New York Immigration Legal Questions

Under these circumstances, USCIS can revoke your green card and ask you to leave the U.S. However, the case would have to go to the Immigration Court, and you will have a chance to defend yourself. If you will prove that you were mistreated by your wife, your permanent resident status should be reinstated. A word of advice: retain an immigration attorney. The fight ahead of you is not a do-it-yourself project.... Read More

You can receive unemployment benefits without consequences for your sponsors. Your immigration sponsors promised the U.S. government that they will take care of your living and health care costs if you are unable to do it yourself, and that you will not apply for welfare, food stamps, Medicaid, SSI, subsidized housing, and other forms of public support. Unemployment benefits are a form of insurance; premiums for this insurance were paid by your employer; so, technically, payouts under this insurance do not make you a "public burden" Don't worry, if you apply for a benefit to which you are not entitled as a sponsored immigrant, your application will be denied.... Read More

Your mother can file an application for a green card together with your I-130 petition and does not have to go back and wait for an interview at the U.S. Embassy. If, for any reason, she wants to go home before getting a green card, she can. In such a case, do not file the green card application with your I-130 petition; instead, wait for a letter with instructions from the National Visa Center.... Read More

You state an apparently viable claim for asylum. The chances of success of your application will depend on your ability to prove this claim, and on several other factors. One of such factors is the answer to the question whether, after you had reasons to fear for your life, freedom, health and dignity, you were in any other country where you could have asked for an asylum. Please, do not take this preliminary impression as a promise of success or even as an encouragement to commit yourself to this process. I simply do not know enough about you and your case to make such a recommendation. You need to realize that an application for asylum in the U.S. is a very serious, in many aspects, irreversible step. If your claim is not sufficiently documented and would be denied for lack of proof, you would be deported from the U.S. and become ineligible to come back ever, in any status. A failed asylum application can make your coming back home even more dangerous when it already is. Most immigration attorneys understand these consequences of filing an asylum application. Before taking your case, an attorney would ask you a lot of questions and discuss with you many issues. For many reasons, this discussion should not occur on public forum.... Read More

Filing one or two affidavits of support depends on the income and family composition of the sponsors. If you have no children, and your husband makes more than $25,200 a year (add $5200 for each child or adult dependent in the family), he can co-sign your affidavit of support. If your husband's income is less than the required amount, you will need a second sponsor (and a second I-864). But that seems to be the least of your problems. It takes over 12 years for a brother or sister of U.S. citizen to receive an immigrant visa. Filing of a petition by her brother or sister does not give the future immigrant the right to stay in the U.S. If the future immigrant stays in the U.S. after her status expired, she will become ineligible for a green card. Worse, there is a penalty for overstaying: if the alien overstays for more than 180 days, she must live in her own country for 3 years before becoming eligible for a green card (or any visa); an overstay of 1 year or longer entails a banishment for 10 years. Your statement that your sister is "doing her PhD and working at the university" while "her visa expired few months ago" is troubling for several reasons. If your sister came here to study, she should have been on an F-1 visa. F-1 status does not expire - so long as the alien remains enrolled as a full-time student and does not violate the terms and conditions of her visa. One of such conditions is that the alien cannot accept employment without special permission of USCIS. If the student starts working without USCIS authorization, her status terminates automatically, and the overstay count commences. Now, your sister should clarify what her immigration status is at the moment. If her status expired and she is in overstay, or if she is working without authorization, she should talk to an immigration attorney ASAP.... Read More

There was no need to file I-130 for your child - unless you *want* the process to take 2 years. Your child can immigrate into the U.S. as a "following-to-join" beneficiary of your father's petition. File with U.S.C.I.S. the following documents: - Form I-824, Application for Action on an Approved Application or Petition - A copy of your father's petition filed for your immigration - A copy of Form I-797, Notice of Action, showing that your father's petition was filed - A copy of Form I-797, Notice of Action, showing that your father's petition was approved - A copy of your Form I-551 (green card), front and back - birth certificate of your child When USCIS approves your I-824 application, it will send the case to the National Visa Center which, in turn, will send the case to the embassy in your country. All together, it can take 10-12 months. I would suggest another approach: collect copies of all these documents and send them to your relatives in your country; the child's guardian should make an appointment at the U.S. Embassy and apply for the child's following-to-join immigrant visa. If this is the same embassy where you received your immigrant visa, they must have a record of your case and need not wait for another copy to be sent from the National Visa Center. This way, your baby can have an immigrant visa within a couple of weeks.... Read More

Hello,   Depending on his immigration history and the type of parole he has, he may be able to adjust here. Although our law office has successsfully obtained green cards for people who entered with parole and have U.S. citizen spouses, every case is different and so I would suggest that you speak to an experienced immigration attorney about your specific situation before you move forward. Good Luck.... Read More

