Jonesboro, GA Immigration Law Firms & Lawyers

One does NOT become authorized to remain in the U.S. merely by filing a properly prepared and fully documented Form I-130 Application for Relative Alien, and if that person were to leave the U.S. for a business trip, he/she should expect to be denied entry when attempting to return to the U.S. unless he has one of the few types of nonimmigrant visas that recognizes so-called "dual intent" - that is, both an intention to stay only temporarily in compliance with the visa and also an intention to stay permanently if authorized. A visitor's/tourist visa does NOT recognize dual intent. If a person then in valid nonimmigrant status files a Form I-485 Adjustment of Status suite of applications, including an application for Advance Parole (a "travel document"), he/she may expect to receive the travel document from the USCIS within 60-90 days of filing. With this, he/she may travel abroad and re-enter the U.S. while the case is pending. Note, however, that the filing of a Form I-130 with or without a Form I-485 can create significant risks for someone married to a U.S. citizen who entered the U.S. recently with a visitor's/tourist visa. The visa process will have required disclosure of the marriage to a U.S. citizen as well as an affirmation of the nonimmigrant intent, and if soon after the country the foreign national were to file applications of this type, the USCIS may deem the person to have committed visa fraud in connection with the initial entry, with potentially very harsh consequences.

The starting place would be to assess eligibility, and for that further information is needed about you and your fiance. It would be impossible to fully discuss eligibility issues, as well as the mechanics and strategies for success, in this forum, and as a practical matter the best step would be for you and your fiance to consult with an immigration attorney who, after learning all of the relevant information about you and your fiance could advise about eligibilities, options and strategies and could offer legal representation for the application process.

Generally a derivative beneficiary has no obligation to live with or to be on speaking terms with a parent or stepparent in order to maintain status or to succeed in seeking to remove the condition. Nonetheless, I am sorry to learn of the fractures in your family relationships. Perhaps it would be worthwhile to consider working with a family counselor to help repair relationships.