Immigration and Naturalization question.

[polm]

My GF's sister was born in Korea. Along with both parents, she moved to the States when she was 1 or 2 years old.

Her and her family made the mistake of not applying for citizenship before she turned 18.

To avoid de-portation, she married a U.S. citizen.

She married him about 7 years ago.

She was able to begin the process of naturalization about 4 years ago. (she had to be married to a US cit. for at least 3 years b4 she was able to begin the process)

4 years have gone by since they began the naturalization process. She sais they call and they are told to keep waiting.

What the heck could be taking so long ??

So now she and her husband REALLY REALLY need some seperation. But she is afraid that if they seperate she will lose all hopes of becoming a citizen.

What are her options ?

She really could use some advice.

 

[Heisenberg]

So you want us to help you get around immigration laws?

 

[polm]

Originally posted by: Heisenberg
So you want us to help you get around immigration laws?

No...I want to understand the law.

I want to know her options. Options for helping move the process along.

Options she has to leave this guy witouht losing her chance at citizenship.

I am looking to help WITHIN the confines of the system.

 

[Tiqua]

Does she have a permanent residency card?

 

[polm]

Originally posted by: Tiqua
Does she have a permanent residency card?

yes

 

[polm]

Originally posted by: polm

Originally posted by: Tiqua
Does she have a permanent residency card?

yes

correction...No. She does not have the card.

 

[dabuddha]

Originally posted by: polm

Originally posted by: polm

Originally posted by: Tiqua
Does she have a permanent residency card?

yes

correction...No. She does not have the card.

Either your gf's sister had a moron for an immigration lawyer or they should have hired one if they didn't when they submitted their papers. I applied for my wife last year and she's already gotten her green card already. As for permanent residency, I don't recall how long it takes but I know it doesn't take that long.

 

[polm]

So she is a non-US citizen, without a Green Card. Married to a US cit. She has been waiting 4 years for the card.

She has been married to this guy for 7 years.

How long does the Gren Card process usually take ?

 

[polm]

Either your gf's sister had a moron for an immigration lawyer or they should have hired one if they didn't when they submitted their papers. I applied for my wife last year and she's already gotten her green card already. As for permanent residency, I don't recall how long it takes but I know it doesn't take that long.

they have no lawyer.


Geez....what can I do to help her ?

Her sister , my GF, is a full US citizen (she was born here) . Can she help at all ? Are we stuck relying on the hubby ?

 

[Heisenberg]

Originally posted by: polm

Either your gf's sister had a moron for an immigration lawyer or they should have hired one if they didn't when they submitted their papers. I applied for my wife last year and she's already gotten her green card already. As for permanent residency, I don't recall how long it takes but I know it doesn't take that long.

they have no lawyer.


Geez....what can I do to help her ?

Her sister , my GF, is a full US citizen (she was born here) . Can she help at all ? Are we stuck relying on the hubby ?

Getting a good immigration lawyer would go a long way I think.

 

[Tiqua]

Naturalization process should not take longer than 2 years (according to INS website) and most are done in 6-9months. The reason I asked about the permanent residency card is she can apply for naturalization 5 years of continuous residency in the US whether or not she is married. If she is applying for naturalization due to the marriage (3 years), then she has to be living and married at the time of naturalization. I hope that helps clear some of the issues up. Most of this information is on the INS website.

 

[rufruf44]

Hmmm, what exactly does she has? If she has no permanent resident card nor visa, she's technically an illegal.

 

[polm]

Originally posted by: rufruf44
Hmmm, what exactly does she has? If she has no permanent resident card nor visa, she's technically an illegal.

unfortunately that may be correct.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

She really needs to talk to an immigration attorney. If necessary, she may be able to consult with one pro bono through a local legal aid office. If you can't find anything like this in the phone book or online, call the state bar and ask for a referral.

I dated an English woman for a few years who was working toward getting her green card. She is a clothing designer and kept getting renewed work visas, but the green card and citizenship processes are incredibly inefficient. I remember reading, well before 9/11, that some INS offices had mail that was something like two years old and hadn't even been opened. It's really a disgrace, and she needs someone who knows the process to get more hands-on to try to accelerate the process.

 

[polm]

Originally posted by: Tiqua
Naturalization process should not take longer than 2 years (according to INS website) and most are done in 6-9months. The reason I asked about the permanent residency card is she can apply for naturalization 5 years of continuous residency in the US whether or not she is married. If she is applying for naturalization due to the marriage (3 years), then she has to be living and married at the time of naturalization. I hope that helps clear some of the issues up. Most of this information is on the INS website.

So your saying, because she has been living here (illegaly, i presume) for 20+ years, she can apply for Naturalization married or not ?

What about legal residency until the process completes ? Does being married help that ? Does having legal US family help that ?

 

[Savij]

You don't need help from a computer forum, you need your girlfriend's sister to figure out exactly what her status is and she needs contact a lawyer who deals with immigration.

Anything else could result in LONG (read years) delays.

My completely non-expert opinion:
Chances are that she's legal and didn't need to get married to avoid deportation. She just needs someone to figure out what here status is and explain to her what she needs to do.

