Kevin Michael Crabtree’s Answers

When your wife filed the I-130 visa petition for you, and you filed the I-485, the most likely thing that would have happened is that the former INS would have accepted the I-130, but rejected the I-485. A person who has been ordered removed (deported) can be the beneficiary of a family visa petition. However, once a person is in deportation proceedings, only the judge and not immigration has the authority to decide the I-485 adjustment of status application. So, INS would have rejected the...

It may be too late to sue, but I will not say that for certain. The ACLU is particularly interested in this issue. They have filed law suits on behalf of U.S. citizens who have been detained unlawfully by DHS. https://www.aclunc.org/

I agree that you should speak to an attorney. However, it is fairly routine for undocumented immigrants to prove their physical presence in other contexts using pay stubs (a particularly strong piece of evidence since most people won't pay you for hours you worked if you were not here). And, most of the time those pay stubs have an "incorrect" social security number. It is unlikely to reflect negatively on your application in my opinion.

Now that your mother has had U-1 status for three years, she and the rest of you are eligible fto apply for permanent resident status (I-485). If you do not do that, you could be deported when the 4 year U status ends. Your mother is eligible to file a petition (Form I-929) for your step-father. If she demonstrates that either she or your stepfather would suffer extreme hardship if your stepfather is denied a green card, USCIS can allow him to apply for a green card at the same time as the...

The difficulty with this situation is that your green card will expire prior to the finality of the divorce. As my colleague said, you can file the I-751 by yourself if you have a final divorce and the marriage was in good faith. Another basis to file the I-751 by oneself is if the US citizen spouse subjected you to battery or extreme cruelty. I do not have enough information to tell you to do that or not, but the adultery I think at least raises the possibility that you could make that...

DHS has said that they will look at juvenile offenses under the totality of the circumstances. So, instead of them just denying you automatically because of a crime they will consider favorable factors. It is helpful to have an attorney in those types of requests, since h or she will understand what is relevant for DHS. Good luck!

It is a little puzzling how your parents got you into the U.S. if you did not have an immigrant visa. I think you should do a FOIA request (Freedom of Information Act) to take a look at your immigration records, just to be safe. It seems like you would qualify for deferred action for childhood arrivals, assuming you graduated high school (you could also just enroll in a GED program). That would give you a work permit and driver's license, and possibly allow you to travel internationally....

In the event that she cannot adjust her status in the United States because she did not enter with a visa and is not grandfathered into the 245(i) program (requiring some other relative sponsored her by April 30, 2001), she would need to depart the US to apply for an immigrant visa. However, the departure would trigger a ten year bar to returning and she would have to either wait the 10 years or ask for a waiver. This dilemma is what you have heard about in the news that the administration is...

There is also a requirement that the applicant reside in the county where she is living at the time of application for 90 days before application. A vacation does not necessarily interrupt residence, but it may be a problem if she does not have a fixed residence during the European vacation that she returns to (i.e. leaves her apartment in Sonoma County and stores her things at her mother's place in Sacramento and then returns to the mother's house and applies).

If your father was born in the United States, you can get a copy of his birth certificate from the vital records office for the county of his birth. It is a matter of public record. If he naturalized as a U.S. citizen, then you will face more difficulty because DHS records are confidential. You would probably need to hire a lawyer to investigate whether you could get a court order to release the records.