adjustment of status Advice request for immigration/adjustment of status case

[CyberSamurai013 69]

I do not know where to post this so I am putting it here. Some of this I have asked before but we have new information, an evolved situation, and new advice from attorneys so I am seeking guidance here because I do not know which path to proceed with and have limited time and resources. Any information or advice is welcome!

 

The summary of our case history is as follows:

 

My wife (Russian citizen, possibly stateless) first came to America in 2011 on a K-1 fiancee visa. We married and she received her conditional green card. We lived in America together until personal issues caused us to separate and her to return to Russia with our daughter in 2014 a few months before we were to file for the removal of conditions on her green card. I remained in America and filed when it was time but was told that they could not process it as my wife left the country. I moved to Russia in 2015 where we reconciled and had a second child together. When the Ukraine war started in March of 2022, we filed for an IR-1 spousal visa and humanitarian parole. We never heard anything about the humanitarian parole but later found out it was approved in March of 2023 but never sent to the Embassy and we were never notified. We continued the IR-1 process and she did the medical and interview at the US consulate in Almaty, Kazakhstan in March 2023. They suspended processing as they demanded original copies of my divorce decree from my previous marriage and we could not get those documents to them due to the sanctions. DHL was the only company willing to attempt delivery and the documents were seized at the Kazakh border by customs who refused to release them. While this was happening, we were forced to flee Russia under emergency conditions due to political persecution and threatened imprisonment/execution in July 2023. We fled to the US embassy in Astana where my wife was given a new emergency humanitarian parole valid for 2 years. We entered the US in August 2023 and she was inspected and paroled for said 2 years. As of July 2023, her IR-1 case on the CEAC website shows refused as the status but we have never received any documentation regarding this.

 

My initial plan of action was to file an I-485 to adjust her status based on being an immediate relative (spouse) of a US citizen and using the I-130 that we filed with her IR-1 visa application. I have been told by an immigration attorney that her green card from 2011-2014 should still exist but in a 'suspended' state. That we could file an I-751 to remove the conditions but upon reading the instructions it states you can only do so within 90 days of returning to the US. We are outside of that window and I was not aware that this was a possibility until today. I was also told by the same attorney that we can file an I-824 to request action on her IR-1 visa and effectively have it transferred from the US consulate in Kazakhstan to the USCIS here in America but upon reading those instructions it states this does not apply to denied or pending applications and only approved ones. It is my understanding that the I-485 is the only real option open to us but I am not sure if that is true and am seeking opinions on this. I was also told that the medical exam she had done in Kazakhstan in March 2023 is still valid for the I-485 as they are now valid for 2 years instead of 6 months. Even if that is the case, we do not have a completed I-693 as everything there was done electronically. All we do have is her vaccination record for all the vaccines she received. I assume she will need a new civil surgeon appointment for the I-693 to submit with the I-485. Please correct me if I am wrong.   

 

I have written several letters and made several phone calls to the State Department, USCIS, and multiple US consulates regarding our case but have not been able to determine the correct course of action as most of my inquiries go unanswered. At this point, I plan to just proceed with the I-485 as it seems to me it is the only valid option. 

[Boiler 45,672]

You have an approved I 130

 

IR 1 is a visa

 

You need the I 485 package which includes a Medical

[Simplytex 387]

Not a lawyer, but you have a similar situation to a friend of my wife (also Russian.) What I understand you saying is you think you have these three options:

1. Try to 'recover' your wife's previous greencard
2. Try to continue with IR1 visa
3. Proceed with the Humanitarian Parole route

Again, not a lawyer, but from my best understanding:

1. Her greencard has been abandoned. At the letter of the text "You may also lose your permanent resident status by intentionally abandoning it, including but not limited to: Moving to another country and intending to live there permanently;... Remaining outside of the United States for an extended period of time". I personally have a very hard time seeing how you could convince USCIS otherwise (regardless of if your previous GC had conditions or not.) 
2. IR1 Visa is just that a visa (as @Boiler said above.) A visa's sole purpose is to let Border Control know why someone is coming into the country. In this case, the IR1 visa is now moot since your wife received humanitarian parole and is now in the US.
3. In this choose-your-own-adventure (sorry, always have to have a little humor!), I believe your next step needs to be on compliance with the requirements of your humanitarian parole process. I'll admit I'm a little out of my depth when it comes to 'what's next' in the parole world, but my gut feeling would be that you now need to file I-485 (again as Boiler said) because that is the official Adjustment of Status form. Seems like USCIS is okay with that approach? Another reference saying something similar... scroll down to the section about Family-Based Immigration Petitions. Form I-485 has several paths to it, so I'm not sure if you'd need to do something special for humanitarian parole, or if you just file I-130 alongside...

[Boiler 45,672]

There is nothing special for HP

 

she has been admitted and can adjust as I assume they expected

[Timona 4,207]

Though a long shot, I'd try reviving her ROC. We've seen someone here successfully do it after 10 years. 

 

Did she file to abandon her GC?

[OldUser 6,891]

I'd vote for I-485. She lost her GC probably. You should file FOIA, requesting her entire files. I'm sure somewhere it may say something useful about what happened to original GC.

[Family 4,025]

9 hours ago, CyberSamurai013 said:

I do not know where to post this so I am putting it here. Some of this I have asked before but we have new information, an evolved situation, and new advice from attorneys so I am seeking guidance here because I do not know which path to proceed with and have limited time and resources. Any information or advice is welcome!

