New York Immigration Legal Questions

Perhaps the most proactive thing that you can do is to go to the immigration office where the adjustment of status interview is scheduled and ask to speak to a supervisor. There is a chance that the interview can be rescheduled if your husband will be released soon, or accommodations can be made to interview him and you either in person at the place that he is incarcerated, or arranging to interview him by remote camera. 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 do not see the sense of attempting to apply for a visit in May when your 10 year ban ends in September. It could possibly take longer for U.S.C.I.S. to agree to admit you than September. There is of course no guarantee that an American consular officer will issue a visiting visa to you even after the 10 year bar is over. When you say that your brother applied for a change of status for you and the case was approved by the first processing, I assume that you mean that your brother is a US citizen and applied for an I-130 petition on your behalf which has already been approved and that he and you are awaiting information from the Department of State. Generally speaking, your brother should have received communication from the National Visa Center (NVC) of the Department of State when the I-130 petition was approved. The NVC would generally just advise that it had your case and give the NVC case number. A sibling case takes approximately 12 years for an individual to be interviewed for an immigrant visa. You would probably have to wait over 11 years before the NVC began sending paperwork to you and your brother concerning the payment of visa fees and giving a list of documentary requirements. Your chances of immigrating through your brother are probably better than your obtaining a nonimmigrant visitor's visa, the latter of which requires a showing of non-immigrant intent. 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

There are many countries that generally do not care about the immigration status of an immigration applicant in another country. The United States for one does not care, and we have immigrated many people to the States whose immigration statuses were not legal in a third country. More of an impediment is probably your age and possible lack of high education and working skills if attempting to immigrate through employment.  You would have to speak with people who know about the immigration rules of other countries on your specific circumstances. We unfortunately do not.  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 do not believe that your taking unemployment while having the green card will have an effect upon your ability to apply for you wife as long as there is adequate financial support for her to immigrate through your I-864 affidavit of support or a joint I-864 by a credible friend or relative. The nature of unemployment benefits is that you along with every other worker pays into the system, and you are supposed to benefit when you lose employment. Insofar as your citizenship is concerned, such would have no effect whatsoever. 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 person who applies for asylum and has no other status is here under grace, and not under a legal nonimmigrant status. In leaving the US, she would have given up her asylum claim. She would find it hard to come back to the US on a tourist visa. To an American consular officer, she would have a difficult time showing nonimmigrant intent. I am not sure from your fact situation if you are saying that you are in the process of trying to get the green card or if she is or was. If you are in the middle of the process, and if your process allows you to travel out of the US and your category does not bar you from being married, you may travel overseas to marry her and add her to your case if you are serious about her. Also if you are a US citizen and serious about her, you might be able to bring her back under a K-1 fiancée visa or through marrying her and petitioning directly for her permanent residence. With a green card, you would only be able to take the second route. I note that overstays of 180 days or one year bar an individual from returning to the US for three years or 10 years respectively with some exceptions. In the asylum application context, your girlfriend should be prepared to show that her asylum claim was not frivolous. 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 information, the limit on age to bring in a child is 21, not 18.  In your facts, you did not state whether the mother is married or unmarried. If married, the grandfather would have petitioned for her under the F-3 category which presently has a backlog of approximately 12 years. If single, the backlog is approximately 7 years. As you state that the mother's case will complete three years on April 26, 2019 meaning that the grandfather filed in April 2016, the child who is 25 definitely will not be allowed to immigrate as he or she was already over the age of 21 at the time of filing. Whether the other two children can ultimately immigrate will depend upon how long the I-130 petition pends at U.S.C.I.S. The pending time is considered a credit when counting the ages of children, and the longer the petition pends, the better for the other two children. 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

Marriage fraud is one of the forever bars for which there is no waiver. Any further petition is deniable unless the applicant is able to persuade U.S.C.I.S. and the US consular officer that there was actually no fraud. Such could be a situation in which the case is denied for fraud, but the applicant is subsequently able to prove that they have been living overseas together for a long time, or there is a child born of the union.  I do note that we have seen situations in which the consulate or embassy was uncertain of whether there was actual marriage fraud and did allow a waiver to be done, which approval resolved the situation.  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

As your wife is a permanent resident, there is no immediate visa availability and she would first file an I-130 preference petition on your behalf. You must then both wait to see when that date of filing becomes available for adjustment of status (you must determine it by seeing whether U.S.C.I.S. is accepting visa chart A (final action date) or visa chart B (filing date) for the month). When you see that the date is available, you can file for the I-485 adjustment of status application.  For the month of November, U.S.C.I.S. is using chart B, under which it is accepting I-485 applications from those who filed I-130 petitions less than a year ago before December 1, 2017. If the pattern continues, you could likely be processed for the green card in approximately 2 years as the final action date has moved to September 15, 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

