Deportation from the US

little lady

I was just looking for some adivce for a friend of mine. He is seperated but not divorced from a US citizen and has twins who are also American citizens.

His Visa was up for renewal in May but was refused, he has reapplied and the application is being precessed. He was laid off last week and as he is technically illegal he can't get another job.

With both his children and his ex wife all being citizens can he be deported and if so what are his chances of getting back into the country legally??? Also his father and his stepmother have citizenship.

Many Thanks for any help.

Our man in Havana

He needs to see an immigration lawyer without delay.

FreudianSlippers

He should go through the naturalization process ASAP.

Hundreds of thousands of parents of US born children have been deported already this year. Sad but true, the US is more likely to deport those of a darker skin tone than your average white illegal.

After 3 years living in the US you can apply for a Permanent Resident Card - takes 90 days.

dermot_sheehan

He would have got a two year green card being married to a U.S. citizen which would have been renewed after the two years were up into a five year one if they were still married. If they are not married he has to petition based on extreme hardship

9th circuit goes through process here http://shusterman.com/pdf/choinopinion-9thcircuitcourtofappeals2008.pdf


http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode08/usc_sec_08_00001186---a000-.html

The Attorney General, in the Attorney General’s discretion, may remove the conditional basis of the permanent resident status for an alien who fails to meet the requirements of paragraph (1) if the alien demonstrates that—
(A) extreme hardship would result if such alien is removed,
(B) the qualifying marriage was entered into in good faith by the alien spouse, but the qualifying marriage has been terminated (other than through the death of the spouse) and the alien was not at fault in failing to meet the requirements of paragraph (1), or
(C) the qualifying marriage was entered into in good faith by the alien spouse and during the marriage the alien spouse or child was battered by or was the subject of extreme cruelty perpetrated by his or her spouse or citizen or permanent resident parent and the alien was not at fault in failing to meet the requirements of paragraph (1).
In determining extreme hardship, the Attorney General shall consider circumstances occurring only during the period that the alien was admitted for permanent residence on a conditional basis. In acting on applications under this paragraph, the Attorney General shall consider any credible evidence relevant to the application. The determination of what evidence is credible and the weight to be given that evidence shall be within the sole discretion of the Attorney General. The Attorney General shall, by regulation, establish measures to protect the confidentiality of information concerning any abused alien spouse or child, including information regarding the whereabouts of such spouse or child.

metrovelvet

If his father is a US Citizen he can get citizenship. I think you may also be able to get it through your kids. This is MUCH faster than naturalisation.

http://immigration.findlaw.com/immigration/immigration-citizenship-naturalization/immigration-citizenship-naturalization-did-you-know.html

Tell him to do this ASAP.

Our man in Havana

I think you may also be able to get it through your kids.

That is a very tricky way to do it.

metrovelvet

Haddockman wrote: »

That is a very tricky way to do it.

Probably.

The best and simplest and fastest is to do it through his father. Why hasnt he done this already instead of all this VISA nonsense?

TheNewMe

Doesn't naturalization via a parent require the child to be under 21 ? The OP doesn't say but with two kids and a wife it's possible but unlikely he's still under 21.

The best way if it's possible might be to reconcile with the wife before any divorce is finalized - even if just for the sake of the kids having daddy around in their lives as they grow up.

You also need to be careful about falling into an illegal status while waiting for a situation to be resolved as ICE/INS can view it very negatively and it could prejudice further visa applications.

Our man in Havana

The easiest and quickest way is via the father. No need to be applying for visas.

FreudianSlippers

Haddockman wrote: »

That is a very tricky way to do it.

Especially now that there is a big uproar over people having "anchor babies" in the US.

little lady

OisinT wrote: »

Especially now that there is a big uproar over people having "anchor babies" in the US.

Just to clarify that his children are not "anchor babies" (not accusing you of saying they are), his ex wife is american born as are her parents.

I appreciate the information given her.

Cheers
LL

FreudianSlippers

little lady wrote: »

Just to clarify that his children are not "anchor babies" (not accusing you of saying they are), his ex wife is american born as are her parents.

I appreciate the information given her.

Cheers
LL

Yeah, I was just saying that the general attitude is pretty poor regarding immigration at the moment in the US and one of the main attacks is of parents getting citizenship through the citizenship of their children.

Dandelion6

It's not clear from the info given how your friend's father obtained his US citizenship. If his father was a US citizen at the time of your friend's birth then he may already have or be entitled to US citizenship.

If his father obtained US citizenship subsequent to your friend's birth, and assuming your friend is over 21, then he can apply for permanent residency (green card) as the child of a US citizen, but he will have to go onto a waiting list which could be several years. Also, the fact that he has been present illegally could work against him, so he definitely needs to speak to a lawyer.

Having US citizen children will not help him until those children turn 21 as they cannot sponsor anyone for residency until then. Which is why the whole "anchor babies" controversy is a bit silly.

little lady

Hi,

Just to answer a few of your questions, yes he is over 21 :-) and no he will not be getting back with his wife, even for the sake of the kids but he wants to remain in the US for the kids, if there were no kids he would be home in Ireland.

His dad is Irish and either he or his wife (friends stepmam) won the visa lottery, not sure when but it could be 20 years ago and that is how he has citizenship.

It's just a really bad situation and I hope for both his childrena and himself he can get it sorted.

lonestargirl

Haddockman wrote: »

The easiest and quickest way is via the father. No need to be applying for visas.

Easy, but not quick. Since he is married he would be family 3rd preference, currently Sept 2001 is being processed (link to visa bulletin).

His kids can't sponsor him until they turn 21.

What is his current status in the US? If he has a marriage-based green card the fact that the marriage is over has no bearing on his status, permanent residence is just that - permanent.