Odds of someone returning to US after a voluntary departure

[Haylbayl 0]

Long story....anyway my boyfriend is currently being held by immigration and his lawyer has asked for a voluntary departure due to him having no form of relief for staying. Anyway how we got here is one night of drinking and fighting he ended up getting arrested for domestic assault. This was dropped to simple assult with a deferred judgment. So he wasn't officially charged with a domestic. Immigration came shortly after and arrested him at his work because he was working with a false social security number. He has been here 4 years and entered illegally. My question is if we were to get married in guatemala after his deportation what are the odds of him obtaining some type of visa to return in the future? 

Edited May 22, 2017 by Haylbayl

[geowrian 22,344]

He would still an require I-601 waiver, but he's very likely going to need an I-212 as well (they can be filed together). Voluntary departure seems unlikely given his EWI, years of unlawful presence, illegal work, and criminal history. The voluntary departure would only avoid the penalties for deportation...not the other other items, which will resort in at least a 10 year ban on any future visa the moment he leaves the US. The waivers to overcome this inadmissibility (and deportation if that occurs) will likely add 6-12 months to the CR-1/IR-1 spousal visa, which alone takes 12-14 months. I've seen it take only ~4 months sometimes, but I would plan for the better part of the year to be safe. His full criminal activity will need to be disclosed in the process, and the waivers are not guaranteed (albeit the odds aren't horrible if a compelling case is made).

 

It's not a simple case and I would suggest seeking (or still using) an experienced immigration attorney that has an expertise with waivers. Expect 18-24+ months from filing for visa + waiver processing.

Edited May 22, 2017 by geowrian

[Haylbayl 0]

Thank you for the information..I'm feeling pretty hopeless at this point but not willing to give up. His lawyer asked for a voluntary departure at his first hearing. I was told we needed to pay for his ticket and I need to get a copy of his passport and the money order to the lawyer before his next hearing then he will be sent off to Guatemala shortly after. So I guess I just assumed they already granted him that I will check into it. His lawyer did advise me that any type of visa is going to take some time in the works. Hopefully we will have a chance.

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

41 minutes ago, Haylbayl said:

Thank you for the information..I'm feeling pretty hopeless at this point but not willing to give up. His lawyer asked for a voluntary departure at his first hearing. I was told we needed to pay for his ticket and I need to get a copy of his passport and the money order to the lawyer before his next hearing then he will be sent off to Guatemala shortly after. So I guess I just assumed they already granted him that I will check into it. His lawyer did advise me that any type of visa is going to take some time in the works. Hopefully we will have a chance.

Yes, any type of visa he would get would require a waiver for it to be approved. It would be better for him for voluntary departure than it would if he was just deported. Just recognize that it may take months if the waiver is granted to years if it isn't granted for him to come back to the country. He has several things working against him like the simple assault, the working with a fake ssn, and being just plain illegal with this administration. 

[Unlockable 7,322]

You have some very good advice here already. It is not going to be easy but in time it can be doable. A simple marriage in Guatemala is not going to cut it. I agree that he has multiple issues to overcome (assault, working with fake SSN, illegal entry) so even if you get pass one the other(s) may be problematic.

 

Try going over to immigrate2us.net The majority of their members are people working in tough cases like yours. You will find many threads on waivers there. 

 

Good luck to you.

[jan22 3,185]

Couple of other things to consider -- was the fake SSN a real one that he "borrowed" from someone or did he just make up?  On any of his employment papers did he ever mark that he was a US citizen?  If he knowingly used someone else's SSN (versus just having made one up), he could be found to be ineligible for fraud, which would also require a waiver.  If at any point he claimed to be a US citizen, he would be permqanently ineligible to immigrate to the US with no waver ever available.  Don't want you to panic, but you need to be aware of all the issues when you are talking with lawyers about his case.

[Haylbayl 0]

Thanks everyone for the information. We obviously have a long hard road ahead of us. And as far as I know he used a fake social security number and a fake work permit card all under his name and not someone else's. I guess I don't know 100 percent if he said he was a citizen but l hope that's not the case. 

[Boiler 48,023]

Not exactly an uncommon situation and the devil is in the details but from what you have said so far should not be unsurmountable.

 

Consider going the finacee route, depends how willing you are to be the one that moves.

[ConOfficer 167]

If the lawyer is saying voluntary departure is the only option that may be correct. But from my vantage point I see a lot of people succeed in having their removal proceedings terminated or administratively closed by an immigration judge. They can then pursue a provisional waiver of unlawful presence and wait for it to be approved before going back to their country for consular processing. Otherwise you will have to wait for the I-130 approval, he will be refused 9B2 (unlawful presence) at the consular interview, and then he can apply for a waiver. Will take a year and half at least. 

 

Maybe DHS lawyers are taking a harder line and they are just not agreeing to allow people in removal proceedings to pursue provisional waivers anymore. 

 

A conviction for domestic violence could be a crime involving moral turpitude, depends on the state. The social security thing is only a concern if he was actually convicted of a crime. If it's just something he did that may have some tangential impact on his waiver application, but it doesn't result in any immigration issue. A previous poster mentioned a fraud issue, but you only have a fraud problem if you lie to obtain an immigration benefit. Social security issues are unrelated to immigration. 

[sparkles_ 462]

Second on the immigrate2us.net forum.....my husband was placed into removal and not to knock VJ, but the folks here tend to have pretty straight forward cases compared to the complications over at I2U so info is better there concerning removal. 

 

All being said, admin closing proceedings is for non criminals. As in, you don't even have a traffic ticket....so that option is done for. Proceedings can't be terminated unless he has a right to relief, also a no. Voluntary is the best way unless he is on release or can secure release til the court date and you guys get married here and even then, I don't know the process for EWI adjustment save it involves him going home with waivers. But I2U has a section just for that

Edited May 23, 2017 by sparkles_

[Boiler 48,023]

EWI can not adjust, well there are very limited exceptions none of which seem to apply.

[Haylbayl 0]

I did go over to the other website and I'm waiting for my profile to be activated (or something) so I can post there. I appreciate that advice! There is lots of information there..its pretty overwhelming considering i know absolutely nothing about the waivers etc. I did talk with his lawyer today..he explained to me that on his NTA they mentioned nothing about fraud or him saying he was a citizen only that he is here illegally. I was under the assumption that his voluntary departure was granted but I guess I was wrong. His next court hearing is June 26th then we will know if they grant that. As far as his charge his lawyer seems to think that immigration sees simple assult as a petty offence and shouldn't cause problems for him in the future. Since the county prosecutor dropped the charge down from a domestic due to the circumstances in our situation. I hope that is a true statement. Time will tell!