Below are several options for immigrating to the U.S. based on a family relationship.

Permanent Residency through Marriage

Obtaining permanent residency or green card status through marriage is one of the most common ways of gaining legal residency in the United States. Both heterosexual and same-sex marriages are recognized by Immigration.

Marriage based immigration requires the U.S. citizen spouse to file an immigrant petition on behalf of his or her foreign spouse. Upon approval of the immigrant petition, the immigrating spouse will either apply for an immigrant visa at a U.S. Consulate outside the U.S. or, if eligible, submit an application for permanent residency while in the U.S.

If applying in the United States, Immigration will require both spouses to appear for an in-person interview at a local USCIS Immigration Office. At the time of interview, the burden is on the married couple to prove to the Immigration Officer that their marriage is real.

Simply producing a marriage certificate and photos is not enough to meet Immigration’s standard of an authentic or bona fide marriage. USCIS Officers often become suspicious of a marriage, even though the marriage is real, due to a lack of evidence and/or confusing testimony. If the married couple fails to meet the evidentiary burden at the interview, a second, more intense, interview will be scheduled when the spouses will be interrogated separately.

Our firm has many years of experience in marriage based immigration. At the initial consultation we identify potential “red flags” that might result in a second interview, as well as find inadmissibility issues, such as criminal convictions or prior immigration violations that will require a waiver of inadmissibility.

In addition to preparing and filing all of the required USCIS forms, we provide a “mock immigration interview” and an attorney will accompany the couple to the USCIS interview to safe guard their rights, aid in presenting the evidence of marriage and explain any legal issues to the Immigration Officer.

If the marriage is less than two years old at the time of green card issuance, the permanent residency will be conditional. After two years of conditional resident status the couple can remove the conditions of residence with the filing of a joint petition to remove the conditions.

It is important to note that even if the marriage has ended during the two year conditional period, the conditions of residency may still be removed provided the conditional resident can prove the marriage was entered into in good faith and not solely to obtain a green card.

Family Immigration

Roten Immigration Law represents individuals administratively before the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) with various family-based petitions and related applications including:

• Petitions for Alien Relatives.

• Applications to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status for those eligible for a “green card.”

• Application for waivers of certain grounds of inadmissibility, if applicable.

• Applications for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for eligible nationals of designated countries.

Often, the road to obtaining lawful immigration status in the United States can be a long and arduous process. Roten Immigration Law offers legal counsel every step of the way, helping our clients navigate the complicated world of immigration law.

Unlawful Presence waiver

Individuals are often ineligible for permanent residency due to various immigration violations. A common ground of ineligibility or inadmissibility is unlawful presence in the U.S. A person who has been present in the U.S. without legal status is generally unable to apply for permanent residency in the U.S. and will have to apply at the U.S. Consulate in their home country.

Once the person departs the U.S. he or she will be barred from returning. If the individual has been in the U.S. for more than six months, but less than a year, the bar is three years. If the person has been unlawfully present for more than one year, the bar is ten years.

Immigration will forgive unlawful presence and waive inadmissibility, if the individual can demonstrate that their U.S. citizen or green card holding spouse or parent will suffer extreme hardship, if the individual is unable to return to the U.S. Immigration considers several factors in determining whether extreme hardship exists, which include, but are not limited to, medical problems, psychological disorders, economic hardship, strong family ties to the U.S., compromised ability to care for small children, and inability to relocate to their relative’s home country.

Our firm has extensive knowledge and know-how in preparing and filing unlawful presence waivers with Immigration. We thoroughly interview our clients to identify and document all possible hardship factors. If necessary, we will refer clients to outside psychologists for evaluation to determine if psychological disorders exist that would cause the spouse or parent to suffer greater hardship than a normal person.