Martinez, CA Immigration Law Firms & Lawyers

Assuming that you are a U.S. citizen (not just a permanent resident), and assuming that you want to sponsor your sister to become a permanent resident of the U.S. (not simply come to visit), you can file an immigrant petition for her (Form I-130). The wait time in F4 category (brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens) now is 12 years; natives of Mexico have to wait 16.5 years, natives of Philippines - 24 years (due to the fact that number of petitions filed for natives of these countries is much greater than the number of petitions for natives of all other countries).

If the consulate made a finding of fraud or misrepresentation, then this can be an issue now as that bars entry for a specific number of years. You must disclose anything on your application or that will be worse for you. Also you must take responsibility for the errors because you signed the forms. So even though an agency prepared, it is your responsibility in their eyes! If you are outside of that time period, then you will not need a waiver. Otherwise your fiancée will need to file a waiver for you. You should have your case fully analyzed by a competent immigration attorney before doing anything so you can determine the proper steps you need to take.

Your U.S. Citizen brother may petition for you in the Family-Based Fourth Preference visa category notwithstanding that you legally changed your name. Generally evidence of the relationship would include your and your brother's birth certificates and a copy of the court order by which your name was changed. Note, however, that there is a very long backlog for visas in this category: although the Visa Bulletin issued monthly by the U.S. Department of State might seem to show only a 10-12 year delay, because less than a year's worth of backlog generally is handled each twelve months, the actual backlog for a newly filed case is likely to be 15+ years. For this reason it often is worthwhile to explore other possibilities for attaining immigration benefits.