If you own or control a business that has a legitimate need to employ either one of your in-laws, then your wife's immigration status is irrelevant, because the business will be sponsoring the immigrant visas, not your wife. If you do not have a business that could sponsor your relatives for employment-based immigration, then your wife will have to become a U.S. citizen first, because U.S. permanent residents cannot petition the government for their brothers' and sisters' immigration. Your wife can file an application for naturalization 4 years and 6 months after receiving her green card. However, you need to understand that the family-based immigration category F-4, "brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens", has many times more applicants than the number of visas allocated each year; as the result, your in-laws will have to wait for their immigrant visas. Right now, visas are being issued to the citizens of the Philippines who had their F-4 immigrant petitions filed in April 1993. Although the queue moves a bit faster or a bit slower at times, its advancement averages out to the speed of the calendar, which means that, unless the immigration process in the U.S. undergoes some major changes, your in-laws could receive their immigrant visas about 23.5 years after your wife becomes a U.S. citizen and files immigrant petitions for her brother and sister.... Read More

U.S.C.I.S. is concerned over your ability to be adequately supported during the time that you are under F-2 status so that you are not tempted to work unlawfully in the country. You can provide your own letter explaining how you will be financially supported. If you or your wife have sufficient financial resources, you could show that. If your wife has a financial sponsor for her F-1 schooling, that same financial sponsor if capable could also provide you with an affidavit of support. An affidavit of support can also come from any other reliable source and is usually done with an I-134 affidavit of support form, job letter, bank letter or latest banking statement, and the last year's tax return.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

Changing your name at this point would be quite complicated and expensive. I would recommend keeping your maiden name until you will be filing for removal of conditions (for permanent green card) in 1.5 years or for naturalization in 3 years (in which case you would not even have to change your foreign passport).... Read More

Probation is a sentence, and it does mean conviction. Besides, not every conviction disqualifies a person from obtaining a visa as a matter of law. However, since the U.S. does not have to give permission to enter to anyone, an embassy can deny a visa for any reason - or for no reason at all. Chances that a consular officer would want to give a visa to a person with any criminal history are rather slim.... Read More

Yes, but, I would urge you to consult with and hire an immigration lawyer to assist you with this case. Not because I think you’re not capable of handling it, you may will be, but in order for the lawyer to debrief and brief you, analyze, assess and evaluate your case in order to maximize the possibilities for a successful result.     "Immigration law is a mystery and a mastery of obfuscation, and the lawyers who can figure it out are worth their weight in gold."…Immigration & Nationality Service spokeswoman.  ... Read More

Sorry to learn of your grandfather's illness and death. Because your mother resided outside of the U.S. for more than a year, she will be deemed to have abandoned her residence in the U.S. and her status as a Permanent Resident. It will be necessary for her to initiate a new petition, whether based upon your sponsorship or any other eligible visa process. It would be wise for you and your mother to consult with an immigration attorney who, after learning all of the relevant information, could advise about eligibilities, options and strategies and could offer legal representation in the application process.... Read More

Someone who has been a Permanent Resident for 5 years may be eligible to apply to become a naturalized citizen (the time period is 3 years for most people who are married to a U.S. citizen). The application actually may be filed as early as 90 days before the end of the 5-year (or 3-year) period. Of course, there are many other details relating to naturalization eligibility, and it would be wise for you to consult with an immigration attorney who, after learning all of the relevant details about you, could advise about eligibility and could offer legal representation in the often quite complex naturalization application process.... Read More

It is not unusual for a student on an F1 visa to apply for a visa in the EB2 category. Those applications generally fall into two types - one by which an employer files an application and completes the Labor Certification process, or one by which the applicant self-petitions and seeks a waiver of the Labor Certification process - this type is often called "EB2/NIW"). It would be wise for you (and, if applicable, your employer) to consult with an immigration attorney who, after learning all of the relevant information, would be able to advise about eligibilities, options and strategies and could offer legal representation in the application process.... Read More

Visiting visas are given in the discretion of American consular officers. Factors that they look upon are the reason for the trip and whether the individual has nonimmigrant intent. You may wish to apply again with all proof that you have sufficient funding to attend your annual convention church program and to return to Nigeria. If you are further denied, your affiliated church in Brooklyn may very well wish to press your case with its local US Congressman or Senator.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 attorney can (and has to, if you ask) request from the court a document called Certificate of Disposition. If the case against you were dropped, the certificate will say so. If the case is still active, the court will not issue a certificate of disposition. You can also go on-line to the web site of the court where your case was prosecuted. Do a search of the cases under your name, and you should see all the information you need. You can also look at the site of the sheriff of the county where you were prosecuted and do a search for arrest warrants: if the case against you continues, there should be an arrest warrant against you in the local, state, and federal databases (all of them can be accessed directly and for free, so do not take the baits of Intellius or any other "public records search services" that try to sell you the same information) There is no such thing as "finishing bail". If you case was dropped, the bail was cancelled, and you should not have any obligations under it. If the case was not dropped, it is most likely that your bail was forfeited and a warrant for your arrest was issued and remains outstanding (in which case the bill from the bail bondsman is the least of your problems) Your attorney should explain all this to you and make the necessary inquiries for you. Try calling his office again and asking (very politely, pretty please!) for the help you need.... Read More