Demise

Yeah it's at NBC.

Got an RFE for my medicals. Hopefully this will go like it did for most - means they waived my interview (something that I thought they didn't do for EWIs), approve me, and I'll be finally free.

If the father is a Filipino then CENOMAR is a document that outright states that the person listed was never married. That'd be a definite proof that your husband was never previously married (or only married to you). Otherwise a sworn statement from your husband explaining the circumstances (i.e. never married, had the kid out of wedlock, eventually married you) should be enough, especially if your husband already got his green card since in that case USCIS (and possibly DOS) already looked at the bona fides and agreed that you were legally able to marry each other. Steparent-stepchild is a second-order relationship. So basically you -> husband -> stepson. In this case it'd be your marriage certificate and stepson's birth certificate, since it's out of wedlock some proof of legitimization like a child support settlement, proof of payment for the care, or a sworn statement from husband acknowledging the kid and agreeing to financially support him, will likely be required too.

Well the way that this works is that if someone like this shows up at the Port of Entry CBP has to let them in, but they can either: 1. Admit them back as an LPR - Good. 2. Parole them in as an arriving alien for removal proceedings - Bad. 3. Try to pressure them to sign I-407 and go away, in case of which you can hold your ground until they do one of the above. If they admit you, you're good to go, wait out the 5 years and file N-400. If they parole you in then it depends on the circumstances, if you're able to re-adjust somehow (e.g. you're the spouse of a US Citizen, or a parent of a US Citizen over 21, who can re-sponsor you) you can do that before the court, otherwise you'd have to prove to the court that you haven't abandoned your permanent residency. I think someone here recommended going to one of the unstaffed CBP ports on the Alaska/Yukon border, since well, not like they can tell you to go away if there's nobody there. Then just get a domestic flight to the mainland and lay low until it's time to naturalize. If you are screwed (no way CBP would admit you, and no way a court would rule that you haven't abandoned your residency) might as well just try that since you don't have much to lose.

Well here's the thing - USCIS will upon a denial of I-751 place you into removal proceedings. Immigration judge can review the I-751 de novo and can approve it, alternatively you can in fact file I-360 if you're still within the filing window (within 2 years of termination of marriage), file I-485 with the court and re-adjust. Sometimes they don't and you basically have to request it from them...

I submitted mine back in June, did my biometrics just recently.

No. Only time when you'd want to submit evidence of their citizenship would be if they were an LPR, you got BX1/BX6/B21/B26 green card, and later they naturalized and you want to make use of the 3 year provision. If you have 5 years then just check the 5 year option. If you are adjusting under the 3 year provision, then check other, write something like "LPR for 3 years via VAWA, INA 319(a)", and your IB1/IB6/Z14 green card is proof in itself. If you got a VAWA removal of conditions then you'd want to include the copy of the I-751 approval notice, since that green card will just list the normal IR1/IR6.

I mean if you married within 90 days then your spouse should be able to adjust based solely on the I-129F. Might not be the worst idea to go around your lawyer and have your congressman or senator inquire on your behalf and see what USCIS tells them. It could be that the case literally fell between the cracks. That alone might unstuck it because someone will have to investigate. If that doesn't help then WoM is the only other way forward.

I will add one thing to help with your anxieties: The stamped IR2 immigrant visa she entered on serves as evidence of permanent resident status for 1 year. In the meantime she can use that for anything that would otherwise require a green card (international travel, getting a driver's license, getting a SSN, working, etc).

How'd you get it back? 212(c)? LPR cancellation of removal? Something else? I am like 95% sure you'd have to do 5 years again before you can naturalize, if there is some case law that would permit you to somehow be treated as being in US or the deportation not breaking the residency period while you were not in US pending the appeals I do not know of any. Ask your lawyer, I doubt you DIY'd this. Basically, the issue here is not when you became a resident, because they will restore you back to as if you were never deported and your resident since date will be in 1989, the thing that makes you wait is that absent some special case law you do not meet the physical presence requirement (spent at least past 30 months in US, no absences over 1 year, and some fuzzy math that I could never understand for absences 180-364 days).

