My husband has been here since 1999, what are the chances of him not having to leave the country to get legalized?

Unless he applied for a family petition or labor certification before 4/30/01, or entered the country lawfully, he has to leave.

That will depend how he entered the country. If legally and you are a US Citizen, you can petition him. *Request for Marriage and Adjustment of Status Application* A marriage proposal and application for adjustment of status must be prepared and presented. Our firm can prepare and send this petition to the USCIS office that initially resolved such requests .. The work permit application is also presented and it usually takes several months to get cast. The last interview for the Green Card will be around one year after the filing of the petition. There are a myriad of different ways, exhibitions and information that needs to be completed. Any of these items, if done poorly, it could request denied or delayed indefinitely. However, if he entered illegally and is not under 245(i), you would have to take a different route. ** *Consulate Processing and Waiver of Inadmissibility* In this particular case, first the Consulate Processing must be completed. This allows the petition to first be sent to the National Visa Center, and then the appropriate documents and package to go to the U.S. Consulate or Embassy. This would be the basic procedure whereby the petitioner in the United States submits a petition to allow the beneficiary to come into the United States as a lawful permanent resident. Generally speaking, from the time we submit the Consulate Processing until the interview at the U.S. Consulate or U.S. Embassy, the time is around one year. A Waiver of Inadmissibility will have to be obtained. The procedure for this will be that the Waiver will be able to be submitted to the USCIS inside the U.S., rather than outside the U.S. Additionally, once the regulations are finalized, it will be able to be submitted PRIOR to leaving the United States and if approved, a Provisional Waiver will be issued. In this case, upon exiting the U.S., you would not have to wait years for adjudication of the Waiver as the hope is that is already approved and it would simply be a matter of having the Consulate Processing interview and returning. This is an application that will include a legal brief, forms, documents, exhibits, declarations and other evidence. My firm can prepare the entire waiver, and attach all of the necessary documents. It will take several months for the decision, and if done correctly, there is a good chance of an approval. The Waiver essentially makes the crime or ground of ineligibility disappear so that entry or re-entry will be allowed into the U.S. Please note that the Waiver is the critical part of this application, and unless approved, there cannot be any other petition that will allow entry into the U.S. Therefore, the Waiver must be prepared with significant supporting documents.

You will need to consult with an attorney to discuss your specific situation. When and how he entered the country, how old he is now, and his family immigration history will all be factors, as will whether you are a US citizen or not.

This is a very difficult and complex situation. I need to know the particulars of your husband's entry into the United States. This will determine the route to take in keeping him in the States without having him go out-of-country to start the legalization process. Did he enter with a Visa that later expired or did he enter without a Visa? Call or email to discuss this matter further, unfortunately this is a very, very delicate problem that must be addressed. There is hope, however, it will be a hard and difficult process, but that can be done.

I assume he entered the US illegally. I further assume you and the child are US citizens(or at least one of you are). Based on the above, he is eligible for cancellation of removal. He has to show extreme and unusual hardship to you or your child. Please consult with an experienced immigration lawyer.

If he entered with papers of any sort, he can probably stay in the country while becoming legal. If he entered the US without papers, then it is almost certain that he will need to leave the country to become legal. There are rare exceptions to this, so if he did enter without papers you should consult an immigration attorney to fully understand all possible options.

If he entered the US unlawfully and no one had ever filed a petition on his behalf that would qualify him for 245i protection, he will have to go outside the US to consular process for his immigrant and be subject to a 10 year bar due to unlawful presence under the current immigration laws.

There are new procedures regarding the 601 waiver process for those who have been in the US without status for over 6 months, like your husband. This will shorten the time period he will need to be out of the country if he qualifies for such a waiver. You should contact me or another immigration attorney of your choice to schedule a consult for further information.

If your husband qualifies for cancellation of removal he would not have to leave the country.