Cicero, NY Immigration Law Firms & Lawyers

OK if you're a US citizen and you are sponsoring your child who is unmarried and over the age of 21, then he falls in the F1 preference category per the DOS visa state bulletin board. Currently the priority date that the state department is processing visas for under that category is 2015. So I strongly suggest before you file any documents to sponsor your son, you have a lawyer in your jurisdiction or outside your jurisdiction, review your sons entire case file and make the appropriate determination on how to proceed.

For your mother to petition for you as a married son of a US citizen, it would take approximately 12 years. If you divorced, the waiting time is approximately 7 years. Please note that these estimates are based upon the present visa chart and assumes that you are not born in Mexico or the Philippines, in which case you would have to wait a longer period of time. In addition, as you are probably no longer holding legal status, you would likely be subject to a 10 year bar for having remained in the country illegally for over one year. For such a situation, you would have to file an I-601A waiver-of inadmissibility based on extreme hardship to your mother when your priority date is close to becoming available. You would also not be eligible for adjustment of status would have to consular process your final immigration. 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.  

Some criminal offenses that are expressly identified as misdemeanors in the criminal statutes are treated otherwise by the USCIS, depending upon such details as the maximum punishments/sanctions that the statute authorized, the exact language used in the court's decision, etc. There really is no substitute for engaging an immigration attorney who, after learning all of the relevant information about the offense 10 years ago and the action taken by the court, could advise you about eligibility to renew your "Green Card" renewal and your eligibility to become a naturalized citizen, and could advise you about the necessary case disposition documentation needed for those application processes.