World Journal Weekly Q & A - August 18, 2013Reader has Conditional Green Card Based on Marriage, and is Afraid that the Proof of Real Marriage Will not be Enough for the I-751. What will Happen If Not Enough?A conditional green card holder asks: I have a temporary green card based on my marriage, and it is real, though we have had problems over money and other things and at one point she moved out on me. We are back together and she is willing to sign the immigration form I-751, which is due very soon, but I worry whether we will have enough proof. Also I would like to know what would happen if Immigration does not think we have enough proof of our living together. My mother is now a U. S. citizen and can file a petition for me also at this time – should she do it and what effect would that have? Dear reader: If the U.S.C.I.S. service center does not believe that your proof is adequate, you and your wife will be given a notice to appear in the local U.S.C.I.S. field office at which time you will both be interviewed with reference to the application. From there, you may be approved or referred to the immigration court for removal proceedings. If your mother files an I-130 petition on your behalf, that will have no effect upon your immigration case as the visa availability date for the F-3 petition for a married son or daughter of a U.S. citizen is backed up to October 1, 2002, for the month of July 2012. The Department of Homeland Security will not hold off any proceedings against you if your I-751 is denied just because a visa petition with a 10 year backlog has been filed. Fiancée is Too Busy to Meet Reader in China, So Can He Board an Airplane to the States or Come As a Student?A fiancé asks: I and my girlfriend have had a relationship over the past year through Skype, emails, and gifts sent back and forth. We now consider ourselves engaged. However, she is too busy with her work to come visit me in China. I want to go see her, and so can I just get on the plane with my China passport and explain our situation, or should I try to come as a student with a visa? Dear reader: First of all, a person from China cannot come to the States based on just a passport and valid ID. That person would not be allowed to board the airplane as the airlines suffer financial liability for allowing such persons without valid visas to board the plane to the States. For a student visa, you must prove to the American consulate or embassy that you have non-immigrant intent. One of the questions on the non-immigrant visa application form is whether you have a fiancee in the States. I strongly suggest that your friend take a trip to China if the relationship means that much to her. As you know, one of the requirements for a K-1 fiancée visa is that the couple have met within the past two years. If your friend is unwilling to take the trip, perhaps the relationship is not as strong as you or she might imagine and you should both perhaps reconsider the relationship. Friend Wonders if Undisclosed Arrest in Taiwan for an Illegal Entry and Stay Will Give Problems to Her in the Future Under U. S. Immigration Law.A reader asks: I have a friend who immigrated to the United States 5 years ago, and I’m pretty sure that she did not say anything at the visa interview about the fact that she had been arrested in Taiwan because she illegally entered and stayed in the country. Will this cause her problem with U. S. immigration at any time in the future? How serious would that crime be considered in the U. S.? Dear reader: The first issue is whether your friend disclosed the truth in her immigration papers to the U.S., and if not, whether the non-disclosures were material to her application. In other words, would the American consular officer have issued her an immigrant visa had he/she been in possession of all the facts? Generally speaking, an adjudicator will consider whether the evidence in the record supports a finding that your friend was inadmissible on the true facts or whether the misrepresentation intended to shut off a line of inquiry which was relevant to your friend's eligibility and, if the relevant line of inquiry was cut off, whether the inquiry might have resulted in a proper determination of inadmissibility. As most crimes which are relevant concerning illegal entry are those pertaining to breaching the borders of the United States and not those of a foreign country, there is a good chance that your friend's stay in jail in Taiwan for being an illegal alien would not be considered material to her U.S. permanent residence application. In the event that it is somehow considered relevant, any foreign conviction is matched against U.S. criminal law provisions to see whether the act is a crime in the States and how seriously such a crime would be treated here. That being said, entry without inspection is generally not considered a serious crime here, and being in the country illegally only has civil and not criminal penalties. Reader Moved to California for Study and Asks Whether She Should File for Naturalization in California or Utah, Where She is From.A student asks: I just moved to California from Utah to study at my first choice university. My family is in Utah and that is my home residence where I have my drivers license and other ID. I can apply for U. S. citizenship now, and so do I file in California or in Utah? Dear reader: Initially, N-400 naturalization applications are not submitted to a local immigration office. Residents of California or Utah must file to U.S.C.I.S.'s lockbox in Phoenix, Ariz. at: The question is which immigration office will have jurisdiction over the remainder of your naturalization process, including interview and swearing-in. U.S.C.I.S.'s regulation allows a student who is attending school in another state to apply for naturalization where the institution is located or in the applicant's home residence "if the applicant can establish that he/she is financially dependent upon his or her parents at the time that the application is filed and during the naturalization process." U.S.C.I.S. also provides that if an applicant claims residence in more one state, the residence for purposes of naturalization is determined by reference to the location from which the annual federal income-tax returns have been and are being filed. If your tax returns are being filed in California, you would likely be considered a resident for naturalization purposes in that state. If not, you would have the choice to list your address as still being in Utah and completing your naturalization process over there. Reader who Renounced U. S. Citizenship and Committed a Felony in Canada Asks How He Can Reenter U. S. Temporarily.A Canada reader asks: I gave up my U. S. citizenship when I went to Canada 7 years ago. Since then, I committed a burglary for which I served 2 years. I now want to come back to visit my parents in California. How can I do it? Dear reader: Once an individual has renounced U.S. citizenship, he/she is in the position of any other applicant who applies for a visa to the States. As a person with a felony conviction who wishes to visit family members in the States, you could apply for a temporary waiver of inadmissibility on Form I-192 Application for Advance Permission to Enter as a Non- Immigrant in which the factors to decide whether to grant the entry waiver include the nature and date of the offense, possible rehabilitation, and the necessity for or urgency of your proposed visit to the United States. Casual visits to see family members might not be sufficient reason for DHS to grant the application, but such decision is within the discretion of the agency.
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