Whether it’s better to obtain a green card before leaving, after living out of status following marriage to a U.S. soldier
Hello, I entered on ESTA and have been out of status for over a year. During that time, I was preparing for a green card, but since my husband is in the military, we kept going back and forth on whether he’d be posted to Korea, so I’ve just been living without a green card this whole time.
Since the move to Korea is now confirmed, I was told the earliest I could leave is in 90 days. So I’d like to know if it’s better, even though it’s late, to get my green card before leaving, or if I leave without it, whether I could get a waiver for the resulting 10-year bar, and whether I can leave while my green card application is pending.
You can file for a green card, and while it’s pending, obtain travel authorization and then leave.