Your lawyer, notary, or familiar or spouse, American citizen or legal resident, submitted the petition and it got approved, but you have not seen results. You have spent many years wasting money and waiting for the residence, however, you have not seen any result about the case. You may be confused about why you have an approved petition, but not the residence. What to do in these cases?
I-130 Petition
I-130 petition is for immigrants going through a family-related process. If your spouse or +21 years son or daughter, American citizen or legal resident, fills a petition for your residence, you would be applying for an Adjustment of Status.
This petition is not for getting the residence, but to prepare the route to obtain it. The I-130 provides immigrants a right to continue with the process to obtain permanent residence. Now, in order to obtain permanent residence, a person must me eligible.
In case of American-citizen parents who entered the country illegally, there is no way to get an Adjustment of Status within the US.
If you get the petition approved, you may think that you will finally get favorable legal status. Now, if you are not protected by 245i law nor have a son or daughter who is (or was) in the US Army, there is a problem: the next step is to leave the US with a 10-years punishment.
Some people start this process with not enough information, perhaps deceived by a lawyer or notary, or maybe hoping for a yet-to-come migratory law reform. When you have the I-130, there is no way to continue with the process. You are left in a position in which you have an approved petition, but not a real way to get a favorable legal status. That’s why when you enter the US illegally, you must be careful with the alien relative petition (I-130) strategy. If you have no way to obtain residence, it could be counterproductive.
For parents of +21 years American citizens, who entered the US illegally and have no 245i law protection nor a son or daughter who is (or was) in the US Army, the strategy using petition I-130 can leave them in a situation where they will have to leave the US with a 10-years punishment. A 10-years punishment can be difficult due to the poverty and/or violence existing in some countries.
VAWA humanitarian visa
Another way to get favorable legal status is via VAWA. VAWA is one of the humanitarian visas, and is a way in which parents can get a favorable legal status without leaving the US, even after entering the country illegally one or more times. As a humanitarian visa, it has other requirements, such as having suffered some kind of violence from your +21 years US citizen son or daughter.
This process is completely confidential. There are people who, when hearing about VAWA visas, fear the process can affect their children, but there is nothing to worry about. Your son or daughter keeps a clean file even though the application is based on problems between you two.
Problems can include your son or daughter being a rebel, speaking to you offensively, or making fun of you due to your migratory status or inability to speak English. Under the law, this can be a form of mistreatment.
VAWA can also open up the way for permanent residence. Is a strategy you could take if you entered the US illegally and have no son or daughter who is (or was) in the US Army. nor 245i law protection. Sometimes, it’s the only option to get favorable legal status without leaving the US. There is no need to risk yourself to a 10-years punishment.
Have any questions? Give us a call at (202) 933-3379 and we’ll gladly have one of our immigration attorneys evaluate your case.
