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As your wife and children are overseas, you cannot file an extension for them with USCIS. They would have to be back in the US under H-4 status for you to do so. Otherwise you would have to wait until your H-1B is approved and they would have to interview overseas at the US consulate or embassy for new visas to return to the States.  in that event, a consular officer will look at the criminal issue in deciding whether to issue your wife a new visa. She would have to explain her entire situation to the consular officer. Given the circumstances and the amount involved in the shoplifting charge, the consular officer would likely give her another visa. She should bring all the paperwork of the criminal case with her to the consulate if that is the way that it turns out. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.  ... Read More

Your circumstances would not seem to indicate that you can petition for yourself under the L-1 yet. Aside from the question of an owner being able to sponsor himself or herself (which can usually be done), there is the bigger question of the proof that you can summon of having a bona fide business in the US. Even a new business requires corporate set up, lease of sufficient office space for the business, some indication that it has already started up, and a viable business plan as to how it will expand in the near future in terms of manpower and business. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.  ... Read More

Having a job letter and recent payslip showing higher pay to support your husband and uncle are definitely not enough if this is a case for consular processing. If for adjustment of status, U.S.C.I.S. may send you a Request for Initial Evidence a few months after you submit the case for your husband's adjustment of status. The normal time for interview after filing with U.S.C.I.S. in most field offices is approximately a year. Assuming that you have submitted the next year's tax return at the higher rate of pay by the time of either receiving the Request for Initial Evidence or the date for interview, your financials might be good enough to convince an immigration officer of your ability to support at the interview. For safety's sake, however, you may wish to have a joint sponsor to avoid the possibility of denial. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.  ... Read More

You or your legal representative should be trying to contact with U.S.C.I.S. as much as possible to attempt to have your I-130 adjudicated. Communicating with U.S.C.I.S.'s contact center at 1-800-375-5283 is a good place to start. If the I-130 is in the local field office of U.S.C.I.S., you or your legal representative can schedule infopasses (if such is still allowed in your local office) in which you can speak with a U.S.C.I.S. officer and if not satisfied, escalate up the chain of command or even contact your local congressman or senator for assistance. Judges are being caught in a situation in which the Trump administration is discouraging them from giving continuances, but where relief is possible, many are still haranguing government attorneys in court as to when the I-130s will be adjudicated and continuing the hearings. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.  ... Read More

If I understand you correctly, you lost your case and now want to try again before the same judge, but that is very unlikely.  Barring extraordinary circumstances, you can't try your case again.  You can appeal, but you would have to show some error by the Court which affected the verdict.  Thus, if, for example, the evidence was not allowed in because the trial court made a mistake, that could lead to reversal on appeal, but if it was not let in because your attorney screwed up, that is not appealable.  Your remedy would be to sue your attorney for malpractice.  This is very difficult, however, because it is difficult to prove that the attorney acted incompetently and that you would have won the case if he/she had been competent.  I know of legal malpractice cases which have been handled on a contingency, but it would have to be a very strong case.... Read More

The two are not mutually exclusive because DBA is not a form of business, it simply means "doing business as", thus the owner of the business, either you or some entity you create, such as an llc or corporation, would be "doing business as" some trade name.  Forming an LLC would offer other benefits, such as protection from personal liability, but would offer little protection for the name.  Registering the name as a dba would help some, but what would help more (although nothing can promise complete protection) is if you were able to register the name as a trademark.... Read More

It is a complicated question, but based on your statement above, I would say yes, he owns the car, although he may have a very difficult time proving it in court.  You say that he owns the vehicle, but put it in your name because he didn't have a license (I was unaward that you needed a license to own a vehicle).  You don't say that he ever gave you the car, just titled his car in your name.  That could create problems for him with some third party who didn't know the facts (for example, if you sold the car to a person who knew none of this, that person would be a bona fide purchaser for value, and entitled to rely on the title) but. as between you and your ex, it is still his car.  You are in no way obligated to drive him around.... Read More