Texas Immigration Legal Questions

I will assume for purposes of your question that you filed the I-130 alone and that your wife is either overseas or ineligible for adjustment of status since you did not mention an I-485 application. You do not have to do anything on the I-130 at this time under the above circumstance and you could wait until the next phase of the case, consular processing, and add your child when you receive communication from the National Visa Center, the part of the Department of State that processes most of the consular processing phase documentation. 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

Good question – I believe that if the time that you are contemplating going to school is covered in the I-20, you should be able to go to school without applying for an extension of the I-20. Even without having the time covered under the current I-20, I believe that going to school without working during the interim of waiting for the OPT would not be a violation of status and would actually be preferable to DHS rather than your just hanging around and waiting for the OPT approval.You should talk to the school's DSO to see whether you should update your I-20. 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 mother can do an adjustment of status application through you (I 130/I-485) as long as you are a US citizen over the age of 21 and she is not barred under any of the inadmissibility grounds of the immigration laws. Your mother's almost exhausting or even exhausting the six months that she is given upon entry would not be a factor as she qualifies under the category of immediate relatives of US citizens if you are a US citizen and overstays are excused in such filings. 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

I assume that you are a US citizen. If so, the two best choices are to sponsor your girlfriend and her child to come to the US on a K-1 fiancée visa, or to marry her and sponsor her for the green card directly. For the K-1 visa sponsorship, you must prove that you have met each other physically during the past two years. K-1 visa petitions are initiated on form I-129F and green card applications on form I-130. For either one, you will ultimately have to prove that you have the ability to support your girlfriend and her child either through yourself or with the assistance of a financial cosponsor. 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

Hi Jason.. Yes it can happen. First, have you physically met your girlfriend within the last two years? Second, are you a US citizen? Third, since you are on SS disability, you may need a joint sponsor who can submit his/her tax returns to show USCIS that his income meets the minimum threshold. The minimum amount needs to be at least 125 percent of the poverty level based on your household size. So add up all the people who live in your household now plus your girlfriend and the children she will accompany her to the US, and multiply by 1.25. If all the aforementioned factors can be met, you can sponsor her for a fiancé K visa which takes a little less than a year and then she can adjust status to get her green card after she travels to Texas and gets married to you. Consider working with an attorney. Some of us, including myself, charge a very affordable flat fee for the entire case process. I enter an appearance of attorney of record in the case by filing the G28 form.  Counsel in any state can represent you both. ... Read More

I believe your question has to do with timing. If you are a native of India or China, you would probably want to start your green card application is soon as possible in light of the long visa wait. If from a country without a long wait, you can take the latter route. If you have completed 1.9 years of your H-1B, you have another four years of maximum H-1B stay, but would have to file and have approved a new H-1B through a petitioning organization if you are thinking of reentering the US under H-1B status. 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

Yes Diana. His murder conviction or his probation status should not disqualify him from sponsoring you, as long as the crime didn't involve violence and/or sexual exploitation of a minor child under the Adam Walsh Act. Did you enter the country legally? Work with an attorney. Some of us charge a very affordable flat fee for representation from start to finish, even lower that the government filing fees. Counsel anywhere in the USA can represent you. Good luck. ... Read More

As a US citizen, you can sponsor your husband for permanent residence, but he will likely need an I-601 waiver for remaining in the United States illegally if he was here 180 days or one year without documentation. In addition, if he has a barring crime, that should also be part of the I-601 waiver 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 More

Unfortunately there is no provision of the immigration laws that would allow an individual with employment authorization under L-2 to continue working while awaiting H-4 employment permission if the H-4 is already approved. You would no longer have employment permission under L-2 once your status is changed to H-4. Assuming that you qualify for an H-4 EAD, hopefully you filed the I-765 EAD application with the H-4 change of status. U.S.C.I.S. could then possibly adjudicate both together. Otherwise you would have to wait. I do note that there is a good chance U.S.C.I.S. will not adjudicate the H-4 at the same time as your husband's H-1B as the new I-539 form requires another step in your case, the taking of biometrics, which can throw off the coordination of H-4's being adjudicated at the same time as H-1B's. 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

The answer depends upon your wife's tolerance for rejection. A denial would not prevent her from filing in December 2021. There is a chance that she may be denied as the question of good moral character is discretionary and may depend upon the interviewing officer. She has a good argument to make if it can be shown that the postpartum depression was a large factor in the shoplifting incident. However, she should be prepared to take the risk of rejection if she decides to go forward. 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

You can file another I-130 petition at a service center other than California if you live in the jurisdiction of the Texas Service Center. However, you should not do so if you have the receipt of filing since that means that the petition has a priority date and is in line to be processed. You would begin a new priority date if you file the new I-130 petition and lose whatever time you have acquired with the first petition. In addition, it generally does not matter how long a service center holds onto a sibling I-130 case unless the adjudication is not made by the time that the priority date is reached for visa availability. The current waiting time is approximately 12 years, and it should not matter whether a service center completes the adjudication in one year or seven years as the immigrant will have to wait approximately 12 years to immigrate anyway. 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

It may make sense for your mother even now to put in a petition for you. The F-1 category currently has a backlog of approximately 7 years and the F-2B category for sons and daughters over the age of 21 less than six years. I will assume that you were not born in the Philippines or Mexico, which have much longer backlogs. The F-4 category that you are in right now as the sibling of a US citizen is processing cases for final immigration that were filed by November 2006 for all of the world except for natives of India, Mexico and the Philippines which have longer backlogs. Assuming that you were not born in one of the three countries, you are likely at least six years away from being able to immigrate. So it makes sense for your mother to sponsor you at this time under the F-2B category even if it is difficult to know whether you will immigrate faster under that category than your present one. 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

A single DUI will likely not derail his immigration process. However, more than one could make him inadmissible to the US if the medical examination panel physician makes a decision that he is a chronic alcohol abuser or has a mental disorder. 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

Assuming that your brother-in-law has no other offenses, a single charge of DUI and speeding is not a deportable offense. I assume that he will be let out soon if he has not already been let out. 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

The question may turn on whether he made a false claim to US citizenship when applying for work or in any other context dealing with the US government, and whether an immigration examiner is interested in how he obtained the Social Security number. If he used the false Social Security number in connection with a false green card, that would be better than using the false Social Security number and claiming to be a US citizen as the latter usually invokes a permanent bar. 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

There is a good possibility that you will be allowed to reinstate your F-1 under the circumstances that you have described. The law requires that you have not been our status for more than five months at the time of filing the request for reinstatement; that you do not have a record of repeated or willful violations of regulations; that you are currently pursuing or intending to pursue a full course of study in the immediate future; that you have not engaged in unauthorized employment; are not deportable on any other ground other than being present in violation of law or failure to maintain nonimmigrant status; and that your violation resulted from circumstances beyond your control. 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

As you have eight altercations with the law under which you received violations and the last time a misdemeanor, I suggest that you bring copies of all the dispositions of your arrests to an immigration lawyer who can evaluate if there are risks to your renewing your green card. 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