QUESTION
Can we change our status with B1/B2 visa holder?
Asked on Sep 01st, 2013 on Immigration - Texas
More details to this question:
Our daughter is 27 years old US citizen and a registered Nurse Supervisor by profession in New York City. We will go back to New York City by May 2014 as a tourist, in which my daughter will file/submit her petition to us parents to Green Card as immediate family one week after our arrival in New York. Is it legal to change our status in the US? From B1/B2 to Permanent Resident. Thank you so much.
3 ANSWERS
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Yes. It is possible to adjust your status from B1/B2 to a Permanet Resident while in the United States. However, if you submit your application within 60 days of your arrival in the US, it's possible that USCIS may allege that you had a preconceived intent to remain in the US permanently and accuse you of committing visa fraud.
Answered on Sep 10th, 2013 at 1:04 PM
Rebecca T White
You may change status from visitor to permanent resident. However, you may not enter as a visitor intending to remain as an immigrant. A filing within 60 days of your arrival as a non-immigrant will trigger an assumption of immigrant intent at the time of your entry. You may wish to consider consulate processing, or at least delay the adjustment filing.
Answered on Sep 10th, 2013 at 1:04 PM
One may enter the U.S. on a B1/B2 visitors or tourist visa only if one has the intent to enter the U.S. temporarily and then return abroad. Entering with the intent to promptly file to adjust status to become a Permanent Resident (to get a "Green Card") is likely to be determined to be "visa fraud," which can have very harsh consequences. It may be permissible, however, to enter the U.S. with a genuine intention to stay temporarily, but later decide in favor of seeking to become a Permanent Resident, but as you can see, details about this can become complex and problematic. There is no substitute for engaging an immigration attorney to learn all of the relevant facts, including your goals, and then advise about eligibilities, options and strategies. Some immigration law firms, including mine, offer legal services on a "flat fee" basis so that a client will know the total expense from the very beginning, and a few immigration law firms, including mine, offer an initial consultation free of charge.
Answered on Sep 10th, 2013 at 1:04 PM