Henrietta, NY Immigration Law Firms & Lawyers

Your description of your case is quite good.  A fiance visa is a visa that is issued to a non citzen so that he can come to the U.S. specifically to marry the U.S. citizen that has petitioned for him and then become a permanent resident (green card holder).  The way it works is that the petition must be filed while you are in the U.S and he is abroad, you said he has never been here, so that is good as it eliminates issues of illegal presence in the U.S.  You will have to establish that you have been together in the same place at least once in the two years preceding the filing of the petition.  When it is approved he will be called in for an interview at the U.S. consulate in Jamaica, and upon his being issued the fiance visa he will have a period (usually) 90 days within which to enter the U.S. ojn that visa.  Upon entry he will have 90 days in which to marry you and file for the adjustment of status to permanent residence.  In terms of your financial sitaution, you will be required to sign an affidavit of support, promissing the US government that you will be responsible financially for him if he becomes a public charge.  You will be required to show you meet the minimal income guidelines, and if you cannot meet them, then you can use a supplemental or joint sponsor, which can be a firend or relative that is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident who agrees to be responsible for him for a period of 10 years.  If you would like assistance with this, please feel free to call me at (619) 291-1112.  Regards,  Jan Joseph Bejar, Esq.

No. You don't need to have custody in order to petition your step son. As long as you married your husband before your stepson turned 18 then you can move forward with the petition. Best of luck.

Assuming you are a United States citizen, the process for you to petition for your sister is a lengthy one. Depending on the country your sister is from, it can take from a minimum of 13 years to a maximum of over 20 if you are from the Philippines or Mexico. Additionally, even if you are to file the I-130 petition to get the priority date to put your sister in line for residency, it is very important that as she is going through the process to obtain her F1 status that her intention would be to come to the United States and study; not to overstay her visa to wait out her priority date. If she makes any false statements or misguides immigration in her intentions, it may be a reason for them to deny her residency application in the future.