Q & A March 28, 2004

Q & A 1 2


Dear Mr. Lee,

I came to the U.S. on July 15, 2002 with a V- 2 visa. To this date, I haven’t filed any applications to the immigration office. My father petitioned for me in January 1998. Currently I live in Boston, and only have a passport and an I-94. The customs took away the other documents when I entered the U.S.

Question:

1. Can I apply for a Green Card? And how?
2. If I go back to China with a V- 2 visa, will I be able to return to the U.S.? And how?
3. Could you share more V visa information with me?

Wang

Dear reader:

V visas came into being with the Legal Immigration Equity Act (LIFE) of 2000 allowing spouses and children (under the age of 21 and unmarried) of permanent residents to enter the United States under non immigrant status so long as a petition for alien relative (form I-130) was filed on their behalf by December 21, 2000, and the case was still pending three years thereafter with the CIS or NVC or in some cases with the consulate abroad. However, if the priority date becomes current, the Department of State will not allow the visa to be issued unless the applicant has already had an appointment for an immigrant visa before a consular officer and no decision has been made to issue the visa or refuse the application. A V-1 is the spouse of a permanent resident; a V-2 the child of a permanent resident; and a V-3 the child who will immigrate as a derivative beneficiary without separate petition. V visas can be issued for 10 year durations by immigrant visa issuing U.S. embassies or consulates, although a child's visa is further limited by the time that a child will remain under the age of 21. Upon entry to the United States, a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) inspector can allow a maximum period of stay on the I-94 form for two years. Children who will pass the age of 21 are only allowed I-94 Forms with stay up to the age of 21. In the absence of other status, an aged out child would become subject to removal proceedings.

  1. For the month of April 2004, immigrant visas under the F-2A category for spouses and children of permanent residents are available for cases in which petitions were filed prior to July 15, 1999, except for those born in Mexico. Your date is already available. If you are still under the age of 21, you can apply for permanent residence by submitting an application for permanent residence (form I-485) at the Boston office of CIS along with form G-325A, proof of birth, financial support, V status, passport and I-94. Hopefully your registration for immigration has not been terminated by your delay in processing your final immigration.
  2. If you are still in legal V-2 status, and assuming that you are still under the age of 21, you should be able to return to the United States from travels overseas with the same visa.
  3. See above.

Dear Mr. Lee,

My friend is an asylee who applied for the adjustment of status at the U.S.C.I.S. But he received a tentative denial, saying that he was inadmissible for the permanent residence for having entered the country without inspection. Most people have always assumed that asylees’ cases were processed under special criteria and that illegal entry would not make them disqualified.

Question: Do you think this BCIS letter was a mistake done by an inexperienced officer? How can we rebut it?

Dear reader:

Applicants who are applying for adjustment of status through approved asylum cases are allowed to adjust status when they have entered the United States without inspection. Any response by an officer of the U.S.C.I.S. (new name of INS/BCIS) to the contrary is clearly wrong. You or your attorney can explain to the officer or his/her supervisor that asylees are a special class of adjustment applicants who are not governed by the same section of the Immigration and Nationality Act as those adjusting status to permanent residence under other methods. Asylees adjust status under section 209 while others adjust status under section 245.

 

Copyright © 2003 Alan Lee, Esq.
The information provided here is of a general nature and may not apply to any particular set of facts or circumstances. It should not be construed as legal advice and does not constitute an engagement of the Law Office of Alan Lee or establish an attorney-client relationship.