Q & A June 8, 2003
Q & A 1
To the WJ Immigration
Mailbox:
I sneaked into
the U.S. in August 2001, got my political asylum case approved officially
in April 2002. My husband, a U.S. citizen, and I got married on
4/30/02, and he petitioned for my child and me in California in
10/02. Later, however, my husband’s family and I didn’t get along,
so they wrote a letter to the INS on behalf of my husband, asking
for the termination of my case. The petition, therefore, was returned.
Questions:
- My husband
wants to reapply for us. Will we encounter some trouble?
- We currently
don’t reside in California. Can we apply in another state?
- Even though
I am an asylee, I sneaked into to the U.S. in the first place.
Is it okay for my husband to petition for me?
- I want to
go to France with my husband this April. If I bring refugee travel
document with me, Will I be able to come back to the U.S? Will
I encounter any trouble?
Ms. Wong
Iowa
Dear reader:
- 1 In a situation
where a spouse withdraws a petition and later re-petitions, BCIS
examiners will generally look more closely into the case to determine
whether the relationship is firm or whether it is troubled or
fraudulent.
- Your husband
can petition for you from whichever state that he is presently
residing. If you are able to adjust status, you would most likely
submit an I-130/I-485 combination filing (petition for alien relative/application
to adjust status to permanent residence) at the local office of
the BCIS. If you are not able to adjust status, your husband would
file an I-130 petition on your behalf at the BCIS service center
having jurisdiction over his place of residence.
- If you sneaked
into the United States, you are not eligible to adjust status
through your husband's petition unless you are grandfathered under
section 245 (i). Grandfathering is given to individuals who filed
labor certification based applications or immigrant visa petitions
by April 30, 2001 and were physically present in the U.S. as of
December 21, 2000. As an asylee, you can adjust under the asylee
adjustment category -- but the right to adjust as an asylee does
not transfer over where you are being petitioned for under another
category.
- As the time
from your entry in August 2001 to the date of your political asylum
grant in April 2002 is fairly short, I would assume that you filed
your political asylum application within 180 days of your entry.
If such was the case, the 3 and 10 year bars of IIRIRA most likely
do not affect you as they are only applicable to most individuals
remaining illegally in the country for 180 days and 1 year reapectively
after April 1, 1997. Your act of filing for political asylum within
180 days of entry would freeze the time of illegality for purposes
of the time bars unless you worked illegally during the time of
processing. Thus in most probability, you would be able to return
to the U.S. with a refugee travel document after travelling to
France. You should not encounter any difficulties upon entry unless
you have committed excludable crimes or there are other facts
which would cast doubt upon your asylum case.
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