Georgia Immigration Legal Questions

There is normally no value in giving documents between 2010 and 2020 as they are not within the five-year period of time required to make an adjudication on your naturalization case. USCIS officers are generally not enamored with having to plow through documents that are not required for an application as they have many cases to go through and many officers are backlogged on their cases. However, if you have arrests and/or convictions between those years, they would be relevant and documentation of such should be presented. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Esqs.’ (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.... Read More

Good question. My answer is - maybe. The unfavorable factors are that you have never worked for the company for which you were picked, and the petition has not been approved. It is no fault of yours that you have not worked for that company since you have no authority to do so until the H-1B is approved. However, transfers are generally easier to do where a beneficiary has been working for the company. There is the possibility of a H-1B transfer, but USCIS would have to be convinced that your first H-1B petition is approvable during the adjudication of the petition by your new employer C. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Esqs.’ (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.... Read More

A US Citizen residing overseas can sponsor his spouse after marriage for a green card and process at the US Consulate where you reside. At your interview, you would need to convince the officer that you both have taken concrete steps to relocate to the US and can prove that through documentaary evidence. ... Read More

You didn't disclose why the case was denied. Did you attend a marriage interview? If so, the case was most likely denied because the officer didn't believe the marriage was bona fide. If you received an employment authorization after that, it's not because the main case was reopened. That's a different department that handles work authorizations and if the adjustment case was denied, then the work permit is not valid. You can always apply again for a green card if your evidence the second time is more convincing than the first time. ... Read More

The conditions for H-4 employment are that the H-1B holder either has a labor certification pending for at least 365 days or has an I-140 preference petition approved. Assuming that one of those conditions is met, you could apply for both benefits concurrently with forms I-539 Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status and I-765 Application for Employment Authorization. You can make the application as soon as the condition is met by your husband since the EAD is open market under which you can work for any employer including your present one. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Esqs.’ (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.... Read More

For the month of January 2024, immigrant visas are being given to those in the F-3 category who applied prior to April 22, 2009. So the waiting line is now 14 ½ years. During the waiting time, USCIS does not allow individuals to remain in the US and work just on the basis that they are being applied by a parent for immigration under that category. However, in answer to your question, there is nothing that precludes you from applying for the F-3 category while your wife is applying for her green card here under L-1. It would appear that the quicker application would be through your wife, especially if she is a multinational executive or manager and the organization decides to sponsor her for permanent residence. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Esqs.’ (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.... Read More

When you marry a woman with children who are not yours, they become your stepchildren under US immigration law if they are under the age of 18 at the time of your marriage. Assuming that was the case, it would appear that DNA testing should not have been a requirement for the children’s case so long as you have a bona fide marriage with their mother, and that the marriage was not entered into just in order to accord US immigration privileges. There is a possibility that the consular officer may have been concerned about the bona fides since your spouse was probably accorded the immigrant visa based upon her ability to satisfy the bona fide requirement – which burden may have been less in light of the representation that you had common children. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Esqs.’ (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.... Read More

As you probably know, you can only a form I-485 adjustment of status application if your priority date is current. For you to legally file such adjustment, your priority date on the F-3 petition would have to be before March 1, 2010 unless you are from Mexico or the Philippines, in which case it is a much longer wait. Assuming that you are able to file for the adjustment of status, you can also file for an I-765 application for employment authorization as that is an ancillary application to which adjustment of status filers are eligible. You would also be eligible to file for I-131 advance parole to leave the US temporarily during the time that the adjustment of status application is pending. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Esqs.’ (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.... Read More

Your mother can file for a nonimmigrant visa during the time that you have filed an immigrant visa petition on her behalf. The decision of whether to approve the nonimmigrant visa will be up to the American consular officer in a determination of whether he or she is convinced that your mother will return to the home country after the brief period of visit. She must put down on the DS-160 application form that you are in the United States and that she has had an immigrant visa petition filed on her behalf. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Esqs.’ (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.... Read More

Generally, everyone making a visa application to the United States is judged upon his or her own merits. A consular officer looking at an applicant for a visitor visa will usually check to see whether the individual has ties and bonds to the home country, and this may include any means of financial support. Her father would probably only come into the picture if she is dependent or even partly dependent upon him. INA 212(a)(2)(C)(ii) also makes ineligible for admission the spouse, son, or daughter of a known drug trafficker or where there is reason to believe that the person has been a drug smuggler where the applicant has within the previous five years obtained any financial or other benefit from the illicit activity of the parent, and knew or reasonably should have known that the financial or other benefit was the product of such illicit activity. That section would likely only come into effect if her father’s trafficking activities continued after the 1980s.  Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Esqs.’ (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.... Read More

