Catherine Olson Brown's Answers

I got an annulment, do I need some sort of proof of that for my next marriage?

Yes you should and you should also disclose the fact that you were previously married on any relevant immigration forms.

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Looking for affordable immigration attorney in South Denver

I have my main office in north Denver but I offer clients an option to meet with me at a new branch office in northeast Denver near Aurora (in Stapleton). I charge $150 for a consultation and have very competitive rates.

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How is the best way to get married with my girlfriend from Paraguay?

You can get married in either place - you do not need to do both. The question is if you do get married abroad - how long are you prepared to be apart. The process for permanent residence and obtaining an immigrant visa can take 8 months or longer. You may also want to talk to an immigration attorney prior to her departure to ensure she we will have no issues of admission and the risk of applying for a B-2 visitor visa once you are both married. Your options are essentially if you get married...

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Co-sponsors...

If the petitoning sponsor (e.g., the USC spouse) does not make a sufficient income or doesn't have sufficient assets, then the problem can be resolved by having a co-sponsor or joint sponsor 'step in the shoes" of the petitioning sponsor. A joint sponsor must be 18 and a legal permanent resident or a US citizen and must be domiciled (residing in the US). The joint sponsor's income is based on his/her "household size." This includes generally spouse, children under 18 and any other dependents on...

How do I find out how long my husband has to remain out of the country after being deported?

If your husband was deported, generally the rule is he cannot come back in for 5 years, counting from when he exited. There are exceptions such as if he was removed as an aggravated felon which would be longer. He may be eligible to come The bigger concern is that if he was in the US illegally for 1 year or more, he triggered the 10 year bar upon his exit. There is a waiver available but I would suggest talking to an immigration attorney about this.

What happens to illegal immigrants who are also unaccompanied minors once they reach the Tacoma Deportation center?

While I am not familiar with the Tacoma Detention Center, detained and non-detained unaccompanied minors may be eligible to self-petition for permanent residence through the Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) visa. You may want to call your local immigration pro-bono services in the area as there may be some pro bono services for detained juveniles eligible for SIJ. Unaccompanied minors are a huge issue and their care in detention can vary depending on what part of the country the child is...

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Laws on changing your name when you become a US citizen?

In order to apply for citizenship with the correct name, the name you use must be your legal name, meaning you cannot just use a name you prefer or want to be called. If you are married, there is no need to get a court order to change your name - the marriage certificate is sufficient to change your legal name. However, marriage does not connote a change in your middle name. I have seen immigration officers okay with name changes like this and others who demand a court order showing a name...

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To become US Citizen

There are two issues - one is a requirement for citicenship called "continuous residence." If you have been outside of the US for more than 365 days, then your continuous residence is broken and you must start counting 4 years and one day before you accrue enough residence again to file for citizenship. So, that should not be a problem since it has been more than 4 years since your last extensive trips. The second and more important issue is whether you abandoned legal residence, which can...

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Family immigration

She may not need to refile for her children if she became a US citizen before they married - it is unclear which category she originally filed for her children if at all. Ideally you would want to salvage the original I-130s because the backlog is so long to obtain a visa for many countries in the family-based categories. Refiling today means waiting several more years. Unfortunately, family illness does not hasten the process. It is possible her children may come over on a different type of...

Is it possible to file K3 visa outside of US?

There are two parts to the K-3 - the petition and the visa process. Once you are married to a US citizen and file an I-130 Petition, you can then file for the K-3 petition in the US. The K-3 petition is filed in the US always. The K-3 VISA is then processed in the foreign person's home country (and if couple married abroad, must be process in the country where the marriage took place (which may be different than the foreign national's home country). So, if married in Germany, the K-3 visa would...