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How can I get a Green Card with refugee status?
Refugees are people that have been displaced from their countries of origin out of fear for their personal safety. According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, refugees must seek out their Green Cards after being in the country for one year.
The process for seeking your Green Card as a refugee is complex. There are a lot of factors to consider, including the following. Having the right information ensures you are prepared and have the best chance of being approved for your Green Card.
How to determine eligibility
Green Cards render you a lawful permanent resident of this country. To be eligible, you must meet certain criteria. Along with being in the country for at least one year, you must also not have previously received a Green Card. Additionally, you must not have had a previous admission terminated, and you must be present in the country when you are filing the Green Card form, which is Form I-485.
Can the state revoke my provisional unlawful presence waiver?
Hopeful US citizens in Texas can jeopardize the immigration process by unlawfully entering or residing within US borders. Many residents who would be otherwise eligible for family-based immigration can disqualify themselves by remaining in the US without a visa.
Thankfully, getting a provisional unlawful presence waiver from US Customs and Immigration Services may reinstate your eligibility if you are an undocumented immigrant with immediate relatives who are US citizens.
Revocations
Provisional unlawful presence waivers are not permanent, and the government may revoke your waiver in some cases. But if you are facing a waiver revocation, you may have recourse to get the waiver reinstated.
The government will automatically revoke your waiver in certain circumstances. The DOS may end your immigrant visa application process at any time, and the USCIS retains the right to revoke your underlying approved immigrant visa petition.
Processes involved in obtaining green cards
A green card is a document that grants you lawful permanent residence status in the United States. It gives you the right to live here on an ongoing basis. It also gives you the authorization you need to find and keep a job in the U.S.
There are several different categories of green cards. Based on your situation, there are also different processes involved in obtaining them. The process you go through depends partly on whether you are already in the United States or if you wish to come to the U.S. but are currently still in your own country.
Adjustment of status
If you are already present in the United States, you may be able to obtain a green card through an adjustment of status. According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, this saves you the inconvenience of having to return to your home country to complete the processing of your visa. However, you have to meet the eligibility requirements. Adjustment of status may be available to you if you belong to a certain immigration category, such as an international student or a temporary visitor.
Can you have your citizenship revoked?
If gaining U.S. citizenship is your goal, then you likely understand the time and extensive effort required to secure such a benefit. Thus, you probably look forward to being able to relax somewhat in Plano once the process ends. After all, once you are a naturalized citizen, it is impossible to take your citizenship away, right?
That may not necessarily be true. Indeed, according to information shared byU.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, there are grounds for having your citizenship revoked. You may think this only occurs in extreme scenarios, yet that is not the case.
Securing citizenship illegally
Some of the grounds for revocation may seem fairly obvious. For example, if you failed to meet the eligibility requirements for citizenship in the first place (yet failed to disclose this fact), you may have your citizenship revoked. Indeed, a failure to share pertinent information in your application for citizenship can merit revocation if the following occurs:
What is the affidavit of support?
U.S. immigration policy generally expects immigrants not to become public charges when they arrive in the country. Therefore, before approving an individual’s green card application, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services often requires the sponsor to submitan affidavit of support.
The affidavit of support is a legally binding contract that requires the sponsor to provide adequate financial support to the green card recipient. If you are thinking about executing an affidavit of support, you should understand your legal responsibilities.
Do you qualify?
If you intend to sponsor a family member for legal permanent residency, you likely must execute an affidavit of support. To do so, though, your income must be at least 125% ofthe federal poverty guidelines. If you do not meet this threshold, you may need to find a joint sponsor who can file a separate affidavit of support on your immigrant relative’s behalf.
What are the benefits of U.S. citizenship?
Once you have been a lawful permanent resident of the United States for at least five years, you may be eligible to take the next step to become a citizen of the United States through the process of naturalization. Applying for citizenship is a significant step that carries with it certain responsibilities. Your application indicates that you are willing to commit to fulfilling your obligations to the best of your ability.
