Massachusetts Immigration Legal Questions

Asylum is a protection granted by our government to a person who can show that he or she was persecuted or has a "well-founded fear" of persecution in his or her home country. As Palestine is not recognized as an autonomous country, the question for purposes of your applying for asylum that needs to be answered before you do so is - whom do you fear or are you afraid of? And, if the person(s) are not the Government, why is the Government no able to or unwilling to control the non-Governmental persecutor? You should consider consulting an experienced immigration attorney knowledgable about asylum If you are unable to afford a priavte attorney, your post notes that you are in Massachusetts. There are lots of pro bono legal services in MA to assist in immigration matters. The American Bar Association has a list here : http://apps.americanbar.org/legalservices/probono/directory/massachusetts.html One additional thing to note. Current U.S. law requires that a person applying for asylum apply within 1 year of having entered the U.S. or show that there are extraordinary or changed circumstances that should excuse the one year filing deadline in their particular case.... Read More

You and your father can fill out the DS – 160 form with the explanation that he was rejected three times previously as you stated for student and visitor visas approximately 25 years ago. The fact of rejection so long ago should not impact a consular officer's decision on whether to issue a visa now. As you point out, circumstances have changed in the 25 years. A consular officer will be more concerned with whether he or she believes that your father will return to India following a period of visit if he or she gives your father a visitors visa. 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 the 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 see no reason why you would not be able to apply for a K-1 petition for your fiancée in France while you are a student in France. You would of course have to submit the I-129F petition to the appropriate USCIS service center in the US and use your US address as your place of residence. The petition would take approximately 9 months until your fiancée interviews with the American Embassy in Paris. Upon approval, you can both go back to the States. You will of course have to marry within 90 days of your fiancée's entry, and she will have to apply for adjustment of status to permanent residence thereafter. 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 the 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 I understand the question, the US citizen is returning from France, and the non-US party wishes to enter the US on a tourist visa and then apply for a fiancée visa from the US. Assuming that I have the fact situation straight, a fiancée petition contemplates the non-US party being overseas and interviewing at an American consulate or embassy before entering the US. If your idea is to have the non-US party come with a tourist visa and then change status to a fiancée petition while here in the US, that cannot be done. 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 will assume that removing conditions on your residence refers to a marriage green card rather than an EB-5 immigrant investor's conditional residence. You should send any additional evidence to prove the bona fide relationship including photos, leases or deeds, mortgage papers or rental receipts, utility bills, telephone bills, credit card statements, cable bills, life insurance policies, proof that your spouse and you have the same health insurance, copies of drivers licenses or state IDs showing the same address, affidavits with IDs of persons who can attest to the bona fide character view marriage, or even junk mail that shows you both residing at the same address, etc. 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 you run out of time, you may decide to leave the country or to change your status to some other nonimmigrant category. On the first of two events, I-140 approval or the labor certification filing having exceeded 365 days, your employer may decide to file an H-1B extension on your behalf. 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

Your daughter is not a citizen just because you are her father.  Your daughter would have to live with you in the US while you have custody of her before that could happen.  Here is a link with more information. http://1.usa.gov/1GBzLU   If you just want her to visit you, she could do so on a visitor visa.  ... Read More

Dear SM,   You should ask this question of the accountant who filed the taxes.  The question on the N-400 asks whether you've filed to file a REQUIRED tax return.  It sounds as if the return was not required since your mother was claiming you.     Evelyne M. Hart, Esq.... Read More

They likely denied his visa application because they didn't have sufficient assurance that he would leave the US after his stay here.  This is a very common reason for denial.  Referencing a US citizen in the process won't help or hurt you or him.  He will have to wait six months before applying again, and he should only do so if he has evidence of stronger ties to his home country by then.... Read More

Unfortunately you do not appear to have acquired citizenship through your adoptive U. S. citizen parents. Under the law in effect at the time of your adoption, legacy INS had a cumbersome and lengthy procedure in place to naturalize adopted children involving an application, documentation, translations, etc. Many individuals were fairly frustrated by the seeming lack of priority given to these cases. Since your parents did not obtain your U. S. passport or certificate, you would not be considered a U. S. citizen. The law changed with the Child Citizenship Act which was signed on October 30, 2000 and became effective on February 27, 2001. At that point, an adopted child could automatically obtain citizenship if at least one of the adoptive parents was a U. S. citizen, the child was under the age of 18, there was a full and final adoption of the child, and the child was admitted to the U. S. as an immigrant. The law, however, applied only to a child who was under the age of 18 on February 27, 2001. 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

It appears that you have been supporting him in his fight to remain in the US and are now fed up with him so that you would like to have him removed despite the fact that you have two children together. You could initially inform his immigration lawyer that you will no longer support his case. In addition, if your husband is found guilty of a crime of domestic violence, he would have no relief from removal in the end. You could then notify his attorney, the ICE attorneys and the immigration court of a domestic violence conviction as you would undoubtedly be aware of any conviction. 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

Dear Dreamer:  If iyou obtained a work permit through DACA you probably are not eligible to obtain a GC since DACA benefited kids out of status.  However, I have had DACA clients who were eligible for Permanent Residency through 245i ( a petition or labor certifcation was filed for the kid's parent before April 30,2011) or through a provisional waiver through marriage to a USC.  You should check if either apply to you.  If not, you can under current law work, start your own business, and renew the work card in 2 years.  And, if we do have Immigration Reform you may be eligible. Pam Barnett... Read More

I'm not sure what you mean by "he went to the police and falsely accused so he can be granted a 10 green card."  Do you mean that you petitioned him for a green card based on your marriage to him?   If was married before and did not divorce wife #1 and married you, then your marriage is void ab initio (meaning that your marriage is void from the beginning).  Therefore, his green card should be taken away from him.  You need to let USCIS know.        ... Read More