Important: the following information
is only meant to provide an overview of the immigration procedures and should not be construed as legal advice. Date of last
modification: 09/07.
You are planning to live in the United States
(Legal Permanent Residency/Green Card)
What is a green card and why would you want one?
Although the legal permanent
resident card is no longer green, the term “green card” continues to be commonly used to refer to the status of
a person who has been granted the privilege of permanently residing in the United States.
You may qualify for a green card if you have a U.S. Family member
or if you are going to work in the U.S.
Your relative may apply for your legal permanent resident
status if the relative is
Steffas & Associates,
P.C. will help you gather the evidence and information required to file a family petition with USCIS and adjust your status
if necessary. Steffas & Associates, P.C. also works with cases involving step-parents, step-children and adopted children.
You or your employer may apply for your legal permanent resident status
if you are:
a
person with extraordinary abilities in the field of athletics, arts, business, education, or sciences,
an outstanding researcher
of professor,
a
multinational executive or manager, or
a professional with a degree and some years of experience in a field of practice.
Steffas & Associates, P.C. will help you determine whether you meet the requirements of employment-based
immigration and will assist you and/or your employer in the filing of the petition with USCIS.
Steffas & Associates, P.C. is solicited throughout the country for its expertise with international adoptions.
Irene Steffas has written many articles on the topic and is often asked to speak at national conferences. Her years of experience
dealing with the immigration procedures available to adopted children have led her to encounter the most diverse array of
situations. Below are the two legal avenues that an adopted parent may use to petition for the child to immigrate.
-The orphan petition (also known as the “F
route”) - INA §101(b)(1)(F)
A child who has suffered
the death or disappearance of his biological parents, or where the surviving parent is incapable of providing care to the
child and has in writing released the child for adoption, may be eligible to come to the United States. The adoptive parent
may start the immigration procedure before or after the adoption takes place. Once the child
is adopted, the petition for a green card must be filed before the child turns 16. The petitioner
must be a U.S. citizen.
-The family petition (also
known as the “E route”) - INA §101(b)(1)(E)
A
child who has been adopted and has lived with the adoptive parent for two years may be eligible for immigration benefits.
The two years of residency may accrue in the United States or abroad. Unlike the F route, the E route does not target orphaned
children. Hence, if both biological parents are alive and have consented to the adoption, the child may still qualify for
immigration benefits. In order to file a family petition, the adoption must be finalized before the child turns
16, but the petition itself may be filed at any time. The petitioner must be a U.S. citizen or a Legal Permanent
Resident.
A child who is deemed eligible
for long term foster care because he was abandoned, abused or neglected by his or her parents may qualify for Special Immigrant
Juvenile Status, which will entitle the child to get legal permanent resident status.
Important
requirements:
in most cases, the child must be under 18 years old,
the child must not be
married, and
the child must demonstrate that it is not in his best interest to return to his home country or
his parents' country.
Such relief may apply to the following situations:
A
child of Korean nationality is placed with the Department of Family and Children Services but she cannot obtain a social security
number in the United States because she does not have legal permanent resident status in the United States. Special immigrant
Juvenile Status may be available to the child and would allow her to have all of her papers in order and enjoy the same opportunities
as the children her age.
A child from Mexico is abandoned by his parents at the age of 10, and never has any contact with
them after that. No remaining family member is willing to take care of the child and he is left to fend for himself in Mexico.
He decides to come to the United States because he has heard that a distant family member may be able to take care of him.
At the age of 12, the child manages to move to he United States and reunites with his distant family member, but has no legal
status in the United States and is now in removal proceedings. Special Immigrant Status may be available to the child as a
relief to the removal proceedings, ad would allow the child to stay with the relative who is now taking care of him.
Steffas & Associates, P.C. is dedicated to providing assistance to children in the above situations. Steffas
& Associates, P.C. has acquired experience building strong Special Immigrant Juvenile cases and continues to educate state
judges about the procedure, and encourage state organizations, such as the Department of Family and Children Services, to
be aware of this immigration relief before the ages out.
If
you have been married to a U.S. citizen or a legal permanent resident who has abused you or your child, you may be eligible
to file for your legal permanent resident status without your spouse petitioning for you.
Eligibility
requirements:
you are married with a U.S. citizen or a legal permanent resident,
you currently reside
in the United States,
you have lived in the United States with your spouse at some point before filing the petition,
your
spouse has abused your or your child or has committed extreme cruelty during the marriage, and
you can demonstrate that
you or your child will suffer extreme hardship if removed from the United States.
This
legal avenue may also be available to a person victim of bigamy: where the person believed in good faith that he/she was legally
married, a marriage ceremony took place, but the spouse was in fact married to another person who never terminated the first
marriage.
If you entered in the United States before January 1, 1972, and have maintained continuous residence, you
may be eligible for legal permanent resident status.
Such relief may apply to the following situation:
A
child is adopted while the parents, U.S. Citizens, reside in a foreign country. The parents move back to the United States
with the child without taking any steps relating to the child's immigration status. The child, now at least 35 years old
(born prior to 1972), who has been living in the United States since before 1972 under the belief that he/she has legal status
in the United States, founds out that he/she is not a U.S. Citizen as he/she always believed. In the worse case scenario,
the that person has been voting in the United States believing that he/she is a U.S. citizen is now being accused of felony.
Steffas & Associates, P.C. has successfully resolved that fact pattern by assisting clients apply for
legal permanent resident status through the Registry process. Steffas & Associates, P.C. was also able to obtain a waiver
relating to the accusations of felony on the basis that the applicant had good faith belief that he was a United States citizen
at the time of the vote.
Note that some of these categories are subject to annual quotas set by USCIS or the US. Department
of State.
