Washington Immigration Legal Questions

It is mandatory under US law that an individual be in the US for one year physically before he or she is allowed to apply for an I-485 adjustment of status under the asylum category. I do not know how individuals would be able to successfully apply after only nine months. 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

You are not required to use the services of an immigration attorney but it is typic ally helpful. You are required to establish eligibility for the benefit requested. It is by no means gusrabteed the petition will be approved. An attorney is often helpful because he/she knows what must be submitted snd at what stage, which in turn makes the process goes as smoothly and quickly as possible.  You will not be able to file a separate petition for your stepmother. Your father remarried after to your 18th birthday, which means your stepmother is not consider a parent under United Stares immigration law. She should not simply come as a visitor. This can lead to very serious consequences. Your father will be able to petition for her upon becoming a green card holder.         ... Read Answer

Based upon the information provided your husband would need to answer "yes" as he was confined to a mental institution in the past. His confinement in a mental institution will not result in an automatic denial of his application for naturalization, but it will make the case more difficult. Your husband will need to obtain records related to his confinement. It will need to be established that your husband is not a danger to himself or others. He will also need to establish he is competent to understand the oath. I encourage you to at least consult an attorney before filing. You can find more information on naturalization at http://myattorneyusa.com/immigration-law-and-practice/citizenship/citizenship-and-naturalization.... Read Answer

You are allowed to request asylum during the time that you are an F-1 student going to the I-20 school or a reasonable period of time after you stop attending. The best time to ask for it is when you have your case entirely prepared. Applications for asylum are submitted to regional service centers of U.S.C.I.S. and distributed thereafter to the asylum offices having jurisdiction over your place of residence. 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

In looking at present processing time charts of the U.S.C.I.S. field offices, Seattle is running about 8 months to an interview and Spokane 6 months. If the case is approved at the time of the interview, your husband could receive temporary proof of residence status, and the conditional green card would likely follow within 30-60 days. I do not believe that the immigration office will expedite an interview to allow him to join the Marines quicker. 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

Yes, once you overstay your visa, it will be canceled. Even if overstayed a day. He can try and get another tourist visa, but it will be difficult. You could sponsor him for his Residency/Green card. That process may take a year to process. Let me know if you would like any assistance. ... Read Answer

The usual period of time to switch from an L-1A to the EB-1C green card assuming everything is good is less than a year from the date of filing. I note the current processing times of U.S.C.I.S. indicate that cases in your region are taking approximately 4 months at the Nebraska service center while those covered by the Texas service center are backed up almost a year. The estimated processing times assume that you will be asking for a concurrent filing of the I-140 and I-485 applications. 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

The answer depends upon whether your daughter is over or under the age of 21 – and if under, how much under. If well under the age of 21, you would be petitioning for her under the F-2A category for unmarried children under the age of 21, and the waiting time would be approximately 2 years. If over the age of 21, you would be petitioning for her under the F-2B category for unmarried children over the age of 21, and the waiting time would be approximately 7 years. Also if the child is close to the age of 21 and the priority date is not reached by the day that she turns 21, she would generally have to wait 7 years to obtain the immigrant visa instead of the lesser years under the F-2A category unless she can continue to be recognized as a child under the counting rules of the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) which take into account factors such as date of visa availability, how long the petition pended, and the age of the child. 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

Advance parole applications usually cannot be expedited unless there are emergent circumstances mostly having to do with humanitarian circumstances, e.g. death of immediate family members. Usually an advance parole application will take approximately 90 days to process. U.S.C.I.S. will not expedite just based on the fact that your date of travel is before 30 days. I think that you will have to wait. unless you have a real good reason for travel. I note that an applicant is supposed to remain in the country until the advance parole application is approved.  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

In the situation that you describe, there does not appear to be any way to benefit from your father’s immigrant visa petition as he is no longer a permanent resident. If your father manages to regain his permanent resident status, he can make a new application for you with a new priority date.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 you timely applied for a change of status along with classification under the O-1B category, you are allowed to remain in the U. S. without leaving assuming that the change of status was granted along with the O-1B. That information will be on the approval sheet that is sent to the petitioner. That being said, if you decide to leave the U. S., you must apply for the O-1B visa at the American consulate or embassy unless you are a Canadian national. You can have your employer send the documents to you when you are out of the country in order for you to arrange an interview with the American consulate or embassy.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

IR-1 and CR-1 are both immigrant visas and the only separation factor is time – IR-1 is the designation given to spouses of U. S. citizens, and the CR-1 is given to the same class who have not yet been married for 2 years at the time of the spouse’s immigration. The K-3 is a nonimmigrant visa which was instituted to allow spouses of U. S. citizens to come to the U. S. faster when I-130 petitions (immigrant visa petitions for alien relatives) were backed up further than they are now. The current processing time chart of U.S.C.I.S. is at 5 months for the adjudication of I-130 petitions. Given the present situation, the K-3 may be overtaken by an I-130 petition at the consular processing stage at the National Visa Center parent (a precondition to the filing of the K-3 petition is that an I-130 also be filed). In such situation, the K-3 will be canceled.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

Hello. You may qualify for an E2. It will depend on the business/investment. In addition, it can be very difficult for Iranians to trace the source of money leaving Iran and actually getting the money out to the US. I would be happy to discuss your case and the fees. You can email me directly at: harun@ksvisalaw.com. Please refer to this lawyer.com inquiry. Take care.... Read Answer

If you are planning to travel to your husband's home country for the next year or so and then reapply, it would probably be best for you to respond to the NOIR and explain that you are withdrawing because you will be doing such traveling with your husband and will be reapplying at a future date. 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

Hello. You may file at the same time and then "upgrade" her case once you get the citizenship. However, sometimes that is more work in convincing/notifying the USCIS. It is best to file as soon as you have the naturalization certificate. We can help process either case. In addition, it may take 10-12 months before she can arrive with her green card. Then, after she arrives, she will automatically be a US citizen (based on your naturalization). You will need to file for a new case for her, but she will be a citizen(if you/she chooses). Let me know if you want any assistance. ... Read Answer

To obtain a nonimmigrant visa, your father-in-law would have to make the application for nonimmigrant visa with a request for advance permission to return to the US after deportation. The request would have to be agreed to by the American Consulate which would then send its recommendation to the Admissibility Review Office of DHS which would ultimately decide whether to go along with the request or not. 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