Virginia Immigration Legal Questions

As long as all parties agree to have your stepdaughter come to the US including her mother, and as long as you are either a US citizen or permanent resident, you are eligible to sponsor her as your stepdaughter through form I-130 and have her enter the US as a permanent resident. The processing would take approximately a year.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

Whether someone can travel to the US as a tourist while waiting for a green card application through a sibling to become current for visa issuance depends upon his or her intention upon entering the country. In your case, the subject already has a 10 year tourist visa. In all likelihood, he would be allowed to continue visiting as long as he did not abuse the visiting privilege and stay here longer then he stays in the home country. We have also seen situations in which US consulates have granted visiting visas to those who have sibling I-130 petitions filed on their behalf if the consular officers are convinced that the applicants are bona fide visitors and not intending immigrants who would abuse the visiting visa.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

Filing all the forms together is allowed as long as you entered the country legally or on parole status, and are either filing a non-quota case (spouse, parent, or child under the age of 21 and unmarried of a US citizen), preference case in which the quota is current and you have maintained status, or you have the ability to file a case under §245(i) which is available to those who have had a labor certification application or immigrant visa petition filed on their behalf by April 30, 2001 and were physically present in the country on December 21, 2000. If you do not fit within those categories, you would have to file the I-130 petition first, and then wait for the priority date to clear for the family based category or if not eligible for adjustment of status begin consul processing with the National Visa Center.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 different ways to immigrate to the States along with differing time frames. If either of your two brothers are US citizens, they can sponsor you, but the process takes approximately 10 years. In the meantime, you would not be allowed to remain in the States just on the basis of having been sponsored by one of your brothers. If you have money ($1 million in most circumstances) with the yen to invest and hire 10 US workers, you may be able to immigrate through the EB-5 investor program. It would take approximately a year and a half to obtain a conditional green card which would have to be renewed to a permanent green card two years after the awarding of the conditional one. Dependent upon your education, level of fame, or working experience, you might be able to immigrate through the employment base categories, which could take anywhere from one – six years. The location in which you plan to settle in the States, Virginia, has little impact on the period of time that you would be waiting to immigrate as the immigration law is federal. The cost of a permanent residence application would depend upon the type of immigration for which you are qualified. I note that because of the waiting time involved in many immigrant categories, intending immigrants oftentimes express interest in nonimmigrant work visas, such as H-1B or L-1.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 assume that you are a US citizen and from that premise, you and she can begin to file applicable papers for her permanent residence. In this type of case, many people choose to use immigration lawyers, and many people do not. If you choose to do it by yourself, you can either pick up the forms online on the U.S.C.I.S. website, http://uscis.gov or visit one of its field offices through an infopass appointment where a clerk or officer will run through the procedures along with giving you all the forms for filing.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 will assume that one of you is either a permanent resident or US citizen, that you are thinking of getting married, and that you are worried about the difference in age and possible suspicion by U.S.C.I.S. that the marriage will not be bona fide. The agency looks at a number of factors, not just age, and if you are able to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that your relationship is true, U.S.C.I.S. is able to approve the petition.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

Looking at the September visa chart, the F-2A category for spouses and unmarried children of lawful permanent residence is now current, which means that any immigrant visa petition that you file on his behalf would not take long to bring to fruition provided that the category does not backlog. He would not be eligible to adjust status to permanent residence since he is undocumented, but a choice that you could both think about would be your petitioning for him, having him consul process his paperwork, and upon mandatory refusal by the Consulate or Embassy, file a waiver of the bar for being illegal in the country. (I assume that your husband has no other grounds of exclusion). You could also wait until you become a US citizen before applying and, dependent upon whether your husband entered the country legally or not, be able to have him adjust status here without leaving or go through the I– 601 A program under which he would apply for and wait for the results of the illegal presence waiver application in the States before deciding to go overseas for the immigrant visa interview. Also your husband could wait for the results of action in the House of Representatives on comprehensive immigration reform, which should be decided by the end of the year.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

That language, though vague, usually means they are conducting additional security checks on the person.  It usually takes about six months to complete such checks, but I have had rare clients where it has taken years.  The security checks are conducted by other government agencies.  There is nothing you can do to speed up the process.... Read Answer

Whether you will be able to make a successful H-1B transfer without leaving the country may depend upon how long it takes you to find another H-1B sponsor and to have the paperwork done. If within a reasonable period of time, it is possible that U.S.C.I.S. will not be overly concerned over the period of time that you have not been working and grant the transfer. Immigration may also decide to approve the H-1B petition but instruct you to pick up the visa outside the US if it believes that the period of time of your non-work as been excessive. I suggest that you enclose a letter with your H-1B transfer application explaining why you do not have recent payslips and accompany it with any proof of the school closure.  ... Read Answer

I will assume that your immigration is based upon some form of employment-based petition and that you are attempting to port your case to your wife's company under the rubric of it being in a same or similar occupation. The rule is that this type of relief is only possible where the I-140 petition has been approved and 180 days elapsed since the filing of the I-485 adjustment of status application. If these conditions have been met, there is nothing in the law that would preclude an individual's being so employed in his or her own company. When you say that your wife is dependent on you, the fact that she may be financially dependent would likely not cause a problem. However, if she is your dependent for her immigration case, that might cause U.S.C.I.S. to wonder whether there is an issue of her unauthorized employment.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

If the payment will be given in the same tax year in which you held the L-2 visa status and valid EAD, the payment for your past job would likely not be an issue. If in another tax year, and assuming that there is some proof of your payment existent, the company could perhaps provide an explanation as to what period of services the payment covers. If the company pays directly into your account in India, there would of course be no record of any payment in the States. If you are concerned about the legality of such an arrangement tax wise, you could perhaps seek the advice of an accountant or tax lawyer.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

Investment immigration can be done through the EB-5 program for either an investment of $1 million in most areas or $500,000 in a targeted employment area (TEA), which investment will promote the hiring of 10 US workers. You can go through an individual investment or seek a regional investment center for your investing purposes. I note that your funds must be at risk and there is no guarantee that you will obtain a green card or will gain, break even, or lose money in your investment. Investment immigration has a good track record of success, although the risk factor must be acknowledged.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

If your wife is maintaining lawful status then since the Family based 2nd Preference has become current in August, 2013, it would appear she s eligible to adjust her status to that of a lawful permanent resident.  This will make her eligible for employment and travel authorization. The prioity dates in the category are not expected to remain current for long so time is of the essence.  Consult with an experienced immigration attorney who can review the case with you in detail, advise you what to expect, and how best to proceed.  ... Read Answer

It is a certainty that people in the past have been and will continue to be deported for convictions involving misdemeanor charges. Being drunk in public would not be a deportable offense. Probation violations and the offenses for which probation was originally given may be germane to the question of whether a person is deportable.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 would be happy to represent you in responding to the FOIA request response.   You cannot sue the Department of State for exercising their consular authority, but you can pursue the FOIA issue.  Please send me a personal message through this website if you are interested in representation.... Read Answer