McDonough, GA Immigration Law Firms & Lawyers

Your stepfather can petition for both your mother and you at the same time. It is not clear from your statement of facts whether you mother was illegal in the United States for one year and is barred for 10 from returning. If that is the case, she would have to satisfy or waive the 10 years prior to being able to obtain an immigrant visa and coming to the States. If she is not barred, she could come as soon as the petition and consular processing are finished, a period between one – two years given present backlogs of U.S.C.I.S. In your case, you would fall under the F-1 category which currently has a visa availability date of December 8, 2006, for most of the world including Malaysia. The process cannot be speeded up for you under the family-based categories. If you have a four-year college degree, you may be able to come over on an H-1B specialized occupation visa if there is an organization which is interested in sponsoring you for the nonimmigrant visa.  There may also be other ways for you to come depending upon your desires and qualifications.  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.  

Generally, when a foreign national has lawfully entered the U.S. and then become engaged to be married to a U.S. citizen, the couple may complete the Adjustment of Status application process in the U.S. with no need for the foreign national to depart the U.S. and then re-enter with a fianc? visa. Note that to validly enter the U.S. with a B1/B2 visitor's visa the foreign national must not then have "immigrant intent" - an intention to become married and remain permanently in the U.S. When a couple becomes engaged and married soon after a foreign national's entry with a B1/B2 visa, the USCIS may suspect that the foreign national had impermissible immigrant intent; for this reason the adjustment of status application process generally should not be commenced earlier than 60 days after arrival in the U.S., and the couple should be prepared to explain at an adjustment of status interview how the foreign national genuinely had non-immigrant intent, and that changed after the couple decided to become married. Of course, there are many additional details that address eligibility for an adjustment of status application in the marriage-based immediate relative category, and it would be wise for you and your fiancee to consult with an immigration attorney, who, after learning all of the relevant information, could advise about eligibilities, options and strategies, and could offer legal representation in the often complex application process.

A foreign national who applies to become a naturalized citizen after being a Permanent Resident for 7 years will not need to show that she continues to live in a bona fide marital relationship. If before or during the naturalization application process you become divorced then it will be necessary to reveal that your marital status is divorced. Whether divorced or not the USCIS is permitted to seek documentary evidence that your marriage-based adjustment of status case was legitimate, and so it could be wise to be prepared to provide evidence (such as joint tax returns, residential lease or ownership documents, joint bank account records, birth certificates for children of the marriage, utility bills, insurance documents, etc.). No detail that you mentioned gives me even the slightest pause in believing that your husband could complain to the USCIS that your marriage was fraudulent (and that he, himself, presumably participated in the fraud). For immigration-related issues, it would be wise for you to consult with an immigration attorney who, after learning all of the relevant information, could advise about eligibilities, options and strategies to attain your goals, and who then could offer legal representation in the often complex application process. Regarding your rights and obligations related to a divorce, it would be wise for you to engage, without delay, a domestic relations/divorce attorney - among other things, a domestic relations attorney could discuss with you what appears to me an absurd assertion that a husband could convince anyone that a marriage was fraudulent notwithstanding that, I presume, the husband testified under oath about the genuine nature of the marriage in a marriage-based adjustment of status case and notwithstanding that the marriage produced two minor children). A domestic relations attorney also could provide the type of advice and legal representation you need when addressing what sounds like an absurd negotiation bullying technique, when addressing division of property, when addressing custody/child support/visitation for your children, etc.