California Immigration Legal Questions

You do not have the proper relationship to petition your grandmother for permanent residence. That could only be done by her children and not her grandchildren. You can attempt to apply for  her deferred departure, but I note that the Trump administration highly disfavors the extension of this type of relief and attempted to end it for a number of people recently before backing down under tremendous public pressure. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (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

The I-751 petition to remove the conditional basis of residence status mainly looks to see whether the marriage is bona fide. As you have two young children, that burden would be met. If you are both going to the Philippines for 4-5 months, that would probably be all right, but if you put up the petition before leaving, your wife must return for the biometrics. I also note that under the new public charge rule due to come into effect on October 15, 2019, an absence of six months or more may subject a resident to questions concerning ability to support oneself without resorting to public benefits. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (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

If your mother-in-law served three years in jail for trying to smuggle drugs into the US, the likelihood of her coming back as a permanent resident is not good unless she is able to reopen the conviction and have it overturned. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (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

The current waiting time seems to be approximately 12-13 years for a person born in any other country than India, the Philippines or Mexico, and so if your brother was born in Fiji, he would probably be waiting another 2 to 3 years to immigrate. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (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

An individual is considered to have violated nonimmigrant status if he or she studies in most situations while on a B-2 visiting visa. If your son still has time, it would probably be safer for him to begin studying after you file for his adjustment status application and after the B-2 visa status expires. He does not require a Social Security number to enroll in a college. He can obtain a Social Security number if he also applies for employment authorization at the same time that he applies for the green card. Employment authorization usually takes between 3-6 months after filing. With an employment authorization card, he can request a Social Security card from the Social Security Administration. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (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 the issuance of F1 visas is discretionary with US consuls. A section 214 denial is one for lack of nonimmigrant intent while the other is for inadmissibility for either conviction or finding that you have committed an inadmissible criminal offense. Perhaps you can put together a package to overcome the finding of immigrant intent with all evidence of your ties and bonds to the home country and why you will return to your home country following the end of your schooling, and present that in another visa interview with the US consulate or embassy. If you can overcome the question of intent, and if the consular officer still makes a finding of inadmissibility for criminal offense, you can request a waiver to complete your schooling, and it will be up to the consular officer whether to recommend a waiver to the Admissibility Review Office (ARO) of U.S.C.I.S., which will make the ultimate decision. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (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

U.S.C.I.S. appointment letters for adjustment of status interviews mandate that in a marriage based case, the husband or wife must attend the interview. Other than that, petitioners are generally expected to attend the interview unless they are separated by long distances. If all the papers including the affidavit of support have been filed, your son or you (in the event that your son is young) can explain the situation with his stepmother and hopefully you can patch up your relationship with your wife. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (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

I assume that you will also be filing the I-485 adjustment of status application to permanent residence since you entered the US legally. In such case, it would be best for you to file the I-102 application at the same time that you file all of your paperwork. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (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

Although we are living in the age of Trump, I do not believe that we are to the point where boyfriends and girlfriends can get into trouble for harboring where they live together. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (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

The question here is whether your renting out the second room in your condo to a long-term roommate would constitute unauthorized employment. I think that most persons in the immigration field would say that it does not inasmuch as you are living there and renting out the second room to someone that you already know. The equation might change if you moved out and was renting out the entire condo. In that situation, it would be safer to hire the third-party agency to manage the rental. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (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

If the priority date is not current on Chart A Dates of Final Action or Chart B Dates of Filing, the NVC should not be asking you to contact it once a year to keep the case.  There is no such obligation and NVC should further contact you when the date has been reached on Chart B Dates of Filing to submit Form DS-260 Application for Immigrant Visa and supporting documents. When the time comes, you can communicate with the NVC by email or by letter once a year to keep your case active. A simple request to keep the petition active for another year is sufficient. The best time to do so is probably within one month of the one-year deadline. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (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

The initial question is how you entered the United States and if you entered without inspection, whether you ever used advance parole to travel outside and reenter the country during your time as a DACA recipient. If you entered legally or were able to travel on advance parole, you might be able to file for adjustment of status without leaving the United States. (DACA members are now unable to obtain advance paroles).  In that case, you and your wife would probably be filing a concurrent I-130/I-485 package to adjust status. If you are not eligible for adjustment in the above circumstances, you might be able to apply under  the I-601A program under which your wife would file an I-130 preference petition for you and upon approval, you would file for an I-601A  provisional waiver of the 10 year bar for being in the US unlawfully for at least one year past the age of 18. The waiver application would be based upon extreme hardship to your wife if you were removed. Assuming that the application is approved, you would go through consular processing and be treated like all others when you interview overseas at the American consulate or embassy for an immigrant visa.  An adjustment of status in the US takes approximately one year on average and the I-601A process twice as long. I cannot give you a quote on how much this would cost you as every attorney charges differently, but an adjustment of status process would be much less than one involving an I-601A. You would most likely not be at risk for deportation during the process as you hold protected status as a beneficiary of the DACA program. You should of course apply to renew the status if you have not already done so already. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (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

Embezzlement is a crime involving moral turpitude at the very least and an aggravated felony at the worst if the amount embezzled exceeded $10,000 or the individual was sentenced to at least 1 year imprisonment. If there is to be a chance, there must be a petitioner capable of providing the basis upon which he can immigrate to the US, e.g. US citizen or permanent resident wife or child over the age of 21. He would also have to apply for a waiver of the crime, and so would have to have a spouse, parent, son or daughter who would suffer extreme hardship if the waiver application was turned down. Lacking those circumstances, you should not go forward.  Even with the elements in place, the chances of success are problematic.  Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (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

From our experience, we do not see too much benefit from your idea that you can receive a quicker adjudication of the H-4 EAD if you go outside to interview for the H-4 visa, enter the US, and then apply for the EAD alone instead of applying for both the change of status to H-4 and an employment authorization. U.S.C.I.S. accepts concurrent filings of both, and usually adjudicates the EAD application as soon as the H-4 is approved.  Also with the amount of time spent in applying for and receiving the H-4 visa overseas, there would likely not be much of a savings in time if any.  Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (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 there is no benefit to be received from a brother or sister who obtains a green card under US immigration law. You would have to keep maintaining your independent legal status in the US. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (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

The documented immigrant must check with the consulate or embassy of the home country to determine what the requirements are for the child to enter the country. I will assume for purposes of your question that the child was born in the U. S. and is a U. S. citizen. The documented immigrant should obtain a U. S. passport for the child and then check with the home government as to whether there are other requirements for the entry of the child. Coming back to the U. S., the documented immigrant’s passport and green card and the child’s U. S. passport would be sufficient for entry. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (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

Many people divorce in the United States every year. The fact that you are now heading to the divorce after obtaining your green card last year would not necessarily raise flags with U.S.C.I.S. You would not lose your green card based on that circumstance. You can also still naturalize in five years. At the naturalization interview, you may be asked questions to verify that the marriage was bona fide, but just on the circumstances that you present, there is nothing alarming. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (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