Texas Immigration Legal Questions

Assuming that you are overseas, you would be applying for the F-1 visa at the American consulate or embassy. While your sister’s petition for you is a factor, it should not be a large factor to a reasonable consular officer who knows that your type of petition takes many years to develop. I also note that the State Department on December 23, 2021, issued guidance on F-1 visas to make it easier for applicants to pass the all-important question of whether they have nonimmigrant intent. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Esqs.’ (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 filing of form I-130 does not allow anyone to remain in the US past the time of their nonimmigrant stay. If you are able to file the I-485 adjustment of status application, the latter application would allow you to remain in the US past the time of your I-94 expiration. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Esqs.’ (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 minimum stay in the US is at least half the time in the five years prior to the time that the naturalization application is filed. I note that even with the minimum, immigration officers may still give you a difficult time if they believe that you have not maintained residence in the US. The fact that you stay less than six months outside the US on your trips is only one factor. For example, a pattern of staying outside the US and only coming in for a few weeks or so between your trips outside could be seen as an abuse of your residence status. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Esqs.’ (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 is no special visa that would allow you to come to the United States ahead of the time that you are entitled to do so under your brother’s petition. On the other hand, you may be able to enter through some other nonimmigrant category such as H-1B specialized occupation worker or L-1 intracompany transferee as those are dual intent visas under which the fact of applying for immigration would not be negatively considered by a consular officer in adjudicating the visa application. Other nonimmigrant visas which require nonimmigrant intent such as visiting or student visas could still be given in the discretion of an American consular officer taking into account all the circumstances of the application. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Esqs.’ (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 to prove that your Mexican son is your son through birth certificate, baptismal certificate, schooling records, or other evidence. A list is on the instructions to the I-130 Petition for Alien Relative form. If unable to provide convincing evidence, you can offer to take a DNA test. In addition, if you are the father (not the mother), you will also have to show proof of parental care of your son prior to his reaching the age of 18 years. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Esqs.’ (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 there a problem? As a naturalized US citizen, your child’s age is frozen as of the date that your petition is filed with USCIS. In other words, if your son is 20 and you filed the petition today, your son’s age remains under the age of 21 for purposes of his immigration case and he remains a child. I also note that this type of case typically takes about a year. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Esqs.’ (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, a US citizen cannot sponsor his sibling for a work visa. A US citizen can sponsor his sibling for a green card, but it takes roughly 10 to 12 years and in the case of Mexico or the Philippines it will take even longer. But in order to do that he has to wait for his visa outside the United States.... Read Answer

When you filed a family petition for your mother, you communicated an intent for her to immigrate permanently. When you file an application for visitor's visa, your intent is to visit temporarily. That being said, if you apply for and are granted a visitor's visa, it will nOt affect you family petition to immigrate as long as you disclose it on your visitor's visa application. Based on the intent, it is very likely that an immigration officer would deny your mother's visitor's visa based on your underlying family petition unless he is convinced that she is not coming to stay or she has intention to return. In addition, it is taking about a year to get an appointment for visitor's visa applications, but it is taking about 5-7  months to get family petitions approved. I recommend you hire an attorney to assist you with your concerns. ... Read Answer

An investor E2 visa is granted to people and renewed indefinitely provided that the visa holder can establish that the income generated from the business is sufficient to support the E2 holder and his family members. Accordingly, there is no minimum requirement that one needs to invest to obtain an investor E2 visa.I have seen investments as low as $100,000 to $150,000 that have been approved. You and your friends should discuss your case in detail with counsel who will explore all the facts of your situation and formulate a game plan that will be the best fit for your circumstances. Counsel in any state can represent you.... Read Answer

Generally, changes in circumstances after filing the N-400 application for citizenship are stated to the immigration officer at the time of the interview. You do not have to notify USCIS of any changes in your circumstances affecting jobs or trips outside the US at this time. If you are changing address, however, you should inform USCIS. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Esqs.’ (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 so generally speaking, any alien who enters the country with legal permission, and thereafter gets married to a US citizen, is allowed to adjust status to get his green card. However that is the general rule and there are exceptions. So you need to discuss your case in detail with counsel to make sure that he would qualify if in fact he goes ahead and gets married to you.... Read Answer

Assuming that you have an acceptable reason to change status from H-1B to B-1 or B-2 status in the States, your plan may be possible – but note that the change of status application will likely still be pending at the time that you have the I-140 petition approved and your petitioner is putting up papers for your H-1B. At that point, USCIS will look to see whether the change of status request is approvable before deciding on whether to put you back into H-1B status without your having to leave the States. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Esqs.’ (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

To notify the National Visa Center of any changes of circumstance, you can send an email communication to it at https://nvc.state.gov/inquiry. The change in citizenship will not impact your waiting time as both Spain and Peru are listed under “All chargeability areas except those listed” with visa availability in the July visa bulletin “final action dates chart” confined to those who filed petitions before 2/8/07. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Esqs.’ (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 looking at the California criminal code, the section that you cite appears to relate to petty theft. Five years is the usual period of time required for good moral character, and an offense like petty theft committed in 1994 far exceeds the five-year limit. It should not affect any application for naturalization in the absence of other criminal offenses. (I assume that if the petty theft occurred before receipt of permanent residence, the offense was disclosed to the immigration or consular officer). Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Esqs.’ (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 regional ban for Brazilians, you and your son should be eligible to enter the US after satisfying any COVID protocols of the two countries. The regional ban has an exception for spouses and children of permanent residents. The proper visa for your son would appear to be O-2 dependent since you intend for him to spend some time with you. You should contact the US Embassy or Consulate to determine the schedule of whether and how soon he can obtain a visa interview. If not possible because of Covid, you should prepare to explain the situation to an immigration inspector if he comes with you under the B-2 visa. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Esqs.’ (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

Once a decision has been made, writing a letter to USCIS would generally not be effective. If you really wish to pursue it, you could file for a motion to reopen the decision on form I-290B with filing fee of $675. Otherwise, you could just let the decision stand. Since you had already left the US during the pendency of the B-2 extension and assumedly filed for the B-2 extension while you were in status, the USCIS denial should not adversely affect your future travels to the US. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Esqs.’ (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 is no bridge visa between H-4 and F-1 of which I am aware. As you applied before the age of 21 and presumably while the H-4 visa status was current, you will simply have to wait until the decision. I note that USCIS may ask you to explain the temporary nature of your requested F-1 status since you are also applying to adjust status to permanent residence. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Esqs.’ (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

If you are a US citizen spouse, you can Sponsor him for a fiancé K-1 visa. Once the K-1 visa is issued, he could travel to the United States and you guys can get married within 90 days of his arrival, and then he can adjust status to get his green card. Alternatively, he can apply for a visitor visa. He has to show that he has either property in Mexico that he will come back to, or he has to show that he has a very steady job with steady income. The K visa takes much longer than the visitor visa to process. ... Read Answer

All you have to do is resubmit the credit card authorization form with the correct information. I would recommend submitting the paperwork with a money order or check to avoid this problem again. Wish you the best of luck!   The abovementioned is not legal advice and does not creat an attorney-client relationship.... Read Answer

It is difficult to say when your petition will be reached for adjudication just by the notices that you have been receiving from USCIS. However, I can refer you to the Nebraska Service Center processing time which is now 2-7 months, and that the Center will entertain inquiries on cases in your class which were filed by 9/12/20 if the petition has not yet been reached for adjudication. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Esqs.’ (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