Deployed in Afghan...many many questions..

[ProudUSMarinero 0]

Hello all....

I am currently deployed in Afghanistan. My wife and I are located in SD, CA and have a 1 yr old beautiful baby girl. She came here for a funeral when she was 3 with her father and they never left. Her father has temporary stay currently, but when he applied for her sister and herself they were denied bc he didnt follow up fast enough with the info that they needed. My question is this, actually pretty simple, what do we need to get first because all of this is very confusing and stressful. She is still here in the states, obviously, that is frowned upon considering she technically is an immigrant. I just dont want to lose my wife that I love and the mother of my child. I know its a reality that might come true but I would like to know where to start bc we actually have money to get this started now and I want to take full advantage of it. Please help. Thanks guys.

[milimelo 4,156]

Hello all....

I am currently deployed in Afghanistan. My wife and I are located in SD, CA and have a 1 yr old beautiful baby girl. She came here for a funeral when she was 3 with her father and they never left. Her father has temporary stay currently, but when he applied for her sister and herself they were denied bc he didnt follow up fast enough with the info that they needed. My question is this, actually pretty simple, what do we need to get first because all of this is very confusing and stressful. She is still here in the states, obviously, that is frowned upon considering she technically is an immigrant. I just dont want to lose my wife that I love and the mother of my child. I know its a reality that might come true but I would like to know where to start bc we actually have money to get this started now and I want to take full advantage of it. Please help. Thanks guys.

Did your wife come in on a tourist visa?

[ProudUSMarinero 0]

Did your wife come in on a tourist visa?

no i dont know the age range of a tourist visa but she was only 3 when she came here. She came through customs with her 3 sisters and father.

[Geramer 0]

My advice would be to contact the legal office at your base (in San Diego).

[NickD 202]

What is the immigration status of your father-in-law, believe he has to be a LPR or a US citizen to petition for this daughters.

Assume your daughter was born in the USA and as such is a US citizen, well is anyway since she is your daughter and assume you are a US citizen yourself. Where this helps with your wife, assuming she overstayed her I-94, they don't normally deport the mom of US born kids.

I agree, she will need help from a good immigration JAG attorney, on the basis your wife was way too young to actually break any laws And hopefully, they will let you petition for her since she is now your wife.

[polar1979 4]

Start with I-485 and I-130 and hire a lawer to do a waiver if needed, and go from there.

[Ban Hammer 12,827]

moved to general immigration as that seems to be a better location for the topic.

[milimelo 4,156]

Start with I-485 and I-130 and hire a lawer to do a waiver if needed, and go from there.

Actually no - this would put her on ICE radar if she came in illegally.

Before we can advise of what;s to be done the OP needs to have his wife ask her dad how they entered the country. If on passports with tourist visa (everyone from Mexico needs them, regardless of age) then proceed with Adjustment of Status.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

moving to AOS from General Immigration

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There is already a denied stay application through the father so USCIS is aware of her presence. She appears to be out of status but from what has been reported she entered legally as a child. Depending on the regulations in effect when she went through 'customs' with her family they may not have required a passport or she may have been included on her father's passport.

There are several issues to consider.

First, if she entered the country legally - which it appears that she did as she and her family were inspected at the border - ("went through customs") then she is allowed to apply to adjust status from the (expired) entry visa to permanent resident through her legal marriage to a US citizen. (Please note - if she and her father did NOT cross the border legally and entered without inspection, then she cannot stay and there are no grounds to adjust status so this is an important issue that needs to be addressed).

Second - under no circumstances should she leave the US. Due to her overstay, if she leaves she would immediately trigger a 10 year ban on re-entry so she must stay in the US until her status is rectified.

Third, as a serviceman you have access to an immigration liaison through your commanding officer (I believe) who can help you with the forms and the legalities involved.

Fourth, as a service man in active duty you may also qualify for some sort of expedition of the process.

Fifth - you may find it useful to consult with a KNOWLEDGEABLE immigration attorney, experienced in assisting beneficiaries with overstays, especially ones who entered as children and are now married to US citizens.

The basic process would be that you would jointly file an I-130 petition (sponsorship of family member) with the I-485 (petition to adjust status to become a permanent resident) along with the necessary supporting documentation.

Your wife's status can be legalized through you far more easily than through her father's status so that is the route to follow. Once the I-485 is filed and accepted, her status becomes legal while they adjudicate the petition. It is still vital, however, that your wife not leave the US until she has her green card in her hands.

Good luck to you.

Edited June 26, 2011 by Kathryn41

[belinda63 2,981]

My only concern here, assuming she entered legally, would be any deportation issue that my be lying around based on the denied filing by the father. While this would be overcome by an immediate relative petition it might throw a monkey wrench in the works and this would be why I would recommend at least a consult with an immigration attorney and if you chose to not hire one right off, at least have a GOOD one you can call if problems arise. Other than that based on what you have said I don't see any other issues.

