Kent, TX Immigration Law Firms & Lawyers

The immigration service does not take into account what state of the union you are in when adjudicating affirmative asylum cases.  State law does not govern federal asylum claims.  If an asylee lives in Texas, they would file their asylum application (I-589) with the Texas Service Center (a federal processing facility located in Texas).  Maybe the information you heard was that processing times for these cases at the Texas Service Center are taking longer than in other service centers.

Approval of a Form I-130 Petition for Relative Alien does not, by itself, create any nonimmigrant or immigrant status. That is the first step in applying for adjustment of status (if already in the U.S. and otherwise eligible) or consular processing (if outside the U.S. and otherwise eligible) based upon approval of the Form I-130. There is a backlog for visa availability for many family-based adjustment of status cases, so in order to determine whether you now are eligible to file for adjustment of status, it would be necessary to know more about your circumstances, including the family relationship specified in the Form I-130. If you already are in the U.S., you will need some other valid visa in order to be lawfully present. Be aware that in order to apply to adjust status, one must be in valid nonimmigrant status in the U.S. Also be aware that in most instances if an adult is unlawfully present for 180 days or longer, he/she will be subject to a 3-year bar to re-entering the U.S. (if unlawfully present, the bar may be a very harsh 10-year period). If you are now outside the U.S., you will need a valid visa to enter and travel within the U.S. Some immigration law firms, including mine, offer legal services on a "flat fee" basis so that a client will know the total expense from the very beginning, and a few immigration law firms, including mine, offer an initial consultation free of charge.

Best wishes for your recent marriage and your pregnancy! It indeed is possible and lawful for people to file adjustment of status applications on their own, without assistance or representation from an immigration lawyer, and since many details about the immigration application process involve the subjective discretion of a USCIS adjudicating officer, no immigration attorney ever can guarantee the outcome of a case (and it may be ethically improper for an attorney to offer such a guarantee). Nonetheless, the likelihood of success is significantly greater when a couple is represented by counsel, and that may be particularly true where, as in your case, you may need to overcome a presumption of visa fraud through entering the U.S. on the visa waiver program and then so promptly becoming married (use of the Visa Waiver Program is only for people who enter with the intention of staying temporarily and then departing within the specified time). With prenatal expenses, it may seem challenging to afford to engage an immigration lawyer, but the cost for legal representation may be far less than you are anticipating (and far less than the cost of trying to resolve problems that could be created through denial of an inappropriately prepared and documented marriage-based adjustment of status case. Especially if being able to remain in the U.S. is very important to you and your family, it would be wise to engage an immigration attorney to assure that your case is properly handled from the very beginning. Some immigration law firms, including mine, offer legal services on a "flat fee" basis so that a client will know the total expense from the very beginning, and a few immigration law firms, including mine, offer an initial consultation free of charge.