Washington Immigration Legal Questions

You may purchase rental property as a passive investment while holding H-1B. You will need to declare the income on your income tax returns. The only issue you could face is if you managed the property yourself as USCIS could conclude you engaged in unauthorized employment. You can read more about H-1B at http://myattorneyusa.com/work-visas.... Read More

Yes the DOS strictly requires that the "in person meeting" be fulfilled within two years of the filing of the petition for the fiancée visa. This meeting can take place anywhere in the world, and there are very few exceptions that will be granted to excuse this condition. You Should retain counsel to guide you through the process. ... Read More

Currently, the July visa bulletin “dates for filing” chart shows that there is visa availability for those who submitted petitions before 9/22/16 under the F-2B category for unmarried sons and daughters over the age of 21, and the “final action dates” chart shows availability for petitions filed before 9/15/15. So it will likely take approximately five years before an adjustment of status application can be filed as long as USCIS accepts the “dates for filing” chart when your son’s priority date becomes available. (That is assuming that visa chart progression remains approximately the same). On the question of OPT, in our experience, we have not seen students denied OPT by USCIS where they have had immigrant visa petitions pending or approved. 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 More

A US citizen child over 21 years, can sponsor his or her mother for a green card, provided that she entered the United States legally even though she is out of status. However if she exited the United States after overstaying for more than one year, then she is barred from returning for a period of 10 years, unless you can qualify for a waiver.... Read More

This seems to be a question of timing and it would make more sense for the families to apply for visiting visas when the K-1 visa has been approved. Once approved, your fiancé may try to work out the timing of his coming to the US vis-à-vis the families applying for their visas. The trick of course is that once he enters the US, he must marry within 90 days. With the present deteriorated status of nonimmigrant visa issuance at most American consulates because of the pandemic, the timing may prove a challenge. 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 More

Unfortunately, the immigration law only gives you what you ask for, and in this case your parents asked for five months instead of six. Under the rules of immigration, they are allowed to remain during the time that their application is being adjudicated, but when approved, the approval would only be for the five months and they would not be in status when their applications are decided. I do not know whether a consular officer or immigration officer at the port of entry might consider that they violated status and that their visas are no longer valid for travel. Hopefully any adjudicator will take cognizance of the difficulties of travel during the time of pandemic. 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

At this time, USCIS has given notice that its issuance of receipts is delayed. You can continue to stay legally in the US so long as the application is ultimately receipted and not rejected by the Service. In the event that it is rejected, you may wish to correct the error and send the application back in as soon as possible with a request to USCIS to forgive the late filing (See form instructions for late 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

Yes a US citizen can sponsor his/her spouse for a green card provided that they entered the USA legally. If the married couple either marries or files an adjustment of status case before 90 days of the immigrant's arrival, there could be a presumption of immigration fraud. Consider retaining counsel to represent you. Some of us charge a very affordable flat fee for representtation from start to finish. ... Read More

Unfortunately, the F-4 category for most countries of the world (except for natives of India, Mexico, and the Philippines who must wait more time) is now taking approximately 14 years to finalize. Where the immigrant visa is not immediately available, an I-485 is not possible. Your brother would likely immigrate through employment much faster than through your petition. You may, however, file it as a backup so that your brother has another option to immigrate in the future. 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

If your son is a US citizen his new bride can file to adjust her status to obtain a green card. The process can take a year or longer and many forms and documents need to be filed. Consider working with an attorney to represent them from start to finish. Some of us charge a very affordable flat fee. Counsel anywhere in the USA can represent them. ... Read More

    This is a situation in which you would have to make the decision after weighing all of the factors. If your husband is able and willing to go through the I-751 petition procedure including attending an interview if required, that is usually a petition which is more easily adjudicated by U.S.C.I.S. A petition showing that the petitioner is divorced and claiming to have had a bona fide marriage is usually one that U.S.C.I.S. gives more careful consideration. You would have to consider your personal situation including the danger of your relationship, outrageous behavior by your spouse, and all of the other factors that make a marital relationship bearable or unbearable. If you decide that the marriage is not salvageable and that you should indeed now divorce, you should keep copies of all of the evidence of your bona fide relationship as it will be your burden of proof to show that you did not marry for purposes of the green card only. 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 is – when did he make the misrepresentation that he was a US citizen? If the one and only time that he did it was at the age of 16, he could possibly claim that he did not have the maturity and judgment to appreciate the nature and consequence of his actions at the time that he made the false claim. However, if he continuously claimed for employment purposes over the years on other I-9 applications for work that he was a citizen, then that would be more troubling. The penalty for knowingly and willingly making a false claim to citizenship on or after September 30, 1996, is a permanent non-waivable bar to this country. Misrepresentations on citizenship prior to that date can be waived if the applicant is able to prove that extreme hardship would fall onto a US citizen or permanent resident spouse or parent if the waiver was not approved. I also note that prior to April 3, 2009, the I-9 employment verification form asked whether the applicant was a citizen or national of the US on one line instead of asking on separate lines for citizen and national. In the case in which an individual used the old form check marking the box for "citizen or national' and is able to rationally explain the difference between a US citizen and a non-US citizen national when he or she says that national and not citizen was meant, a charge of false claim to citizenship charge might be defeated. 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

If you are marrying a U. S. citizen, any gap in status will generally be disregarded at the time of your interview for the green card. If you are marrying a lawful permanent resident and adjusting status by filing form I-485, you must be in valid status at the time of filing form I-485. In addition, you cannot violate your status even after filing the I-485 by taking on unauthorized employment. That being said, a gap in schooling after marrying and filing the I-485 application would have no effect upon your ability to adjust status. In your situation, if you are holding F-1 status for both your associates degree and your bachelors degree programs, you would not be violating status by having a gap of a couple of weeks as the law provides for gaps of time between 2 levels of schooling. Even if you were not choosing to advance to a bachelors degree program, you would still be in legal status as an F-1 student for 60 days after completing studies during the grace period for you to change or extend status or depart the United States. 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 am not aware of any federal law that would prevent you from opening up your own practice under the circumstances that you describe. However, most professionals are regulated by the individual states in which they practice. I suggest that you check out any applicable regulations of whichever state you are planning to practice in to determine whether it has restrictions on your ability to open up a practice with 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 More

Being under DACA means that you are allowed to stay, but without legislation providing a path to the green card, there is not much that can be done at present. For purposes of your question, I will assume that you are at least 18 years of age. As you came in legally with your mother, you could possibly adjust status to permanent residence if you marry with a U. S. citizen in a bona fide marriage. If you marry with a permanent resident who is a long way from citizenship or is ineligible or cannot pass the naturalization test, you could possibly take advantage of the I-601A program to obtain a waiver of the 10 year bar for staying in the U. S. for one year or more. The waiver application would be based upon your spouse suffering extreme hardship if you had to leave the U. S. If the I-601A application is approved, you could then return to Mexico for an immigrant visa appointment at the American consulate. Assuming that you are approved at the time of interview, you could return to the U. S. under residence status almost immediately. If the above is not an option, you can wait with all other members of the DACA class until your DACA situation is solved politically.  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 best strategy is to apply for her fiancé K visa. It takes roughly 1 year to process it, and when she enters the US she has to marry you within 90 days. After that she can adjust status to obtain her green card. Counsel anywhere in the US can represent you. Keep in mind that you must have physically met your Fiance 2 years before beginning the application process. ... Read More

 In the eyes of Immigration, you are employed even if you are just self-employed, and your wife should mark  the application "yes", and just say self-employed, or put down the name of the company at  your home address. 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