North Miami Beach, FL Immigration Law Firms & Lawyers

Most green cardholders can only file for citizenship after five years. Those who are married to US citizens have the ability to do so after three provided the applicant has held the green card for three years, the US citizen has been a citizen for three years, and the couple has been living together constantly during the three-year period. The law allows such married individuals to file within the 90 day period before the three years if the only unmet condition is the first – not having the green card for the full three years.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.  

If your fiance entered on a K1 visa and his daughter on a K2, you can file for her at the same time (after the marriage) without adopting. However, if they are in the US under a different visa status, you cannot petition the daughter, because she must be under 18 before your marriage.

Please be aware that the "new policy" announced by the Obama administration on August 18, 2011, is simply implementing the memo issued by the ICE Director in June 2011.  The administration is going to review all 300,000 pending removal cases to determine if any of them can be considered "low priority" and administratively close them.  These cases can be reopened at any time.  In addition, the administration is giving authority to the local ICE agents and ICE attorneys to use "prosecutorial discretion" to determine which cases to file in Immigration Court in the future.  This announcement really does not change anything at this time.  This is not amnesty or legalization.  It only applies to those people who are already in removal proceedings or who are apprehended by ICE in the future.   This policy will help those people who would have been eligible for the DREAM Act if Congress had passed it.   The media has reported that the people whose cases are administratively closed will be able to apply for work permits, but nothing in the announcement last week mentions work permits.  In general, if a person who is in removal proceedings is eligible for a work permit, they will continue to be eligible for a work permit after their case is administratively closed.  So, no one should plan on getting a work permit through this policy, unless the administration provides further details.   Right now, we are waiting for the adminstration to provide more information and to begin the process of reviewing all 300,000 cases.  The fate of each case will be determined on a case by case basis.  What may be considered low priority in Los Angeles may not be considered low priority in Nebraska, so we may see this policy applied inconsistently. If you are in removal proceedings, I recommend that you contact your attorney to see how this policy may affect your case.