New Jersey Immigration Legal Questions

Your situation sadly illustrates the problem that arises sometimes when persons have to reschedule their cases with U.S.C.I.S. Unfortunately this is more than a rare occurrence. I suggest that you change your address with U.S.C.I.S. electronically. It is a close call, however, as I do recognize your concern, but in a close situation, it is usually better to do what is required. 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 Answer

You should be able to file a petition for your sister's permanent residence, but that would be under the F-4 category and the waiting time is approximately 12 years. 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 Answer

For your Stokes interview, you should bring whatever proof that you have of living with your husband and explain your situation to the immigration officer. If your husband's mother and sisters are willing to come and testify, such might be helpful in establishing that you would have reason to file a VAWA claim. In such an application, the burden would be upon you to show that you lived with your husband and that he abused you physically or mentally to such an extent as to qualify you for the VAWA Act protections. 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 Answer

When the I-130 is approved, it is standard procedure for U.S.C.I.S. to forward the approved petition to the National Visa Center. Upon receipt, the NVC sends a notice to the petitioner that it has received the petition and assigns it a case number. From that point forward, the NVC will only notify the petitioner or the applicant of further work to be done and documents to be given if the immigrant visa is immediately available or close to becoming available. If the I-130 petition has been approved and you have heard nothing from the NVC, you can contact the NVC by telephone at 603-334-0700 or by email at AskNVC@state.gov. 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 Answer

Unknown factors in your question make it difficult to give good advice. Where were you born? What is the nature of your brother's company? What is the setup of his company? Is it profitable? What other options might you have? I suggest that you make an appointment with an immigration lawyer who can go over all of your circumstances. Insofar as your question of whether you can change status from B-1 to H-1B directly, you would likely not be able to do so with your brother's company because of timing issues, but might be able to do it with a cap exempt organization such as an institution of higher education, an organization affiliated with an institution of higher education, a government research Institute, or a nonprofit research institute. Companies like your brother's are subject to the annual cap on H-1B visas, and can only file H-1B visa petitions during the first five business days of each April. 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 Answer

I cannot think of an appropriate visa for your friend from Brazil to change status to in order to do freelance video production unless he is good enough to qualify for O-1 extraordinary alien status. If not, he may wish to consult with an immigration lawyer to go over his options and what compromises he is willing to make with his goals if he is eligible to obtain some other type of visa status to remain in the country for a longer period of time. 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 Answer

A denied I-130 petition does not allow for retention of priority date with a later filing. If you can prove that U.S.C.I.S. sent the notice to an incorrect address or made some other error, you may be able to reopen the I-130 determination. You would have to further communicate with U.S.C.I.S. the way the you are doing it now to gain more information, or arrange for an infopass at a local field office (if that is allowed) or request a copy of the file through the Freedom of Information Act. 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 Answer

Although this answer may not help you at this point (it being after February 22), anyone who is in the US with a valid B-2 status is allowed to request an extension with U.S.C.I.S. on form I-539 application to change or extend status in the United States. Such application should be filed with an explanation of the reason why an extension is required, proof of financial ability to remain in the US during the requested period of stay without working, and proof of arrangements to leave the US on or before the ending date of the requested extension. A note of caution should be inserted that U.S.C.I.S. denial after the date of valid B-2 status expiration automatically invalidates the visa in the passport. 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 Answer

While a person should apply for a EAD while in the country, I am not aware of any rule or regulation that an individual cannot travel outside the country while the EAD is in process. 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 Answer

F-1 students are not supposed to work except with permission of the school (CPT) or U.S.C.I.S. (OPT). They are not allowed to work with an EAD based upon adjustment of status and still maintain F-1 status. Neither are they allowed to leave the US under advance parole under F-1 status. Your school is saying that for you to maintain your F-1 status, you should wait until you graduate to apply for OPT. If you decide to use the adjustment of status EAD and advanced parole, you would be relying upon your adjustment of status application to maintain status in the US instead of the F-1 student status which would technically no longer be valid. 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 Answer

It is hard to say as U.S.C.I.S. is systematically delaying a great many cases since Mr. Trump became president. In New York, we have family-based adjustment cases that were filed in November 2017 which have not yet been called to interview. Under current processing times of U.S.C.I.S., individuals cannot even inquire about family based I-485 cases unless they were filed by September 18, 2016 . 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 Answer

You can remarry and re-sponsor the individual, but U.S.C.I.S. would look at the case with suspicion as you have already withdrawn the petition once. You can expect close questioning at the interview. 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 Answer

In seeking immigration benefits, the burden of proof falls upon the applicant to convince U.S.C.I.S. by a preponderance of the evidence (over 50%) that what the applicant says is true. In your case, you may wish to start off with affidavits by reputable people in the community who know and can state the details of your residence in the US during that one year. Credit cards and bills in your own name would help. If you took out a library card or applied for anything else for which there is a record, that would also help. Finally if your family takes many pictures, dated photographs might be accepted. You, your daughter and her husband should go through all the stuff in your place to see if anything else can help. 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 Answer

In an RFE concerning birth paper, U.S.C.I.S. usually wishes to see one registered contemporaneously with the birth (within one year). If not, secondary evidence such as baptismal certificates, early schooling records, or delayed birth papers with affidavits of others describing how they knew of the facts of birth, etc., may be accepted in lieu thereof. 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 Answer

no..but the issue that will affect you is that the sponsor (you) who petitions for the foreign national (your husband) must complete a financial affidavit that shows that you have sufficent income to meet the guidelines for a family of 4. If you dont have sufficent income, then you have to find a joint sponsor who does have sufficent income to meet the guidelines for a family of 4. ... Read Answer

Current processing times at the California Service Center indicate that F-4 processing is taking between 7-11 years. The entire process from the time of submitting the petition until interview at the embassy is probably a little over 13 years at present. At this time, the Trump administration is not curtailing the number of immigrant visas which is being distributed. To your other question of what would happen if a petitioning mother passed away during the pendency of the immigration process for her sons, the answer would depend upon whether she was in the United States and whether the sons were in the US at the time of her death or whether the sons were overseas. Preservation of the case would be easier if all parties were in the US at the time of her death. Otherwise the case would have to go through humanitarian reinstatement in which U.S.C.I.S. would have to reaffirm the petition based on humanitarian grounds. 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 Answer

Is she in Egypt or here? If she is here she could adjust status but if she’s overseas then she can process at the consulate after marriage or she could obtain a fiancé visa and enter the country and get married here within 90 days after entry. Discuss with counsel. Counsel anywhere in the USA can assist you.... Read Answer

If everything is regular, I do not see that you would have a problem renewing the green card even though it expired in 2013. The expiration of the green card does not mean that you are no longer a permanent resident. 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 Answer