Arizona Family Based Immigration Lawyer
Current laws and regulations permit a U.S. citzenship or permanent resident to sponsor
certain qualifying foreign relatives for permanent residency. Once permanent residency
is legimately obtained and maintained, eventual citizenship for the foreign family
member through naturalization is also possible, but not all family members can qualify for permanent residency.
Recent changes in rules about illegal immigration can result in adverse determinations,
even when a U.S. citizen fiancé or spouse is the sponsor. Dealing with United States Citzenship
and Immigration
Services, the National Visa Center and U.S. consulates abroad can be frustrating.
The rules for obtaining and successfully
maintaining permanent residency, and transitioning from permanent residency into citzenship are complicated, sometimes unforgiving, and normally should be attempted
only with competent legal advice. Otherwise, costly and sometimes irreversible errors
may occur, with far reaching implications for the family members that can
include deportation.
Pima County
Arizona Family Based Immigration & Naturalization Lawyer: Messing
Law Offices
Messing Law Offices can help with all stages of the immigration and naturalization
process.
US Citizen Sponsors of Family Members
Fiancé visa
- A fiancé of a U.S. citizen must obtain a visa to enter the United States
from a U.S. Consulate abroad, after obtaining preliminary written approval from
the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service located within the U.S. Qualifying
children of the fiancé can also obtain derivative visas to enter the United States
as part of this process.
After the fiancé successfully enters the U.S., the couple must marry within a specified
time and the foreign spouse must adjust status to that of a permanent resident with
the USCIS (formerly INS) within a time set by law, or all immigration benefits may be lost and the
foreign fiancé or spouse will have to leave the United States. Special rules also apply
to permanent residency for the children of the new spouse who entered on derivative
fiance visas. Messing Law Offices has extensive experience with all aspects of the fiancé immigration process, including for dependent children.
Spousal visas - If the foreign spouse lives outside the U.S., either permanent
residency or a special variant of a fiancé visa can be requested from a U.S. Consulate
in an appropriate country. If the spouse is inside the U.S., then he or she may be able
to adjust status to that of a permanent resident within the United States. In certain
cases, even if currently within the U.S. the spouse may be best advised to travel abroad to obtain permanent residency from a U.S. consulate in an appropriate foreign country.
Carefully considered strategic considerations should dictate which type of immigration
benefit to request and where. Messing Law Offices has extensive expertise to guide
the applicants through this complicated process and obtain the most favorable benefits
possible.
Couples who have been married less than two years before an application
for permanent residency is filed must also fulfill special rules
on conditional permanent residency. Before the end of the two year conditional permanent residency period, an application to remove the conditions must be made. A pending divorce
or existing legal separation can result in a denial of the application to remove
the conditions, in which case the permanent residency will be lost. A number of exceptions can save the
permanent residency of a foreign conditional permanent resident even if the marriage
is unsucessful,
but experienced legal advice should definitely be sought in such a situation. Messing
Law Offices has considerable experience to help salvage the permanent residency
of conditional permanents whose marriages have run into such difficulties and to
prevent costly mistakes.
Fiancé and spousal visas present many special problems that are the subject
of frequently asked questions about fiancé and marriage visas posed to Attorney
John Messing. Please activate the link to learn more.
Other categories of qualifying relatives of U.S. citizens
- Unmarried child under 21 years old;
- Unmarried son or
daughter over 21;
- Married son or daughter (any age);
- Brother or sister, if the citizen
is at least 21 years old; or
- Parent, if the citizen is at least 21 years old
Permanent Resident Sponsors of Family Members
Lawful Permanent Residents can also apply for a limited class of qualifying family
members, but in addition to the rules applicable to immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, the foreign family
member must wait until a visa is available in the appropriate category of visa preferences,
before any immigration benefit can be obtained, which can take months and sometimes
years to obtain. If naturalization of the permanent
resident occurs during the pendency of the application for the qualifying family
member, then visa availability can
be accelerated. Messing
Law Offices has extensive experience with all aspects of these processes. Qualifying
categories for relatives of Permanent Resident include: - Husband or wife;
- Unmarried son or daughter (any age)
Affidavit of Support Requirement
As part of the application process for a relative, the sponsoring family member has to agree to be financially responsible
for the economic welfare of the relative he or she is sponsoring and prove that
he or she has sufficient assets and/or income to make this undertaking, through a document called an affidavit of support. If the foreign relative goes on public assistance, then the sponsoring relative agrees to reimburse the Government. In
certain cases, even if the U.S. citizen or permanent resident family member
lacks sufficient income or assets to qualify for this undertaking, another person can become a joint sponsor
and assume all or part of the obligation. The rules applicable to affidavits of
support are complicated. Messing Law Offices has necessary
experience to guide the family through the entire immigration
and naturalization process. Contact
Messing Law Offices if you need help with a visa for a family member.
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