[NickD 202]

Still haven't been able to find my old buddies that married Canadian girls. Memory is getting lax, but just don't recall anything about immigration even being an issue back then. But even not that far back then. Can't even count the times I traveled to Mexico or Canada on business, was no different than traveling from town to town or state to state.

Am a veteran of a foreign war, never got married back then, but a lot of my buddies did, bringing back wives from Japan, Korea, Viet Nam, Spain, Germany, England, etc. For some strange reason, immigration was never discussed or even brought up. When I met my wife, never even thought about immigration or its issues. She was an executive assistant to the general manager of Johnson & Johnson, the Band-Aid people, but a lot more stuff I never knew about and always dealing with immigration issues. As their employees were always being moved from country to country. She told me all about the USCIS, embassies, and consulates I have never paid attention to. Never had to.

We did get married here, can recall that like five minutes ago. We had to apply for a marriage license, in Wisconsin, is a two week wait while they check your background and the evidence we had to supply to prove to them we were free to marry. Obviously they knew she was from Venezuela, but they never even brought up the subject of immigration. I asked a federal judge to marry us, he was so honored, refused a fee and even a contribution to his favorite charity, but he never brought up the issue of immigration either. He told us to go downstairs to get our marriage certificate, that was seven bucks for the first copy and five bucks for each extra copy, was aware of immigration then, so got six copies, but my point is, they never brought up the subject of immigration either.

Point I am trying to make, is how does one know they have to go to this immigration process if they are not even aware of it? It sure isn't very well advertised. And in particular from people from Mexico or Canada when we had open borders from the beginning of time! Have to say, if I didn't have a computer, would be dead lost, not a damned thing about immigration in my home town. For years now, been asking friends and new acquaintances if they even heard about the USCIS, Not a single one even heard about this agency that rules our lives.

Have to say, I fell off my chair when I first found the USCIS site with all those forms. Our major problem was getting that permission to bring my wifes' daughter with her, she certainly couldn't leave her behind. And I wouldn't think very much of her if she did. We actually had to postpone our marriage for a year until we got all that proper paperwork. Was pretty well familiar with the USCIS during that year, and did a lot of study.

I didn't even know we had some 11 million illegals here until Bush brought that up with a question, how does he know there is 11 million illegals here, heard other estimated up to 20 million! If they have a number, must know who they are and where they are, but certainly not an issue with the feds, states are taking over that issue. Our state sure has. And we sure had our problems getting my wife's drivers' license renewed because she had an expired green card with a one year extension. What in the hell is a one year extension? Also problems with her employer as they could now be fined $16,300.00 for employing an illegal. What a screwed up country we live in, fed are in charged and not doing anything about it. States have no authority, but doing everything to make life miserable, for even legals.

I was born and raised in this country, and very accustomed to filling out tons of government forms, am certified by several government agencies, and always have dealt with a board of at least five for approval. Not true with the USCIS, meet virtual idiots that have life and death in their hands, you life. During the oath ceremony, couldn't believe the new office manager errors in dealing with pro citizenship issues. Just kept my big mouth shut, wanted my stepdaughters' certificate and to get the hell out of there.

I feel for this marine, he had no idea he has problems until just recently, if wondered how he found out he had problems in keeping his precious wife. And then dealing with an agency that doesn't even know what the hell they are doing like the USCIS. Can't even write a decent form and only deal with one idiot. When I first reviewed all the forms, my head was spinning. Called my then wife to be and asked her what immigration firm they were dealing with. Was a major US firm and unlike other attorneys that can only operate in a given state, can operate anywhere. That was a major difference, since J&J was major client, gave me special rates and were a great guide.

There are many subtle considerations with each case, and it sure helps to have a powerful law firm behind you to guide you through this laborious process. Can only recommend you to the same, for the sake of your future and keeping your wife.

[Boiler 43,359]

The forms are not that bad.

Immigration law is Federal....

[NickD 202]

The forms are not that bad.

Immigration law is Federal....

Can say the same about doing heart surgery the first time, but not so bad after you have done it several times.

Tell my state immigration is a federal law. Governor put a guy in charge that helped him get elected, didn't know the first thing about immigration. Spent hours with him explaining the protocol. Not that I wanted to, just wanted to keep my wife.

[Boiler 43,359]

I do know someone who is a Heart Surgeon, my neighbour. Licensed in 3 States in 4 specialisms.

The Immigration Forms, may be a pain, could be simpler, but take your time and they are not that bad.

My complaint was down to the duplication, you seemed to be spending a lot of time putting the same information in different boxes.

Can she evidence that she entered with inspection?

[Harsh_77 716]

I would say does not matter if her father is LPR or citizen at this point.

Since now she is married to USC , she can file to live in US as Perm Resident based on the marriage.

The only problem I see is, has she been renewing her passport? If there is no passport doing an AOS would be impossible without a passport.

First step would be to get a passport from consulate of her home country, that could be tricky I don’t knw.