Q & A August 17, 2003
Q & A 1 2
Dear Mr. Lee
I am 22 years old. My father’s political asylum was granted,
so he petitioned my mom and me to come to the U.S. We came here
in 1/2000, and submitted our I-485 forms for status adjustment in
2001. I was told that we won’t get our Green Cards until the
year of 2006 or 2007. I applied for advanced parole in March this
year, and the reply said that it would take 8 months to process
it.
Questions:
1. One article in your website mentions that it is difficult for
people who have asylum cases approved or who don’t have Green
Cards to return to their native countries. Is that the truth?
2. Is it safe if I use the advanced parole to go back to China via
a third country?
3. Because my original passport has a stamp of “refugee”
on it, so I had it replaced
with a new one. Does it work that way? Is it safe to return to the
U.S.?
Yu
New York
Dear reader:
1. When individuals have obtained status from political asylum,
it may be difficult for them to justify a return to the home country
of persecution to the Bureau of Customs and Border Protections (BCBP)
personnel when they attempt to reenter the United States. Inspectors
may wonder whether there is still a fear of persecution from the
home country. As a dependent and not the principal alien, it would
be logical that BCBP personnel would be more easily convinced to
allow you to return without trouble than your father. However, I
am not aware of any guidance from the Central Office of the Bureau
of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS) dealing with this
issue. Until there is affirmative word that dependents are viewed
differently from principal asylees, the better policy is not to
return to the home country.
2. Use of a third country with an advance parole document will not
shield the fact that you have returned to China. An advance parole
document is only a piece of paper allowing return -- it is not a
passport. China and the third country would most likely place entry
and exit stamps on your passport. You would need the passport in
conjunction with the advance parole document to reenter the U.S..
3. To the BCBP, you are a dependent asylee case and your obtaining
a new passport from the homeland of persecution raises more doubts
as to whether you have any fear of persecution upon return to China.
Again, I am not saying that you will necessarily have trouble returning
to the home country of persecution and then re-entering the U.S.,
but until firm guidance from the BCIS comes on this situation for
asylee dependents, you would be better advised not to return to
China. I do note that while not completely clear, the INS position
on asylees returning to the home country was that it would consider
the purpose for which an asylee returns to the home country, the
length of time spent, and whether the asylee can return to the country
of persecution with permanent residence status or the possibility
of obtaining such status with the same rights and obligations as
other permanent residents of that country have.
Dear Mr. Lee
As a U.S. citizen, I petitioned for my unmarried son to immigrate
on 5/30/2000. He is thinking to get married with his fiancée
first, and then come to the U.S. with her.
Questions:
1. What supplementary documents should I provide to the BICS?
2. How do I do to change the first priority to the third priority?
3. How do I figure out that the original petition is still valid
and that the priority date is still the same?
Mr. Shi
New Jersey
Dear reader:
1 As your case is pending with the BCIS at this time, you can send
a letter to the BCIS office which is holding the petition enclosing
a copy of the receipt of I-130 filing, marriage certificate of son,
and a letter explaining that your son has married, and that the
petition should be reclassified.
2 See #1.
3 When the BCIS upgrades the petition, it will by law assign the
earlier priority date to your son's petition.
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