Can I help my boyfriend get papers to live in the US?

Hi: When your boyfriend turned 18, he started cumulating days of unlawful presence. Once a person has 180 days of illegality but less than a year, he / she is subject to a 3 year ban when leaving the US. Once he has more than one year, he is subject to a 10 year ban. This complicate a case and makes it more difficult (and expensive). Hopefully, your boyfriend has less than 180 days. It may be possible to proceed through consular processing without him needing a unlawful presence waiver to get his paper. I urge that your bring your boyfriend to an attorney (Many have free consultation) to make sure there is no other issues. A fianc visa or a spouse visa would probably the easiest way, but an attorney could screen for other options as well. There is not enough facts in your emails to have a perfect answer. Good luck.

You need to determine if your boyfriend is eligible under 245i law, that will allow him to apply for a green card via marriage in the US. If anyone filed any paperwork with immigration or the Department of Labor for his parents or for himself before April 30, 2001, then he probably is. Otherwise you can sponsor him but he needs to leave the US and this will trigger a ten year bar. You then will file an extreme hardship waiver at the US consulate in Mexico. If approved he will be allowed back in. If not, he will be barred for ten years. The US consulate in Mexico has a strong history of approving well prepared waivers where the person entered as a minor and has no other transgressions.