jbhahn

Here is my situation.

8 years ago my future mother in law entered this country from the
Ukraine with her 12 year old daughter on a fiance visa. She ended up
not marrying the guy she came here to marry and hired an attorney to
have her status changed so that she could stay. Apparently this
attorney filed all the wrong paperwork and nothing was taken care of.
However, at this time, both the mother and daughter were told by the
lawyer that they are of legal status and therefor stayed in the US.
Roughly 1 year later the mother meets another guy and falls in love
with him and is now married to him (Has been Married for 6 years).
Shortly after marrying this guy they find out that they in fact do not
have a Visa and she is illegally overstaying her initial fiance visa.
While fighting this case in court they were issued Permenant Residency
due to a medical hardship of her current husband. They were issued
Work Permits, SS #'s, etc.

For several years now this has been going back and forth in courts and
nothing seems to get solved.

I have now been dating the daughter (who is now 21) for four years and
we have decided to get married in Dec 07. She graduated High School
here and will graduate with a BS in April 08. My question is what can
I do to start the process of making her a citizen.

We currently have two lawyers who have been working on this and they
do not seem to have things under wraps. They are working for free
because they wanted some immigration experience however I feel they
may have bitten off more than they can chew. These lawyers are
suggesting that the only resolve is for my fiance to go back to the
Ukraine and for me to file for a fiance visa. Now that I am involved I
am more than willing to pay whatever fees necessary to get this
resolved without her going back to the Ukraine.

Noorah101

In this case, go have a consultation with an experienced immigration attorney, not one who is working for free trying to get experience. Spend the money necessary to get an attorney working on the case who knows what he's doing. There is a lot of history there which will come into play in your scenario.

Best Wishes,
Rene

Elvira

I agree - see an QUALIFIED AND EXPERIENCED immigration attorney.

www.ailalawyer.com

Though, seeing that she was inspected when she entered, I would have thought that it would be possible for her to AOS.

Leaving the US would be an extremely bad idea, in my view. Surely this would trigger a bar?

Noorah101

I agree that on the surface it seems the daughter wouldn't have a problem with AOS, since she did enter legally. But it seems she's been out of status at least 8 years, best to have a qualified attorney look over the case to spot any conflicts.

Rene

Rete

You CANNOT do anything to make her a US Citizen. If she has a green card and is over the age of 18 (you said she is 21) and has been a PR for 5 years, she can file the application for naturalization on her own.

At what age did she become a US permanent resident.

I don't know what strings her mother's attorney pulled but I thought you were not able to adjust status if you entered the US unless you married the person who petitioned for your fiance visa.

snowbunny

When you say that "they" were issued permanent residency based upon hardship, does this mean that your girlfriend received derivative (based upon her mother's) PR? Is this temporary based upon a pending court case?

Elvira

But what would be the situation with the (at the time under-age) daughter - does the inability to adjust status trickle down to her?

Having said that, the OP is very confusing. To me it is not clear whether the daughter (his fiancee) actually has PR status or not.

Rete

First off, I'm not an attorney. Having said that, you have to sort things out.

1. Mommy dearest enters the US on a valid fiance visa and brings along 12 yo daughter.

2. Mommy dearest decides that she doesn't want to marry USC who petitioned for her.

3. Mommy dearest decides to remain in the US and seeks legal assistance to adjust status.

4. Mommy dearest gets involved with attorneys who tell her things that she wants to hear. Which would be you have to leave the US since you can't adjust status in anyother possible way from within the US.

5. Mommy dearest loses and so does the daughter. They both accrue overstays that mean a 10 year ban.

6. It is my thought that Daugther, being underage, can only adjust status if Mommy dearest remarries before her 18th birthday to another USC and he petitions for her via form I-130 and she files I-485, etc.

7. Sounds like Mommy dearest got her residency on a medical hardship waiver and daughter coattailed.

8. Was this legal? If what the OP says is true, then it would appear that it is.

9. If it is true, then Daughter can file for naturalization 5 years after she obtained residency. Or if she is married to a USC then 3 years after their first anniversary, whichever comes first.

Jbhahn

I am sorry about the confusion. Yes, she does have PR status.
However she has had several hearing (which I believe are in regards
to) receiving her Green Card. I believe this is due to one court
granting her a hardship, and another court saying that the hardship
doesnt apply since her mother shouldn't have married in the first
place.

scrubbedexpat099

If they had been issued Permanent Residency then there would be nothing to be going back and forth with.

Perhaps a stay of deportation?

Jbhahn

On Jun 11, 2:32 pm, Rete <[email protected]> wrote:
> > But what would be the situation with the (at the time under-age)
> > daughter - does the inability to adjust status trickle down to her?
>
> > Having said that, the OP is very confusing. To me it is not clear
> > whether the daughter (his fiancee) actually has PR status or not.
>
> First off, I'm not an attorney. Having said that, you have to sort
> things out.
>
> 1. Mommy dearest enters the US on a valid fiance visa and brings along
> 12 yo daughter.
>
> 2. Mommy dearest decides that she doesn't want to marry USC who
> petitioned for her.
>
> 3. Mommy dearest decides to remain in the US and seeks legal assistance
> to adjust status.
>
> 4. Mommy dearest gets involved with attorneys who tell her things that
> she wants to hear. Which would be you have to leave the US since
> you can't adjust status in anyother possible way from within the US.
>
> 5. Mommy dearest loses and so does the daughter. They both accrue
> overstays that mean a 10 year ban.
>
> 6. It is my thought that Daugther, being underage, can only adjust
> status if Mommy dearest remarries before her 18th birthday to
> another USC and he petitions for her via form I-130 and she files
> I-485, etc.
>
> 7. Sounds like Mommy dearest got her residency on a medical hardship
> waiver and daughter coattailed.
>
> 8. Was this legal? If what the OP says is true, then it would appear
> that it is.
>
> 9. If it is true, then Daughter can file for naturalization 5 years
> after she obtained residency. Or if she is married to a USC then 3
> years after their first anniversary, whichever comes first.
>
> --
> I'm not an attorney. This disclaimer is valid in NYS!
> Posted viahttp://britishexpats.com

The mother did remarry before the daughters 18th birthday, and yes,
daughter did receive residency by coattailing on her mother. Is it
legal? If my understanding of the current situation is correct
(again, the current attorneys do not return calls to explain things)
then one of the arguements in court right now is that they should have
never been granted the hardship, because the mother shouldn't have
remarried in the first place.

Noorah101

We aren't lawyers so we really can't make a judgement about your case. It seems on the surface things are OK, since she's got her PR status and her green card. However, since something is still bouncing around in the courts, on a deeper level it seems nothing is guaranteed. That's why we recommend having a consultation with an *experienced* attorney and perhaps hiring him to help you straighten out your fiancee's status.

There is nothing you can do to help her become a citizen, except going with her to talk to an attorney. If her PR status is valid, she can apply for citizenship after 5 years of having PR status. Or, after she's married to you, she can apply after she's been a PR for 3 years AND married to you for a full 3 years. But there isn't really anything *you* in particular can do to start the process of her becoming a citizen.

Rene

scrubbedexpat099

Nothing to stop the Mother marrying, but she should have returned and sought re-admission on a K3.

The issue is how she ever obtained PR status. And by the sound of it this is still in doubt.

Rete

Yes, legally she would have had to leave the US in order to adjust status with marriage to a new person having never married the man who petitioned for her K-1.

The daughter, however, is also a K visa recipient and it is unclear whether there is any negativity to her remaining in the US (even if her green card is rescinded by the USCIS) and adjusting status all over again but this time as the spouse of a USC.