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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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