Kendall, FL Immigration Law Firms & Lawyers

Asking about employer sponsorship is premature, since the first issue to be addressed is the consequence of your years of unlawful presence in the U.S. When a person is in the U.S. without valid immigration status, in order to apply to adjust status (to apply to become a Lawful Permanent Resident or get a "Green Card"), or even to apply to change status (to apply to get a different non-immigrant status), that person must go outside of the country to "consular process." Under current immigration laws, someone who has been unlawfully present in the U.S. for more than a year, however, will be subject to a very harsh 10-year bar to re-entering the U.S. In relatively rare circumstances, one may apply for a waiver of the 10-year bar. To succeed, generally one must establish exceptional hardship to a U.S. citizen spouse or parent.

American consulates and embassies do not require the presence of the spouse at immigrant visa interviews. If the spouse of the permanent resident wishes to travel to the consular post, the applicant can indicate to a consular officer that the spouse is there, but the spouse is normally not allowed to be part of the interview process. 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  

You would have to file with USCIS a packet of several forms: Form I-130 Petition for an Alien Relative; Form I-485 Application to Adjust Status; Form I-765 Application for Employment Authorization; Form I-131 Application for Travel Document; Forms G-325A for yourself and for your wife; and Form I-864 Affidavit of Support. All these forms are available on-line at uscis.gov, along with instructions for each form. Pay special attention to the requirements for supporting documents; failure to include even one of them can result in denial of your application or in a long delay of its processing. The filing fees are noted in the instructions; basically, you need to be ready to pay $420 for I-130 petition and $1.070 for everything else. Should you find yourself averse to the task of unraveling the instructions, or to the risk of making a mistake in the application package and the resulting loss of the filing fees (when USCIS denies an application, it does not refund the filing fees), retaining an immigration attorney would cost you about $3000 (+$500 if you want the attorney to accompany you and your wife to the interview with USCIS officer). If the paperwork id done right, your wife should receive employment authorization card in about 3 months after filing; and you and your wife are likely to be summoned for the interview sometime between 3 and 12 months from the date of the filing. If USCIS approves the case, your wife will receive her conditional green card, valid for 2 years, within 1-2 months after the interview.