New York Immigration Legal Questions

As a US citizen, you can sponsor your girlfriend for a fiance visa, as long as you both have met in person within the last two years. The process takes roughly 8-11 months, before she is issued her k visa. After she arrives in the states, you have to marry within 90 days. Consider working with an attorney. Some attorneys, like myself, charge a very affordable flat fee to handle the case from start to finish (no hidden costs). Counsel in any state can represent you. ... Read Answer

Yes, if you are a US citizen, and you are sponsoring your Spouse for a green card, and he entered the country Legally, then you can still sponsor him with the assistance of a joint financial sponsor. The joint financial sponsor must have a green card or be a US citizen and reside in the continental United States.... Read Answer

Your brother’s threat to cancel your green card would appear to be empty if all the circumstances of your brother’s sponsoring you for the green card were legal. In addition, if he participated in some type of fraud have you enter the US, he may be placing himself in legal jeopardy if he takes any action. 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

Probably the best thing you can do is to write to the applicable USCIS field office where the interview will be conducted or the US Consulate if the interview is to be overseas giving as complete details as you can concerning the intending immigrant and the petitioner. You may also wish to send your correspondence by certified return receipt to keep a record of when the appropriate agency received your withdrawal notice. 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

The instructions of USCIS state that (C )10) applications are to be submitted to: USCIS Chicago Lockbox U.S. Postal Service (USPS): USCIS Attn: FBAS P.O. Box 805887 Chicago, IL 60680-4120 FedEx, UPS, and DHL deliveries: USCIS Attn: FBAS 131 South Dearborn-3rd Floor Chicago, IL 60603-5517 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 have a platform for legitimately requesting an H1B extension past the normal six year period of time – your I-140 approval. As such, assuming that no mistakes were made and your H-1B extension request is receipted, you are allowed to remain in the US pending the determination of the H-1B extension. You are further allowed to work for 240 days for the same employer in the same position past the present expiration date of your H-1B. 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

Employment authorization in cases like your daughter’s is an ancillary benefit to the filing of an I-485 application for adjustment of status. An I-485 cannot be filed until there is open visa availability. As a green card parent filing for a child over the age of 21 and unmarried, your daughter is under the F-2B category, and for most countries of the world, the visa availability date in January 2021 (under the dates for filing chart of the Department of State) is open for all cases filed prior to May 1, 2016. Even if the date is reached in the future, your daughter would generally not be able to file an I-485 application unless she has maintained legal nonimmigrant status until she obtains visa availability. 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

Under the current public charge rules, the income and assets of the petitioner are even more important than before. Factors to be taken into account are your past history of work, taxes paid in the past, prospects for work, assets, education, licenses, etc. You mother would also need a good cosponsor who could convince USCIS or the American consulate if mom is overseas that he or she would be willing to take up the support obligation. The current public charge rule is one that is undoubtedly on President-elect Biden’s immigration list to undo, but that will take some time as it was implemented as a regulation instead of as an executive order. 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 change status provided that you are in lawful status. If you have been given a job offer, then you Should retain counsel to represent you from start to finish for this change of status application. Several different government agencies have to be interacted with, including but not limited to the department of state and the department of labor, so that you can be approved for this change of status. It is a lot of complicated forms and documents that need to be filed and processed, and it takes a very long time to accomplish. You need to retain counsel in any state in the country To effectuate your objective.... Read Answer

If your husband has outstanding child support obligations, he should either pay the amount owing on child support, or if unable to do so, make a schedule with the child’s mother for the outstanding balance over time. Your husband’s inability to pay child support casts doubt upon his ability to support you under the I-864 affidavit of support, a requirement in your immigration case. 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

According to the law, the existence of green card petition in process is not by itself a bar to other nonimmigrant petitions. Additionally, offices handling green card petitions are different from those handling non-immigration petitions. That said it is important to understand that under an immigrant visa petition, a green card petition, you need to prove the basis of your case. In the case of marriage, specifically, a person must prove that she intends to make a life in the U.S. These representations are contrary to the ones you make when requesting a nonimmigrant visa. Under a non-immigrant visa petition, the petitioner must provide her tights to the country of origin and that she does not intent to live permanently in the U.S. Here is the problem, the affirmations made to get an nonimmigrant visa are different from those made to get a green card. In the long run this could be an issue, specially with the nonimmigrant petition, and it could be denied. ... Read Answer

When it comes to immigration petition one of the biggest mistakes of a person is not to attend an interview. However, it is also truth that only certain clases of relatives can file for a waiver of i lawful presence or entering without inspection. Usually, the existence of a parent or a spouse resident or US citizen can help a case. Finally, before jumping to any conclusions it is necessary to have more information about a case. ... Read Answer

As long as a person had not overstayed his visa, this person is probably available to come to the United States again if the visa allowing entry is unexpired. That said, it is worth highlighting that the information provided is insufficient to make a full assessment of the situation of a person. ... Read Answer

No one gets automatically deported after overstaying his visa and no I-130 is guarantee of status or a successful case. However, an I-130 can be used to avoid deportation. If a person files an I-130 before a deportation proceeding starts, that is good, because any immigration case started after a deportation proceeding starts puts all the burden of proof on the defendant (the person facing deportation). That said, it is worth noting that an overstay makes a case more complex that usual because a person may need a waiver of unlawful presence. ... Read Answer

To request an immediate relative, for example, an spouse. A petitioner must complete forms I-130 and I-131. In the I-130 the petitioner is asked different questions, among others for whom he is petitioning. If the beneficiary's children live with the beneficiary spouse and will immigrate with her, the petitioner spouse must include the children too. No separate form is necessary for children beneficiaries. Now, as to any additional issues to consider or the documentation that must accompany the petition it is best to consult an attorney. ... Read Answer

A petitioner may ask USCIS to expedite the adjudication of an application or petition for an immigration benefit. USCIS: Considers all expedite requests on a case-by-case basis. Requires documentation to support a request. Has the sole discretion to decide whether to grant or deny a request. Does not consider expedite requests for applications or petitions that have Premium Processing Service available.   If a case like these you probably can argue humanitarian reasons. You will need to collect evidence of the internal situation of the country at issue and of the particular circumstances of your wife to support your petition. Depending on the current status of the process, the possibility for USCIS to expedite the process changes.         ... Read Answer

The I-129 and I-539 are separate adjudications, and in most cases today are not together adjudicated. Part of it is because I-539 applicants must be scheduled for biometrics while I-129 beneficiaries are not. Your spouse is legally allowed to remain in the US until USCIS makes an adjudication on the application. 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

OK if you're a US citizen and you are sponsoring your child who is unmarried and over the age of 21, then he falls in the F1 preference category per the DOS visa state bulletin board. Currently the priority date that the state department is processing visas for under that category is 2015. So I strongly suggest before you file any documents to sponsor your son, you have a lawyer in your jurisdiction or outside your jurisdiction, review your sons entire case file and make the appropriate determination on how to proceed.... Read Answer

At this time, USCIS appears to be more receptive to applications to change status to B2 visitor because of the pandemic and the fear of traveling on long flights. 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 believe that the 240 days to which you refer are for extended work authorization of certain work-related visas when the petitions have not yet been adjudicated by the ending time of the visa status. That is usually associated with form I-129 rather than I-539, the latter of which is used for other nonworking visa extensions. If you applied for a B1 or B2 extension during the time of Covid, and wish to remain in the best state of legality, you would likely be better off filing for another extension prior to the expiration date of the time that you have requested even if no adjudication has yet been made. 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