Your question is unfortunately too vague to be answered. The US allows immigration mainly through family relations already in the US or through employment which is generally through sponsoring organizations or investment. Immigration can also come through asylum where individuals are already in the US or refugee status although that is being discouraged by the Trump administration. You should set up a consultation with an immigration lawyer who can go through your options. Many lawyers have telephonic consultations. 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

Assuming that you are single, the current processing time is approximately 7 years. If you are married, the processing would take 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

You can petition an immediate relative if you are over the age of 18 and a green-card holder or citizen. Non-biological mother must be married to your biological father to be qualified and considered for Immigrant Visa. Please discuss your case with an attorney, if you wish to move forward. Feel free to contact my office and speak with a case manager at 1 877-866-8665 or email help@smsattorneys.com to start working with an attorney... Read Answer

The difficulty here is that cases which are refused at the Consulate or Embassy and returned to the US are not a great priority. As a result, it is sometimes hard to get a straight answer as to where the case is at. You can try to get more specific information from the consulate or embassy as to when the case was actually sent back. You can also keep checking periodically with the NVC to see whether the case has passed through the NVC. You can also check with the approving service center to see whether it received the case back. If all else fails and you believe that the consulate or embassy was incorrect in rejecting your marriage case, you can refile. 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

Traditionally a person applying to change visa status from J-1 to F-1 in the US has been authorized to stay while the application is pending. That rule has been put in question by U.S.C.I.S. instructions that appear to indicate that all individuals and not just "B" visa holders (business or visitor visa holders) should maintain their legal nonimmigrant status until the time that U.S.C.I.S. adjudicates the change of status application. The new instruction appears puzzling for a number of reasons, including for a situation like yours in which you would likely not be able to extend your J-1 status past a period of time.  It leads to nonsensical results in which the ability to change status is dependent upon U.S.C.I.S.'s speed in adjudicating the application or if the individual has a valid reason to extend stay in the US while awaiting adjudication of the change of status application. Also U.S.C.I.S. requires the payment of an additional fee for extension application which is only caused by its nonsensical instruction. One can only hope that this instruction is clarified to only pertain to "B" visa holders instead of individuals like you. 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

On the circumstances as you describe, you would not have authorization to continue to work following the expiration of your H-1B and before you receive the EAD. You would have to stop work and not work between your H-1B expiration date and date of receiving the EAD. 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 difficulty will be problems with an adjustment of status here in the US assuming that your mother applies for you and the priority date later becomes current. Technically you have not held "legal" status since you entered into the US at the age of four. DACA is not seen as a legal platform from which individuals can adjust status. Under present law, you would have to leave the US and consular process your immigration overseas at an American consulate or embassy. You would most likely be barred for 10 years by virtue of your being unlawfully present for one year or more in this country. You can, however, apply under the I-601A program in which a waiver of the 10 year bar is available after the approval of the  I-130 petition as long as there would be extreme hardship to your permanent resident mother if the waiver was not granted. With a waiver, you would still interview at the American consulate or embassy, but the interview would in all likelihood be a normal one and you would most probably return to the US with an immigrant visa within 1-2 months. 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

Naturalization based upon three years marriage to a US citizen is a special privilege in which applicants must prove that they have been married for three years, the US citizen has been a citizen for three years, and the couple are living together physically for that period of time. Applications can be filed 90 days ahead of the three years if all conditions are met. Because it is a special benefit, U.S.C.I.S. insists that the people live together constantly. Your spending more time in New York than where your wife lives makes you ineligible for the benefit if U.S.C.I.S. discovers that you are not constantly in marital relationship with your wife.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 see how a case with the Administration for Child Services (ACS) would affect an application for citizenship if it never went to court. I assume that you were not arrested. If you were, there could possibly be a problem.  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

Even with a “two-week limited stay” notation on his passport, your boyfriend may be allowed to remain in the U. S. through filing a B-2 extension application on form I-539 Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status with payment of $370 to U.S.C.I.S. I do note that a denial would automatically invalidate his present tourist visa. If he decides to go back home rather than filing an extension request, he should perhaps wait another 6 months before attempting to come back to the U. S. Also instead of him coming to the U. S. to visit you, you could always visit him in the Caribbean. 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