The fiancé visa, k-1, may be a tempting option to immigrate a girlfriend to the US as it seems to be the most straight forward and legal way to test out a relationship without committing to a marriage immigrant visa process and longer processing times. There are recurring problems with k-1s that many forget:The k-1… Read More »
Prosecutorial Discretion is a remedy applied to sympathetic cases where certain aggravating factors (such as serious crimes, repeated violations of immigration law) are not present in cases pending before the immigration removal judges. Prosecutorial discretion (PD), if granted, could end in the closure or termination of removal proceedings against an immigrant who may not have… Read More »
In a teleconference today, US CIS announced plans to transition all usually foreign filed I-601 packages for unlawful presence, criminal, misrepresentation, and other kinds of inadmissability waivers to one central lockbox filing location in the U.S. The practice now is to submit the waiver filing with the CIS office attached to the foreign consulate. This… Read More »
We all know about the dreaded permanent bar = the law that was implemented on 4/1/97 that said anyone who was illegally present in the US for a year or more or who had been deported and then tried to illegally re-enter after either of these could not come back to the US for ten… Read More »
The Affidavit of Support is a contract with the federal government to reimburse the government for any means-tested public benefits that the immigrant receives in the 10 years after the immigrant is awarded their green card (becomes a permanent resident). The affidavit of support must be filed with immigration for the permanent residency application to… Read More »
The recent announcement from USCIS of its intent to propose a new rule regarding the processing of unlawful presence waivers has sparked a lot of of questions. This issue is all over the media this week as well and many are confused. Some Unlawful Presence Waivers to Be Decided Inside the US Before Consulate Interview US… Read More »
A prenuptial agreement may be the deciding factor for a spouse who is hesitant about being involved with the immigration process in deciding to go through with the marriage. There’s no guarantee that a prenuptial agreement will actually hold up later down the line in state family court as this varies with each case depending… Read More »
A common problem that arises in the immigration context is a young marriage that results in the loss of a priority date of a visa petition filed by the lawful permanent resident parent for their son or daughter. A priority date is the date the visa petition is filed with immigration (US CIS). For those… Read More »
You must be at least 18 years old in the State of California to get married. In some states, you can be as young as 14. But what happens when a 17 year old in the State of California who is a US citizen marries their 16 year old girlfriend because there is no other way… Read More »
I come across a least a few times a year the situation where one of my clients has been married multiple times and now wishes to sponsor an immigrant spouse in their latest marriage that doesn’t have all of the divorce decrees or death certificates from prior spouse is to show that they have the… Read More »
