was brought here when i was 13...

[jeff12 0]

my parents brought me here when i was 13 from trinidad (1995). I was brought here on a 1 year visa. im now 29, have a 9 yr old daughter, and im married (in the process of getting divorced, we have been separated for 6 years). i would like to finally get my life together and be able to properly care and provide for my child. everyone else in my family who have come here the same way is legal through marriage or from waiting to apply. how can i go about changing my status so i can finally be able to get a drivers license and be able to work? any help or point in the right direction would be greatly appreciated!

[aleful 1,905]

my parents brought me here when i was 13 from trinidad (1995). I was brought here on a 1 year visa. im now 29, have a 9 yr old daughter, and im married (in the process of getting divorced, we have been separated for 6 years). i would like to finally get my life together and be able to properly care and provide for my child. everyone else in my family who have come here the same way is legal through marriage or from waiting to apply. how can i go about changing my status so i can finally be able to get a drivers license and be able to work? any help or point in the right direction would be greatly appreciated!

there's nothing you can do for you. you waited too long. Is anyone in your family a US Citizan and have they been before April 30th, 2001? If so, why didn't they file a peticion for you?

You need someone to file for you. Your spouse wasn't a USC for him to file for you?

An employer could have filed for you before April 30th, 2001, under the 245i law.

Now, if a US parent or sibling files for you, first it will take many years, and second, you don't qualify to adjust in country. You would need to leave, trigger a 10 year ban and then your parent file a waiver.

if you entered with a tourist visa and you have your i94, maybe if your daughter turns 21 she may be able to file for you.

there is not an easy answer and everthing will take a very long time.

[NickD 202]

Case going on here in Madison, WI where parents brought a one and two year son and daughter and slightly overstayed there visas. Both kids are in college now, only know the American way of life, nothing about their home country, don't even speak their home language. But major talk about deportation. It wasn't your fault nor was it the fault of these two kids.

All of my kids had to show a born in the USA birth certificate before they would even let them in the school door. In the case of my stepdaughter, for high school, first an EAD card, then her green card. Ironically, she is attending the same university as that girl that over extended her visa, but my stepdaughter had to show her green card first. I just wonder how these kids and you go by all these years.

Is some talk in Washington DC about helping kids in this situation, but so far, just talk. I agree, it wasn't your fault, but you still have to pay the price, that doesn't seem right.

[LIFE'SJOURNEY 970]

We she became the legal age of 18, she then became responsible for her self. The OP only has 2 options and they both comes with a price, it's her choice now.

[jeff12 0]

my brother and sister got their green card 4-5 years ago through marriage (after the 2001 date) without having to leave. and my parents got theirs about a year or 2 ago. i tried to get mine when i married a citizen 6-7 years ago but he would not file my papers due to the fact he thought i would leave him once he did. but he used to abuse me physically and mentally which is why i ended up leaving. just this divorce has been years in the making and will soon be finalized. from the information searching ive done, everyone has told me that i need to wait till i was divorced before i could file for anything.

[LIFE'SJOURNEY 970]

my brother and sister got their green card 4-5 years ago through marriage (after the 2001 date) without having to leave. and my parents got theirs about a year or 2 ago. i tried to get mine when i married a citizen 6-7 years ago but he would not file my papers due to the fact he thought i would leave him once he did. but he used to abuse me physically and mentally which is why i ended up leaving. just this divorce has been years in the making and will soon be finalized. from the information searching ive done, everyone has told me that i need to wait till i was divorced before i could file for anything.

If you had filed while you were married, then you would have been able to adjust your status on the bases that you were married to a USC. Now, you have no bases to AOS your status against, unless it is against your parents or siblings. To AOS against parents or sibling you will have to interview in your home country. If you leave you will receive a 10 year ban.

Again, who is the everyone that you obtained advice from? Maybe they have some more information to give this type of advice against, that you have not posted here on VJ. So, I can not say if their advice was false or not. But based on what you have given here, you only have the 2 options available to you.

[Deputy Purple 1,294]

my brother and sister got their green card 4-5 years ago through marriage (after the 2001 date) without having to leave. and my parents got theirs about a year or 2 ago. i tried to get mine when i married a citizen 6-7 years ago but he would not file my papers due to the fact he thought i would leave him once he did. but he used to abuse me physically and mentally which is why i ended up leaving. just this divorce has been years in the making and will soon be finalized. from the information searching ive done, everyone has told me that i need to wait till i was divorced before i could file for anything.

Do you have proof of the abuse like police records?

If you do then you might want to look in VAWA filing. I don't know if you need to be still married at the time of filing or not but it would be worth looking into.

[w8inglongtime 29]

Do you have proof of the abuse like police records?

If you do then you might want to look in VAWA filing. I don't know if you need to be still married at the time of filing or not but it would be worth looking into.

Very good question. But it very well may be too late to invoke VAWA since they've been separated for 6 years.

[LIFE'SJOURNEY 970]

If the abuse was not reported and the OP was not in any kind of status then VAWA will not work for her. I am sure the absue was not reported since the OP has been out of status for over 10 years.

[RICARDO4EVA2 194]

VAWA would not be an option. Since the mother got a green card 2 years ago she could file once the divorce is final.. but keep in mind that you'll will not be able to adjust to a LPR status. Marriage to a USC would overlook the "illegal presence"

[jeff12 0]

just to add.. i came here on a i-94 visa. and i did file complaints as well as a restraining order on my soon to be ex husband. but this was back on 04-05. dont know if that helps anything.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,235]

You cannot "fix" your status which is "out of status."

Only an "immediate relative" who is a US citizen can petition in your behalf. That would be a husband, a parent, or a child over the age of 21.

Had you filed while happily married, you would have a Green Card now. Nope, let me correct this: you would already be a US citizen by now.

If your husband didn't want to help you, you picked the wrong man. If you stayed with him despite his abuse toward you, it's not his fault or your parents', it's yours. The train has left the station and you have no other choice but to wait for the next one.

Remember, a man who loves you will do anything to make you happy. Only a guy who is insecure and/or abusive would deny his wife adjustment of status to a lawful permanent resident.

[LIFE'SJOURNEY 970]

just to add.. i came here on a i-94 visa. and i did file complaints as well as a restraining order on my soon to be ex husband. but this was back on 04-05. dont know if that helps anything.

Google VAWA and see if it applies to you.

[NickD 202]

Feel assumptions are being made to the OP based on insufficient information regarding abuse. Assume this person is a woman, is here illegally, was married, and had a child. In cases around here with so-called undocumented persons even though illegal means the same thing. Where both parents are here illegally, even in a happy marriage, if the children were born here of that marriage, they are US citizens and cannot be deported and subject to all kinds of welfare help.

What they do is to deport the father, but leave the mother here to take care of the children, but since she is illegal, can't get a job nor a drivers' license, but also is eligible for welfare. Sounds crazy, but we don't make the laws even though we are suppose to with a government ran by the people.

Just saying, if she does have a child born here, there is a good chance she won't be deported. Regarding the rest of it, sure there is a lot more to her story, find a good immigration attorney.

What I don't know is what do they do with an illegal parent once all the children born in the USA reach that magical age of 18, seems like then they can be deported.

But here we go again with that all important place of birth, good for you if having a child born here, at least if you are a female, bad for you if even naturalized, that place of birth is a lifelong stigma against you. But again, we don't make the laws, have idiots doing that for us.