Complicated story - Citizenship can be revoked?

[transmissao77 3]

Hello everybody! First of all, sorry for my English.

This is a long story and I'll try to tell very detailed, so you can help me better.

My mother and my ex stepfather (both brazilians) moved from Brazil to US as students 22 years ago. They got married a week later they arrived. Two years later my ex stepfather acquired the green card through a company opening and consequently my mother since they were married. After many years (about 10 years ago) she got the citizenship by time of residence. They have 2 children (19 and 15).

4 years ago he cancelled the marriage claiming that my mother was already married when they got married. That time they moved to US my mom was legally separated but not divorced because in Brazil it used to take long time between separation and divorce. He knew everything and his father was the lawyer responsible for the divorce from my mother, but even though he claimed he knew nothing about my mother's previously marriage (my mother has thousands of proofs).He was the responsible for filling out the geen card and the citizenship paperwork.

Now my mother wants to apply for my green card. We consulted a lawyer who (after a year) did not recommend my mother to apply for my green card, because she can have her citizenship revoked (denaturalization) for disclosuring false information and for obtained by fraud

Some matters to consider:

- My mother is a good citizen that works, pays taxes, has two American daughters

- She got married to my ex stepfather before he has the green card) so she did not married him by interest

- Her citizenship was through time of residence, not marriage

- I'm 26

Thank you for helping me and I'm sorry again for my poor english

[apple21 953]

Who is your father? The ex-husband she's legally separated to?

[transmissao77 3]

Who is your father? The ex-husband she's legally separated to?

Yes!

[Mistyyy 11]

If a lawyer who studied immigration law didn't recommend that your mom sponsor you. Why would you jeopardize her status ?

[transmissao77 3]

If a lawyer who studied immigration law didn't recommend that your mom sponsor you. Why would you jeopardize her status ?

We want a second opinion, and we dont trust this lawyer. She took a year to give us an answer and she seemed uninterested. We scheduled a call with her and she cancelled it three times. Then she called us and it was very quick and uninterested

I'm not trying to jeopardize her status. She wants me to move to US

[JimmyHou 611]

Your mother got her citizenship based on her time as a permanent residence, not based on marriage, however, she got her green card based on marriage to your ex-stepfather. The problem is that your mother and ex-stepfather were never legally married. Therefore your mother was never eligible for a green card.

There is of course the question of fraud that you bring up, but let's ignore that for the moment... Whether or not he or she realized at the time that they were not legally married doesn't really matter because whether or not there was a case of intentional fraud, your mother should never have got her green card. The lawyer is right that her citizenship COULD be revoked. I don't know how likely that is.

The fact is that if you got a green card through fraud OR through an error, your greencard (and your citizenship can be revoked). Furthermore, revocation of citizenship is retroactive. This means that if your mother would be considered to have never been a citizen. This means that if you get your green card through her and then get your citizenship, but at some time in the future USCIS investigates and revokes her citizenship, you would also lose your citizenship and greencard.

I'm not a lawyer but the first thing I'd do is investigate if the Basilian separation law at the time was equivalent to divorce... could your mom have legally remarried in Brazil at the time?

Edited June 11, 2015 by JimmyHou

[Transborderwife 4,666]

If your mother married your ex stepfather before she was divorced she committed bigamy plain and simple. She had no legal grounds to gain either green card nor citizenship and it should in fact be revoked due to falsification.

[JimmyHou 611]

As I mentioned above, there is the possible issue of fraud but that is not the main issue. The main issue here is grounds for eligibility for the green card in the first place.

This is similar to a case of a young man who moved back to the. US with his father after his mother passed away. Years later, as he was about to apply for citizenship, he discovered that his father was not his biological father and had not legally adopted him by the necessary age of 16. There was therefore no claim to citizenship or to the green card. I don't know how that case ended but revocation of the green card was certainly possible because it should never have been issued.

Perhaps you should look into going to school in the US and moving here on an F1 visa. Just a suggestion.

Edited June 11, 2015 by JimmyHou

[Boiler 45,657]

You can always get a second opinion.

I would agree with the Lawyer, bigamous marriage so everything that flowed from it is void.

[Penguin_ie 5,994]

The lawyer was correct in this case. Your mother obtained her greencard fraudulently, as she was in a bigamous marriage, and thus she should not have gotten citizenship either. Now, if your ex-stepdad was complicit, he may be in trouble too for lying to immigration about the legal status of his then-wife, but the main issue here is your mother.

[Mistyyy 11]

Now you have other opinions. You can also hire another lawyer so he can tell you the same thing... why waste more money and jeopardize her status here ?

Edited June 11, 2015 by Achraf

[transmissao77 3]

Wow! Lots of bad news haha.

Thanks everybody for the comments/suggestions

If they cancel her citizenship can she apply again through my sisters?

I'll look for more info about F1 visa and E2 visa (my fiance is spanish and we have the money to buy a business)

[transmissao77 3]

Now you have other opinions. You can also hire another lawyer so he can tell you the same thing... why waste more money and jeopardize her status here ?

If you don't want to help, why are u trying to mess with my topic? Is the money yours? If she wants me to look for answers who are you to tell that I'm jeopardizing her status? I'm just asking what SHE wanted me to ask.

Now I have personal opinions, not professional opinions. I thank very much everybody that is helping me and trying to find solutions

I was decided to look for a second professional opinion even before creating the topic. I just wanted personal opinions because knowledge is never too much.

[Boiler 45,657]

Sounds like the personal opinions were not the ones you wanted.

[transmissao77 3]

Sounds like the personal opinions were not the ones you wanted.

As I said before, Boiler, personal opinions are never too much but this is a very important matter to have just one professional opinion and give up. I am looking for personal and professional opinions and once again I thank everybody that is trying to help