Biggs, CA Immigration Law Firms & Lawyers

One of the differences between a U.S. citizen and a U.S. lawful permanent resident is that a permanent resident can be deported. Most often, it happens when a green card holder commits one of the crimes that make him/her unfit to remain in the United States. A drunk driving can be such a crime, especially if it is a repeated offense, or an aggravated one (DUI with a suspended license, or with a kid in the car, etc.) So you cannot assume that Homeland Security made a mistake when they placed an immigration hold on your friend. The correct assumption is that his DUI is a bad one, and that he urgently needs an attorney who is well versed in immigration consequences of criminal convictions. Criminal defense attorneys think in terms of plea bargaining; and absolute majority of criminal cases (especially involving small crimes, like DUI) end up with convictions on guilty pleas, without trials. When the DA's office offers a deal that does not involve a jail time, many criminal defense attorneys advise their clients to take the deal, plead guilty to whatever the DA wants. And all it takes to lose one's green card is a wrong guilty plea in a criminal court. Most likely, our friend also needs an immigration attorney - to arrange your friend's release from ICE custody, to try preventing ICE from moving him to an immigration jail in Texas or Arizona, to prepare his defense against deportation, etc. All this things are better done sooner than later, because "later" often turns out to be "too late"; and, although it is never easy to prevent one's deportation, getting someone's green card back after deportation is always much more difficult.

You will need to get a divorce in a civil court of law prior to getting married again since the DHS/CIS will not grant a Petition for Relative (Form I-130) based on a bigamous marriage.

I assume that you have already waited the requisite 150 days and that your application has not been denied.  Also that the KLOK is not stopped short of the 150 days by any delaying action by you or your representative.  At this time, USCIS's policy on EAD's is that you may inquire on EAD applications 75 days after the I-765 has been filed with the agency. As the issuance of EAD's has become centralized, USCIS district offices (to our knowledge) are no longer giving interim EAD's. 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.