Albany, GA Immigration Law Firms & Lawyers

Failure to have identified the shoplifting offense may have very serious immigration-related ramifications: depending upon details of that matter, it may render you ineligible to adjust status; if the USCIS were to consider the failure to disclose to constitute visa fraud then you could become subject to a permanent bar to immigration benefits; the offense could render you removable/deportable; and in any event you should be prepared to supply court-certified copies of all disposition documents from that matter. You should expect the USCIS to find that matter during the adjudication process - it would be extraordinary for the USCIS to have overlooked it. Especially with that criminal arrest history you should have engaged an immigration attorney to represent you in 2007 when your case was being prepared for filing. At this late point, there really is no substitute for engaging an immigration attorney who, after learning all of the relevant details about that 2003 arrest and seeing the court disposition documents, could advise you about the most appropriate steps to take. That might include, for example, disclosing the arrest now, explaining why it mistakenly was omitted, and supplying court-certified disposition documents.

You need to cite the regulation about the convictions being more than five years old, provide your own explanation and show evidence that you have been rehabilitated. Getting an attorney to help you establish these points is recommended.

A U.S. citizen aged 21 or older may petition for his/her parents, who entered the U.S. lawfully and with inspection, to adjust status in the Immediate Relative visa category to become Lawful Permanent Residents (to get "Green Cards"). There is no backlog for visas in this category, and when the application process is properly handled and fully documented, the process will not take very long - the USCIS's Atlanta Field Office, handling cases throughout Alabama and Georgia, now is taking approximately 7 months to adjudicate these cases. It will be necessary for the U.S. citizen petitioner to file Affidavits of Support for each parent, and to provide supporting evidence proving that he/she earns sufficient income for the relevant family size (including the beneficiary parents). This is true regardless of whether the parents have TPS status now. If the citizen does not have sufficient documentable income, it will become necessary to have a "joint sponsor." The joint sponsor generally can be any U.S. citizen or Permanent Resident who has sufficient documentable income and who is willing to assume the responsibilities specified in the Affidavit of Support. A U.S. citizen also may petition for siblings, but this must be done in the Family-Based Fourth Preference visa category, for which there is a VERY long backlog for visas. Although the Visa Bulletin may appear to show that the wait is shorter, one actually can anticipate a wait of 15 - 20 years or even longer, and so this rarely is a very satisfactory immigration-related strategy. It would be wise to engage an immigration attorney not only for representation in the application process for parents, but also to explore whether there may be other options for the siblings.