 

[rufruf44]

I think what might happen is she was told a bad advice in the past. Yes, marriage to USC will in most cases clear up one's immigration status in the US, but you still need to file the necessary paperwork. You can't just marry the USC and expect the immigration status be upgraded to PR. Yes, they need to wait 3 yrs after marriage to USC before filing for naturalization, but since she doesn't even have a legal status, INS/USCIS won't even bother to look at the application before tossing it out.
If marriage is salvageable, have the husband resubmit the paperwork for LPR again.

If not, her parent and her sister can apply PR for her, but its going to be a long wait, and I don't really know what basis she can use to remain in the US.

Best alternative? marry another USC.

 

[rufruf44]

Originally posted by: polm

Originally posted by: Tiqua
Naturalization process should not take longer than 2 years (according to INS website) and most are done in 6-9months. The reason I asked about the permanent residency card is she can apply for naturalization 5 years of continuous residency in the US whether or not she is married. If she is applying for naturalization due to the marriage (3 years), then she has to be living and married at the time of naturalization. I hope that helps clear some of the issues up. Most of this information is on the INS website.

So your saying, because she has been living here (illegaly, i presume) for 20+ years, she can apply for Naturalization married or not ?

What about legal residency until the process completes ? Does being married help that ? Does having legal US family help that ?

She can back in 1986/1996 or whatever year they offered that amnesty. The last one (LIFE Act) was offered in 2001. If she hasn't filed one, its too late for her now.

As long she stay married, she'll have good basis to apply for PR. When the family entered the country the first time, are they entering using visa and just overstay all those years, or are they crossing the border illegaly?

 

[polm]

Originally posted by: rufruf44

Originally posted by: polm

Originally posted by: Tiqua
Naturalization process should not take longer than 2 years (according to INS website) and most are done in 6-9months. The reason I asked about the permanent residency card is she can apply for naturalization 5 years of continuous residency in the US whether or not she is married. If she is applying for naturalization due to the marriage (3 years), then she has to be living and married at the time of naturalization. I hope that helps clear some of the issues up. Most of this information is on the INS website.

So your saying, because she has been living here (illegaly, i presume) for 20+ years, she can apply for Naturalization married or not ?

What about legal residency until the process completes ? Does being married help that ? Does having legal US family help that ?

She can back in 1986/1996 or whatever year they offered that amnesty. The last one (LIFE Act) was offered in 2001. If she hasn't filed one, its too late for her now.

As long she stay married, she'll have good basis to apply for PR. When the family entered the country the first time, are they entering using visa and just overstay all those years, or are they crossing the border illegaly?

They came in legally with visas , and have just overstayed.

The marriage situation has really turned sour. Her and her husband need some seperation. Is seperation possible now ?

 

[polm]

I guess at this point we need to talk to a lawyer about speeding up the process. Hopefully they can maintain the marriage until then.

 

[rufruf44]

Personally, I don't think there's any trick a lawyer can do to speed up the PR process. The only thing they'll do when filing for a marriage based PR is filing up the form and making sure all the documents is there. Its something you can do for yourself.
What an immigration lawyer might be able to tell you is if it possible to start the PR process even though the couple are separated. I think its possible as long as they're not legally divorced, but I'm no lawyer.

 

[polm]

Originally posted by: rufruf44
Personally, I don't think there's any trick a lawyer can do to speed up the PR process. The only thing they'll do when filing for a marriage based PR is filing up the form and making sure all the documents is there. Its something you can do for yourself.
What an immigration lawyer might be able to tell you is if it possible to start the PR process even though the couple are separated. I think its possible as long as they're not legally divorced, but I'm no lawyer.

see the thing is....she applied for a Green Card over 4 years ago. She has been married and living with her husband for 7 years.

What could possibly be taking so long ?

 

[virtueixi]

It's possible that they denied her application because technically she is an illegal. I would get a good lawyer. In their eyes she is as illegal as a mexican jumping the border.

 

[rufruf44]

Originally posted by: polm

Originally posted by: rufruf44
Personally, I don't think there's any trick a lawyer can do to speed up the PR process. The only thing they'll do when filing for a marriage based PR is filing up the form and making sure all the documents is there. Its something you can do for yourself.
What an immigration lawyer might be able to tell you is if it possible to start the PR process even though the couple are separated. I think its possible as long as they're not legally divorced, but I'm no lawyer.

see the thing is....she applied for a Green Card over 4 years ago. She has been married and living with her husband for 7 years.

What could possibly be taking so long ?

Green card or naturalization? Can't apply for naturalization without green card. If its green card, it might be because she miss her interview date which effectively nullify the applications. If she still has the receipt from INS 4yrs ago, she can go to the USCIS website or call them to check on the status for that application. If they say its still pending, press on for an IIO to investigate wtheck is taking so long.

 

[polm]

Originally posted by: virtueixi
It's possible that they denied her application because technically she is an illegal. I would get a good lawyer. In their eyes she is as illegal as a mexican jumping the border.

hmmm....I thought that her marriage gave her some sort of legal status ?