Immigration Lawyer Pompano Beach

Did you enter the US illegally? If you are over the age of 18 and entered illegally, even if you marry a US citizen, you will not be eligible to adjust status to permanent residence within the US. You will need to go back to your home country and consular process there. Because of your age, once you depart the US, you will be barred from reentry to the US for 3 or 10 years unless you can get a waiver on the basis of showing extreme hardship to a US citizen spouse, which is difficult to do in most cases.

The answer to your question depends upon how you entered the United States. If you entered the United States lawfully (i.e. with a valid visa), you may be eligible to seek adjustment of status in the United States based upon your marriage. However, if you entered the country illegally, you are not eligible to adjust your status in the United States and would need to return to your native country to process through the U.S. Embassy/Consulate. This requires showing hardship to your husband if you are not allowed to re-enter as you will be subject to a 10 year bar for unlawful presence. It is very important you meet with an experienced immigration attorney before filing any forms.

You will not be able to stay if you file since you came in without inspection unless something was filed for in 2001 or before. See a lawyer before filing.

In most cases, you cannot apply for adjustment of status to permanent resident if you did not have an inspected entry (a visa or equivalent) unless you areeligible to apply under Section 245(i).For Section 245(i) to apply, a labor certification or I-130 petition or I-140 petition has to have been filedon or before April 30, 2001for you or for one of your parents. If that is not the case, you have the recourse of visa processing (leaving the country to get an immigrant visa) but you would have to apply for a waiver overseas before you could come back and prove it would be an extreme hardship to your husband if you could not return or if he had to resettle in your home country with you. Waivers can be hard to get and it is risky to leave the country.

Your USC husband can file a visa petition for you, but if you were never inspected entering the US, you cannot apply for permanent residency in the US, and will need to return to your native country to apply for an immigrant visa after your husband's petition is approved. Your unauthorized presence in the US for more than a year will result in a 10 year bar to your re-entry to the US, but you can seek a waiver based on "extreme hardship" to your USC husband and children. The law is complicated, so I recommend you consult with an immigration attorney.

245i of the immigration and nationality act requires that you be the beneficiary of a family or labor petition filed on or before 4/30/2001. If you are not, you have to leave the U.S. and file a waiver. You can be stuck waiting outside the U.S. for a response. Your spouse can petition you now and it takes about a year or so.

Your case would need to be evaluated to determine any Section 245(i) eligibility, exact manner of your entry into the U.s. to determine if you were in fact "inspected." If either of these is yes then you can file in the U.S. and the process will include one set of forms. If the answer to both is no you will need to file the first stage while here and the final stage at an overseas consulate with a waiver request.

As you entered unlawfully, then to file for permanent residence here in the US, you need to see if your parents ever had anyone file anything for them prior to April 30, 2001 for you to be eligible for section 245(i). This allows you to pay a $1000 penalty for you to get your green card through your husband here in the US. If you are not eligible under 245(i) then you will need to apply for the immigrant visa in your home country. When you leave the US, you will trigger a 10-year bar which will require a waiver (forgiveness) of that immigration violation. Either scenario should be handled by a immigration specialist.

It depends on how you entered the United States. IF legally, then can you prove it. If illegally, can you demonstrate eligibility under 245(i) to adjust here. If not, then if you decide to pursue this process you have to be willing to go overseas to complete you paperwork and this may include waiting over there for some time. You NEED to consult with a competent attorney for fear you may make a common mistake: "I'm married to a USC and I have USC kids, so give me my papers." It's unfortunately, not that simple.

He should file I-130 for you. You will need birth certificates for both of you and marriage certificate if he naturalized then that certificate.