How old is he and when was the I-130 filed (i.e. what's the priority date on it)? Also how did his parents get their paperwork sorted? Well there's 3 options here and what to do depends on what the actual case : 1. Got DACA before turning 18 and 180 days old. Basically in this case he would not have enough illegal presence in US to trigger a re-entry ban and would be able to leave US, attend a consular interview abroad, grab his F11 visa, and come back as a permanent resident. 2. 245(i) - To qualify under this he or a spouse/parent while unmarried and under 21, would have to been petitioned in any family or work immigrant classification, or had a PERM labor certification filed for them, on before April 30th 2001, the primary beneficiary of the petition must've been physically present in US on December 21st 2000 if the petition was filed on or after January 15, 1997, the petition/certification was approvable when filed. In case of this he could just straight up adjust in US, just have to include evidence of 245(i) eligibility, include I-485 supplement A, and pay the $1000 penalty fee. If this applies or you think it might apply, I can follow up on what he'd need to include. This does include cases where one aged out of parent's petition as long as the petition allowed derivatives (so no IR). 3. I-601A waiver. Well, he's definitely got a citizen parent so the question basic question of eligibility is already solved. Get a good lawyer who does hardship waivers and see what they can come up with. "Extreme hardship" is a hard standard to prove but far from being insurmountable. If that gets approved then he'll need to leave US, attend a consular interview, get his F11 visa, and come back as a permanent resident.

Just file now, your interview if they do one will probably be like 18 months away, plenty of time to get him added to the bank account, lease, get him a driver's license, get him working, put him on your taxes for this year, and jointly file for the next. Employment Authorization Card will probably take like 6 months and after that he'll have no trouble getting a social security number, US driver's license, working, and all the other stuff. For the initial filing you don't need more than (all of the below being copies): 1. Proof of your citizenship (US passport, birth certificate, US passport card, consular report of birth abroad) 2. Proof of your marriage (marriage certificate) 3. Proof of his identity (UK passport ID page) 4. Proof of his legal entry into US (entry stamp and/or I-94) 5. His birth certificate 6. Divorce decrees or death certificates if either of you was previously married. You can add other evidence if you want to front-load the application, but just to get the ball rolling you only need the above and then you can just bring any other evidence (joint bank account, joint taxes, joint insurance policies (health, vehicle, life, etc), birth certificates of any children, pictures together, and so on and so forth) to the interview. If you don't have the other evidence then you don't have them, file with what you have now

Just an aside for those spinning in circles about the I-94. Canadians have pretty much visa-free access to the US, they are not required to file ESTA and they're admitted as "B-1/2 non-controlled visitors" so an entry stamp or the online print out that's missing the I-94 is likely the best you'll find because an I-94 simply doesn't exist. The agencies also disagree on the implementation where CBP claims the entry is for 180 days, and USCIS and DOS claim that there's no concrete time limit as long as one doesn't violate being a visitor. This has some interesting side effects where Canadian overstayers are generally not subject to re-entry bans because since there's no I-94 there's no real date that they have to leave the US by, similar to F-1 overstayers admitted for D/S. Regarding what to put for the I-94, just pen in "N/A" and maybe explain in the last section that your father is a Canadian citizen who entered US on [date] at [port of entry] and was never issued an I-94.

Depends on what was put as the form numbers on the G-28. Anyways, with a G-28 they send a copy of any notices to both the attorney and you.

Better off reaching to a congressman or senator. Ombudsman is completely toothless.

Yeah, refile I-485 and include an I-612 hardship waiver.

Depends if they both got slapped with the inadmissibility. If only OP did then husband could come in first and then use the now LPR husband as the qualifying relative. Otherwise there'll need to be a USC/LPR parent of either OP or her husband to get his ball rolling. Stepparent could also work if the marriage was entered into while OP/husband was under 18 but that'll be a tough sell. Still, the only way forward would be to do consular interviews and see if the consulate thinks the retraction was timely or not and whether to apply the ban. Either way for an I-601 from abroad you need to get denied at a consular interview to file it.

