the past overstay isn't the issue it might have been, and you WILL have many more options.


Make sure you get her status resolved first... marriage doesn't change anything for her status. Trust me there... I went through that before most people even knew what the internet was... much less have access to it (we are talking 20 years ago).

Agree, she can not be here "illegally" if she has a valid visa,

But to get married, you just get married, but it does not have them any automatic rights.

Her passport remains valid as that is issued by her home country; but the U.S. visitor visa is automatically invalid by operation of law (although facially valid) due to her I-94 overstay.

After you are married, as a USC, can petition for her as a immediate relative. You file the I-130 and I-864 affidavit of support and she will concurrently file the I-485 (application for permanent residence) and the I-765, employment authorization. There are other forms to be included, G-325 for both of you, etc.

Your filing will be under INA section 245(a) which will forgive her overstay and unauthorized employment. There is no monetary penalty to be paid. If you are married less than 2 years at the time of interview, she will be granted conditional permanent residence, Google it.

I agree with the other posters, consult with and hire an experienced attorney, but the case is relatively straightforward as long as she entered on her own visa, has no significant criminal record and never made a false claim to citizenship. I hope this was responsive to your inquiry, congratulations and good luck.