Unfortunately USCIS does not give employment authorizations for individuals attempting to change status from visitor to F-1 student. For that matter, it does not give automatic employment authorization to those who successfully change to F-1 student. Such successful applicants are allowed to work part-time on campus, but outside only with the approval of the educational institution under curriculum practical training or with USCIS permission for optional practical training or if there are severe economic hardship conditions which have occurred after one academic year of schooling or if there are emergent circumstances which are generally defined by USCIS as world events that affect a specific group of F-1 students and which causes them to suffer severe economic hardship, including, but not limited to natural disasters, wars and military conflicts, national or international financial crises. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Esqs.’ (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.... Read More

Your fact situation is confusing to me as you say that the application was denied, that you did not file another application, but that you do have an approved form I-130. The confusion lies in your stating that your father filed for you, a married person, when he only had the green card – and that would be a filing that does not conform with the law of eligibility. Nevertheless, assuming that an I-130 petition was approved at some point for you prior to the time of your father’s passing away, and you were in the US at the time, that petition might be a basis for a permanent residence application. As the facts are unclear, I suggest that you should consult with an immigration lawyer to go over your entire situation and for him or her to explore with you any steps that might be able to be taken. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Esqs.’ (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.... Read More

A US consular officer does not have the authority to overlook grounds of inadmissibility. If your father was deported previously, one question is whether he served out the entire time of the bar before coming back to the US. When he reentered the US, did he enter legally or illegally? If he entered illegally before April 1, 1997, he would be eligible to file waiver applications after his interview with the US consulate. On the other hand, if he reentered illegally on or after that date, he would have incurred a permanent bar under which he will not be able to request permission to return to the US as an immigrant until 10 years after he left the US a couple of years ago. The granting of permission to reapply at that point would be in the discretion of the Attorney General. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Esqs.’ (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.  ... Read More

Yes, but you must demonstrate to the satisfaction of USCIS that it should accept your application sooner.  Normally, this is done by filing and securing a divorce order, but there may be other options best discussed at a consultation with a competent and experienced immigration attorney.... Read More

Yes a conditional green card holder can self petition for a permanent green card under the violence against women act (VAWA) if she has been abused and physically assaulted by her husband. I would recommend that you retain counsel to process your application, because you really only have one chance to get it right.... Read More

So a United States citizen can sponsor their step child for a green card, provided that child lawfully entered the United States with inspection And provided that the marriage between the stepparent and the biological stepchild parent occurred prior to the child's 18th birthday. You should retain counsel to process the case so that it goes smoothly and without delays. Counsel in any state can lawfully represent you.   ... Read More

  From our experience, USCIS will usually hold back ancillary applications like employment authorization where it issues a request for initial evidence in an adjustment of status case. I note that USCIS is very long on adjudicating EAD applications based upon marriage and was just sued by persons in your situation who complained that they had all been waiting 7-13 months without an adjudication. If you answer the request for evidence, your EAD application will likely not suffer any time lost given the extensive “normal” processing times of USCIS. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Esqs.’ (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.... Read More

Generally, a foreign national must be a Permanent Resident for five years before becoming eligible to apply to become a naturalized U.S. citizen. An exception allowing a wait of only three years generally is available to someone who is married and living in a bona fide marriage with a U.S. citizen. (Note also that an application may be filed as early as 90 days before the end of the 5-year or 3-year period.) Since you no longer are living together in a bona fide marriage to a U.S. citizen, the three-year period will not apply to you. It would be wise for you to consult with an immigration attorney who, after learning all of the relevant information, could advise about eligibilities, options and strategies to attain your goals, and who then could offer legal representation in the often complex application process.... Read More

Probably the better thing for you to do is to allow your H-1B status to expire if there will be a gap between your resignation and the time that you file for permanent residence under your marriage case. Expiration of status is not a bar to adjustment of status in your circumstances. In addition, a change of status application to B-1 or B-2 involves an assertion that you will be leaving the country at the end of the temporary period of stay. Such an application is not to be a stopgap to your morphing into permanent residence. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Esqs.’ (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.... Read More

Based on your daughters age and your relationship to her, she will not qualify to be sponsored by you in the immediate relative category. Thus If she falls out of status while she's here, when the visa becomes available, she will not be able to qualify for sponsorship to get lawful permanent residence.... Read More

  If and when your priority date becomes current under the Department of State monthly visa bulletin, you can file for adjustment of status on form I-485. There are two monthly charts – “filing dates” and “final action dates”. USCIS determines which chart can be used during each month for filing adjustment of status applications. So for example, if the filing dates chart has reached your priority date but not the final action dates chart and USCIS decides to go with final action dates for the month, you cannot file your adjustment of status application. Also of course, you must continue to maintain your legal nonimmigrant status to file form I-485 since you are not in an immediate relative category. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Esqs.’ (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.... Read More

Persons working outside the US for a US company are generally not required to have Social Security numbers. Those numbers are given to people in the US. In applying for an F-1 visa, I do not see why your non-possession of a Social Security number would be negative to your interview. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Esqs.’ (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.... Read More