Not really doable. In order to retain a petition from a petitioner that died you have to be living in US as of the day the petitioner died and up until you file I-485. In this case, just come in as an IR5, and petition the other daughter as an F2A because there's no way to salvage that F3.

Technically yeah. It is extremely weakly enforced, but considering that the whole thing is a short form you file online - just do it until you naturalize where you can give USCIS the ole' one finger salute.

Well she'll need to get the documents she used in order to enter the US. Possibly FOIA CBP for record of entry describing the where, how, and on whose documents it happened with, notarized statements from others that were there. Like overall AOS from misrepresentation entry like this is a mess because well, those aren't your documents, they might be complete forgeries, they might belong to a look alike, and whatever coyote that got you them likely took them back after you got across the border. So not like you'll have the passport with entry stamp and I-94 to use later. So yeah, it's a mess and it's on your lawyer to try and get those and it's gonna be rough. I really question what the lawyer was thinking filing I-485/I-601 without having these documents. All else fails the last option would be to file I-102 in response to this RFE and pray that they manage to find it.

OPT EAD is fine since that's a part of your F-1 status. Like do file I-765 and I-131 for a C09 EAD and Advance Parole. It's better to have them and not need them than need them and not have them, so if you need to secure employment outside of OPT or travel abroad you'll have them.

I would definitely recommend getting a decent lawyer, however: Go for it. I agree with you that you appear to be eligible: The disclaimer on this page does point to the policy being retroactive. Where they will process all currently pending and future applications under it and allow previously denied now eligible ones to file for a reconsideration. USCIS's visa bulletin for June 2021 shows that F3s were eligible to file based on dates for filing and with this new policy that is the day when the visa became eligible You paid the fee for DS-260 within 1 year and thus satisfied the "sought to acquire" requirement. There is no requirement to proceed via the same process that you satisfied the requirement via. The visa availability date has not retrogressed since June 2021. As long as you maintain the F-1 you wont lose it should I-485 be denied. I would be weary of any international travel since by filing that you are showing immigrant intent and CBP isn't supposed to let non-immigrants who have immigrant intent into the country. Similarly you should not use an EAD obtained as part of your adjustment application to work since by doing that you technically violate your F-1 status. Also I'm not sure what manyfudge is on about. CSPA does cover derivative beneficiaries (chidren of: VAWA spouses, widow(er)s, F1, F2A, F2B, F3, F4, EB1-5, DV, asylees, refugees), similarly I can't find anything that would mandate that a derivative has to use the final action dates table. Yes you can't file I-485 until your mother is in US, but that's about it, you've locked your age in by paying the fee for DS-260, you should be good to file once she's in US.

Background security check is unfortunately something you can't jump over. That stuff rests with the FBI, USCIS has no power to push it along and congressmen aren't too keen on inquiring with the FBI. The reason why infopass went nowhere is due to the privacy protections in VAWA. In theory they are supposed to prevent any unauthorized party (especially the abuser) from getting information, but in all reality those things just make any kind of follow up with USCIS difficult. There's a reason why "ask your congressman to inquire" has become the standard procedure in this thread.

Yeah you should, like your lawyer obviously doesn't understand how any of this works. I especially don't understand the new i-485 since there's no good reason to file that with the court while seeking a termination. Like immigration judges have no jurisdiction over VAWA I-360s under any circumstances. The only response to a request like that is that it's improper or straight up file EOIR-29 because the judge is obviously incompetent and have the BIA give you a termination instead.

Have them fly back in, via a third country if necessary, fly to Canada or Mexico and show up at a border crossing if all else fails. CBP can then do one of three things: 1. Admit them as LPRs - they're good to go. 2. Parole them as arriving aliens for removal proceedings - bad, however still acceptable, see below. 3. Pressure them to sign an I-407, for which your parents should refuse until CBP relents and does either of the above. Basically in removal proceedings an LPR can simply re-adjust, since you're a US Citizen the question of whether they abandoned their permanent residency becomes moot since you can just file a new I-130 with USCIS, then I-485 with the court, and have them re-adjust. This will restart all the associated clocks (naturalization, eligibility for waivers or cancellation of removal should they become deportable later) but that's small potatoes.