Colorado Immigration Legal Questions

Your criminal defense attorney is required by a recent Supreme Court decision to properly advise you about the immigration consequences of your plea.  If he or she is not familiar with immigration law, they are required to consult with someone who is.  You should raise this question with your criminal defense attorney and refer them to the case of Padilla v. Kentucky.... Read More

Only US citizens can file for their siblings. In your present status as a green card holder, you cannot file for your siblings. Next, your mother is only a green card holder herself. Under current law, she cannot also file for her married children. She must also wait until she becomes a US citizen before she can file petition for her married children. I write separately to advise you that even when you and or your mother becomes US citizens, those options are not viable. Assuming you are a green card holder, filing for your siblings [under Family 4th Preference takes at least 12 years for your siblings to come to the US. Next, when your mother becomes US citizen and files for her married daughter, Family 3rd Preference, your married sister will not come to the US for at least 11 years. There are options under immigration law through which, your remaining family members can legally come to the US in a much faster period. But you'd need to consult with an experienced immigration lawyer to help you.... Read More

I assume you are referring to an I-130 Petition not an I-300. I'm confused because your husband would have to file the I-130. In any case, it sounds like you have a strong case for a VAWA Petition but you will need alot of evidence and other documents. I do not recommend you filing a VAWA on your own because it is a very involved process and has to be done carefully. Talk with an Immigration Attorney and he can help you with the process.... Read More

Yes, you can petition for your father only. However, once he gets his permanent residence and petitions for your mother and brother, it will be about 3 years before they would be able to immigrate. Please let me know if you have any additional questions or how I can be of further assistance to you in this matter.... Read More

IF you have really been in the US all that time and already have a 245i petition that protects you, why would you have to submit a fabricated letter to prove employment? There is no requirement that you be employed at the moment to qualify for DACA. You can submit a new application and only submit valid, legitimate evidence.... Read More

It is going to take about 6-8 years for a son/daughter over the age of 21 of a US citizen to be eligible for an immigrant visa, given the current processing times. If already in the US, the beneficiary has to remain in valid status to be able to get the green card when the priority date becomes current.... Read More

You should have asked these questions before he left. He did not have to leave and you could have filed for the I-130 and his I-485 concurrently so that the entire process could be completed within the US within about 4-5 months. There is no way to extend the visa waiver I-94 that is why he should have just stayed. Now that he has left and you have a pending petition on his behalf, he may not be allowed to reenter as it will be seen that he has immigrant intent.... Read More

An alien who has made entry into US under one non-immigrant visa may before the expiry of the period of stay change to another non-immigrant visa category, if so qualified. However, depending on the timing of such change, CIS may have concerns regarding your true intent when you entered in one visa category and then changed to another visa category. An H-1 b petition allows you to work under the terms of the H1b. However, you are permitted to work as an H1B non-immigrant work er only for the employer who filed the H1 b petition and then, only after the approval.... Read More

You should not have to file the Form I-864 when you are filing the Form I-130 petition since the beneficiary is outside the US. However, when CIS approves the I-130 , your next step is to file immigrant visa applications with the NVC. At that time, as the petitioner, you will include the I-864 with the immigrant visa package that is sent to the Embassy by the NVC.... Read More

If a) your boyfriend entered the U.S. legally, with a visa, b) you are a citizen of the U.S.; and c) you marry him, - then you can file an petition with US Citizenship & Immigration Services asking that your husband be permitted to remain in the U.S. as a lawful permanent resident. USCIS will consider your petition, check your boyfriend's background, and call you both for an interview. If you convince the USCIS officer at the interview that you two got married because you love each other and want to be a family (not just to get a green card for your boyfriend), the petition will be approved, and your husband will receive a green card for 2 years, conditioned on his marriage to you: if your marriage does not survive 2 years, your husband will lose his green card. 18 months later, you both will ask the USCIS to remove the conditions on your husband's green card. At the second interview, you will have to convince USCIS officer, again, that your marriage is real; if you succeed, your husband will receive a permanent green card (one that he will keep even if you divorce him); otherwise, USCIS will ask him to leave the U.S. 33 months after getting his first green card, if he will still be married to you, your husband will be able to apply for U.S. citizenship. This is the procedure. Difficulties can arise if your fiance has criminal convictions, a history of immigration law violations in the U.S., or some other disqualification that would bar his becoming a permanent resident. Another problem that you might face is that you would have to show financial ability to support him in the U.S.; for a family of 2, you would have to show income of over $19388 a year. If you don't have that kind of income, and don't have significant assets, you would have to find a co-sponsor. Finally, you might want to know that the government filing fees on the first stage (up to the getting a 2-year green card) are $1490.... Read More

To become married, you can simply register before the civil registrar in your municipality or go through a religious ceremony. Regardless of which, you should have photographs taken of the occasion. When you later file for your wife's paperwork, an immigration officer will likely wish to see the pictures. If you have a religious ceremony, you should have the official certificate of marriage from the state before filing for your wife. Finally you should ascertain whether she is subject to a two-year foreign residence requirement because of her acceptance of a J-1 visa. That can be ascertained by examining both her visa and her form DS – 2019. If subject, the visa will say "subject to section 212(e) or the DS – 2019 will have checkmarks in the lower left section as to whether she is subject by way of a skills list or governmental financing. Being subject to a two-year foreign residence requirement means that your wife would not be eligible to file for final immigration either in the U. S. or overseas at an American consulate or embassy until she has either been overseas for 2 years or has obtained a waiver of the foreign residence requirement. We note that Peru has an extensive skills list (a listing of those skills that a country designates as wanted back). If she is subject, the first step would probably be to approach Peru’s consulate or Embassy in the U.S. to request a no objection statement to staying in the U.S.  ... Read More

You should carefully consider whether it is wise to even travel outside the US at this time while you have a criminal case pending, especially so close to the deadline for filing your I-751 petition to remove the conditions on your temporary green card status. Instead, postpone this travel and wait for as long as it takes to resolve this matter. To do so, hire a criminal lawyer right away to represent you. If you do not have a prior criminal record, your lawyer should be able to get your case resolved with either an outright dismissal of the charges or a disorderly conduct violation without an admission on the record of plea to anything relating to shop lifting. As an LPR, you cannot afford a "hit" to any crime which may be grounds for deportation. While this appears to be a relatively minor crime. and for which a waiver is able to most LPR's I am afraid you may find that you do not qualify since you only just got a green card. Either way, to be sure you are making a decision you will not regret latter, you must hire an immigration attorney ASAP to work with your criminal lawyer in getting a safe disposition from the criminal court that will not negatively affect your US immigration status.... Read More