yes on the unification. I have a friend who met and married a woman from Colombia who was here on a visa. This was LONG before immigration was such a debated issue. They cheerfully thought that the marriage meant she could stay, and for years just lived like a normal couple (no kids; they were older and on second marriages). Then she went back to Colombia because her mother was dying. And couldn't get back: it took several years and untold attorney fees to let her back into the country. She is back now: I don't know the arguments that succeeded. But it was a rude shock for both of them. She wasn't particularly interested in becoming a citizen herself and so never looked into how to get that status. The overstayed visa almost destroyed their marriage from the outside.