QUESTION
Will our I-485 and I-130 application for my wife be affected by her deportation trial that was administratively closed?
Asked on Mar 21st, 2014 on Immigration - New York
More details to this question:
My wife currently has deferred action status and we're trying to apply for her green card. (I'm U.S. citizen and was born in the States.) She had a deportation trial a few years ago and case was administratively closed and Judge wrote "Administratively closed until her education is finished." (She was still in University of Texas at Austin and this trial was right before there were talks about the deferred action.) After my wife graduated from UT Austin, she applied for deferred action and now she's working full time with deferred action status. My wife does not have any criminal record and entered U.S. lawfully as a kid while her father was going to school in the States. Her father's green card was denied due to Sponsor's bankruptcy and got a deportation trial and left the U.S. and that's why she was on trail as well. (But her case was administratively closed and she got deferred action as I said above.) Is deportation trial that was administratively closed going to affect our I-485 and I-130 application for my wife to get a green card at all?
4 ANSWERS
You can. The USCIS cannot adjust the applicant who is in removal proceedings. The case must be terminated. I strongly recommend an appointment with a competent and experienced immigration attorney before complications arise. The above is general information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney client relationship.
Answered on Mar 24th, 2014 at 11:32 AM
Adebola O. Asekun
Your wife seems eligible to adjust (green card) if you file Form I-130 for her. Since she was previously in removal proceeding, you have to first file a stand-alone I-130 petition with affidavit of the bona fides of your marriage. You may have to be interviewed "Stoked" as a condition for approval of the I-130.Once the I-130 is approved, a motion to re-calendar her deportation case should be filed with the same court that admin closed her case. She will have the option of either applying for I-485 before that same court or with consent of the parties send the case to the CIS for adjudication of her I-485. You need to discuss this with a competent local attorney, but in the end, if all is as you represented, your wife should be able to get her green card.
Answered on Mar 24th, 2014 at 11:32 AM
Civil Litigation Attorney serving New York, NY
at
Havens & Lichtenberg PLLC
Update Your Profile
No, under the circumstances you described, the old removal proceedings will not stand in the way of your wife's adjustment of status. With a legal entry into the U.S. and a marriage to a U.S. citizen, no criminal record and no deportation orders, she should receive a green card.
Answered on Mar 21st, 2014 at 5:02 PM
Maybe. It depends on the reason for deportation proceedings.
Answered on Mar 21st, 2014 at 3:02 PM