 

The summary of our case history is as follows:

 

My wife (Russian citizen, possibly stateless) first came to America in 2011 on a K-1 fiancee visa. We married and she received her conditional green card. We lived in America together until personal issues caused us to separate and her to return to Russia with our daughter in 2014 a few months before we were to file for the removal of conditions on her green card. I remained in America and filed when it was time but was told that they could not process it as my wife left the country. I moved to Russia in 2015 where we reconciled and had a second child together. When the Ukraine war started in March of 2022, we filed for an IR-1 spousal visa and humanitarian parole. We never heard anything about the humanitarian parole but later found out it was approved in March of 2023 but never sent to the Embassy and we were never notified. We continued the IR-1 process and she did the medical and interview at the US consulate in Almaty, Kazakhstan in March 2023. They suspended processing as they demanded original copies of my divorce decree from my previous marriage and we could not get those documents to them due to the sanctions. DHL was the only company willing to attempt delivery and the documents were seized at the Kazakh border by customs who refused to release them. While this was happening, we were forced to flee Russia under emergency conditions due to political persecution and threatened imprisonment/execution in July 2023. We fled to the US embassy in Astana where my wife was given a new emergency humanitarian parole valid for 2 years. We entered the US in August 2023 and she was inspected and paroled for said 2 years. As of July 2023, her IR-1 case on the CEAC website shows refused as the status but we have never received any documentation regarding this.

 

My initial plan of action was to file an I-485 to adjust her status based on being an immediate relative (spouse) of a US citizen and using the I-130 that we filed with her IR-1 visa application. I have been told by an immigration attorney that her green card from 2011-2014 should still exist but in a 'suspended' state. That we could file an I-751 to remove the conditions but upon reading the instructions it states you can only do so within 90 days of returning to the US. We are outside of that window and I was not aware that this was a possibility until today. I was also told by the same attorney that we can file an I-824 to request action on her IR-1 visa and effectively have it transferred from the US consulate in Kazakhstan to the USCIS here in America but upon reading those instructions it states this does not apply to denied or pending applications and only approved ones. It is my understanding that the I-485 is the only real option open to us but I am not sure if that is true and am seeking opinions on this. I was also told that the medical exam she had done in Kazakhstan in March 2023 is still valid for the I-485 as they are now valid for 2 years instead of 6 months. Even if that is the case, we do not have a completed I-693 as everything there was done electronically. All we do have is her vaccination record for all the vaccines she received. I assume she will need a new civil surgeon appointment for the I-693 to submit with the I-485. Please correct me if I am wrong.   

 

I have written several letters and made several phone calls to the State Department, USCIS, and multiple US consulates regarding our case but have not been able to determine the correct course of action as most of my inquiries go unanswered. At this point, I plan to just proceed with the I-485 as it seems to me it is the only valid option. 

Wow , what a love story ! Good to hear all four of you are safe. 
 

1. Go ahead and file the I-485 and include a copy of the I-130 approval notice 

 

2. Have her do a new medical as the one she did for consulate is not valid since associated visa was never issued . 
 

3. Send an email to embassy and request I-130 file be sent back to USCIS and  visa request be withdrawn as she was paroled in the US and will

seek adjustment. 
( include a copy of this email  w  the I-485)

4. To avoid possible delays on getting I-130 file back from consulate or an I-824 delay …just DO NEW I-130

 

It does NOT make sense to do a late filed I-751 to revive old green card because she effectively abandoned status by living overseas  At this adjustment they will likely ask her to sign I-407 as mere formality , 

 

I-824 can be avoided ( from consulate to USCIS..but never from USCIS to consulate ) …

the risk is delays ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 8 by Family

[CyberSamurai013 69]

Thank you all for your replies, I appreciate them and your advice!

 

I spoke to the attorney again and with the information you guys presented here, we were able to decide that the only real route for us is the file the I-485 and to use the approved I-130 from her IR-1 case for the packet. The attorney did mention the possibility of parole in place but that does not apply to us as she has already been inspected and paroled under the humanitarian parole. We are going today for the civil surgeon appointment and then we will file the I-485 packet.

[TBoneTX 45,542]

6 hours ago, CyberSamurai013 said:

We are going today for the civil surgeon appointment and then we will file the I-485 packet.

Good luck, and keep us apprised.

[CyberSamurai013 69]

Update:

 

We completed the civil surgeon exam for $300 including tests and vaccines. We also found an attorney through a law school clinic who is going to take our case pro bono. I had already prepared all of the documents for our packet so I turned them over to the attorney who seemed ecstatic that I had done so. It is a pretty straightforward I-485 Adjustment of Status packet that most of you had already advised us to do. All of the other avenues are either not applicable to our case or will take too much time and money to pursue. Thank you all for your advice and support!

[TBoneTX 45,542]

19 minutes ago, CyberSamurai013 said:

We completed the civil surgeon exam for $300 including tests and vaccines.

This sounds like a fair deal.  You got the appointment quickly!

20 minutes ago, CyberSamurai013 said:

We also found an attorney through a law school clinic who is going to take our case pro bono.

Magnificent!   

20 minutes ago, CyberSamurai013 said:

I had already prepared all of the documents for our packet so I turned them over to the attorney who seemed ecstatic that I had done so.

This will motivate the attorney even more.

Sounds like you're on your way to a successful ending.  Thanks for the uplifting update, and keep us apprised.

[CyberSamurai013 69]

21 hours ago, TBoneTX said:

This sounds like a fair deal.  You got the appointment quickly!

Magnificent!   

This will motivate the attorney even more.

Sounds like you're on your way to a successful ending.  Thanks for the uplifting update, and keep us apprised.

 

Thank you, TBoneTX! I have been working hard on this to get it done properly and did not want to take chances due to our situation being unusual.