I'm not in any way, shape, or form an immigration attorney. But, I have been through the process and I have to say that you are in for a very long, hard, and costly battle with Department of Homeland Security.

The United States immigration policies were no walk in the park before 9/11, but after? Shit got real. I had a boss who needed a visa and it took three and a half years to get the paperwork through all of the flaming hoops. He was a specialist with no criminal record, from a country that is well-respected in the eyes of the United States government. It cost almost $3,500 for each round of paperwork and we had to file six times.

This is only a small part of the reason why so many people choose to remain undocumented - it's expensive, it's invasive, and it's soul-shattering when you're denied time and again.

Your husband needs to find an immigrant-friendly corporation and ask them to sponsor him. less

Ok, this is waaayy off-topic, and a long shot, but I figure it's worth a try. I have a quick question that I've got my fingers crossed someone can answer.

I married my husband in April 2011. He is an undocumented (expired working permit) immigrant. The plan was to file the paperwork, and then have him move from Ohio where we met to Washington state where I was living at the time. Little did we know, not having a job, I wasn't eligible to "sponsor" him (Duh.) By the way, he does work. Two jobs in fact. But we can't use his income of course, since he's technically undocumented. So, I moved BACK to Ohio to work for my parents. But by the time the end of the year rolled around, I still didn't earn enough to file for him. We tried asking my parents to file, and they said "absolutely not." I can't say I blame them. My husband is very trustworthy and has been working for them for 3 years, but still, it's a big commitment.

So here we are, 1.5 years later, still with no working permit (which precedes a green card, which precedes citizenship.) all we are worried about right now is the working permit. My husband can't legally drive a car, fly on an airplane, or get a job. I feel so bad that I'm not able to file for him. I feel bad for the life he has to live, always looking over his shoulder even though he's never done anything wrong.

We have a lawyer. My husband paid him over $1,000 to "file" the paperwork-and that isn't even including the fees to the government directly. Amazing that this person apparently never asked my husband about my income, knowing that I was a student. The lawyer said I could type a letter to the immigration people (sorry I don't know the term, I've been up all night stressed) stating how much I've been earning this year so far, asking them to consider that as income even though I haven't been able to file a tax return for 2012 yet. It didn't work. Now he says I should write another letter explicitly stating why I don't have a tax return for 2011 (same reason I didn't file for my husband, duh. I was below the poverty line!)

So, my question is this. Is there any recourse for us now, or do we have to wait until next year when it's time to file taxes? I really, really don't want to wait that long. We desperately want to move back to WA and start school and get on with our lives. The gut feeling I have is that the government will respond by saying they will not consider my income until the end of the year. I'm miserable here beyond words. This sucks. I'm on the verge of hiring a new lawyer because I'm frustrated and I don't know what to do. Please help. less

We now live in Ohio (sadly.) I will look into corporations in our area. He is not very far along in his education unfortunately, but he does have years of experience in the maintenance and food service industries. Hopefully that will get him a job with a Co. that is immigrant-friendly. Thank you Stormy for the idea; I would have never thought of that. less