According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, obtaining citizenship allows you to do things that you would not be able to do as an LPR. To aid in decision-making about your status, here are some of the benefits of becoming a U.S. citizen.
1. Residency
If you are a citizen of the United States, no one can force you to leave. You have the right to remain in the U.S. under any circumstances.
Family hopes caretaker status will stop pending deportation
Anyone in Plano who has had to try and navigate the waters of the immigration process may know exactly how complicated that process can be. Fortunately, when one has a family member that is either a U.S. citizen or a legal permanent resident, they often have a leg up on attaining legal immigration status.
That may not always be the case, however. Alleged immigration law violations committed by those with family members in the U.S. might still make them subject to deportation. It is in such a scenario where they may have to rely on other provisions that support their residency status.
Father fights to stay in the country
The legal team for a New Jersey resident currently facing deportation hopes just such a provision will allow him to stay in the country. According to reports, the man sought asylum after arriving from his native India, yet did not gain approval. He remained in the U.S., however, with his wife and two daughters (all of whom are U.S. citizens) up until federal immigration authorities recently detained him. Yet one of his daughters suffers from permanent disabilities and requires around-the-clock care. This has prompted his attorney to point out that his deportation would cause an undue hardship on his wife by leaving her to care for the girl alone. He currently sits in an immigration detention facility awaiting a ruling on his case.
Understanding the decision of your N-400 form
Applying for U.S. citizenship is both exciting and time-consuming. Your effort to be vigilant may prevent the disappointment that comes when you overlook critical details throughout the application process.
One portion of the application process requires you to fill out and submit an N-400 form. Once received by the USCIS, you will receive correspondence notifying you of their decision.
The purpose of an N-400 form
An N-400 form identifies general information about your past including where you were born, the names of your parents and the citizenship status of close relatives among other things. It is a comprehensive document that requires your full attention to verify its accurate completion. In conjunction with your completed application, you must submit all applicable documentation to support the information you claim on your N-400 form.
How do you avoid immigration scams?
On one hand, it could be a good idea to contact multiple people when deciding how to proceed with your immigration case. On the other hand, this could open you up to being the victim of a scam.
It is not always easy to identify whether someone who offers to help you with your immigration process is legitimate. To make matters worse, the American Bar Association has observed that notario fraud —immigration scams, in other words —is on the rise.
Be skeptical
Perhaps the best thing you could do to avoid scams would be to maintain skepticism about any claims of future success. Of course, you should maintain hope — but it would typically be unwise to let it distract you from the reality of the situation.
Coming the U.S., everyone applying for a given type of visa has to follow the same procedures. Immigration is a highly bureaucratic process subject to the intense scrutiny of multiple agencies. Because there are rules for virtually every situation, there are no exceptions to these rules.
Employment authorization for H-1B dependents
The United States provides many types of visas to foreign nationals. Some of these visas allow non-U.S. citizens to live and work legally in America.
When a person from another country wishes to have a family member from their home country join them in the U.S., the family member may also wish to work in the U.S.
H-1B visas for select occupations
As explained by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, people who have at least an undergraduate degree in specific fields may apply for and receive an H-1B visa, granting them the right to live and work in the U.S. Some of the recipients of H-1B visas may work in research or defense fields.
H-4 dependents and the Form I-765
A dependent spouse of a person with a valid H-1B visa may qualify to apply for the right to work in the United States. To do this, the applicant must complete and submit the Application for Employment Authorization, referred to as the Form I-765 by the U.S. ICE office. When requesting approval to work in the U.S. via a Form I-765, a person may also request that they be granted a Social Security number. The I-765 applicant’s relative with the H-1B visa may have been received an approved I-140.
From our offices in Dallas and Plano, Texas, we serve clients throughout the surrounding areas including Fort Worth, Irving, Arlington, Farmers Branch, Frisco, Carrollton, Garland, Addison, Richardson, Allen, Murphy, Wylie, McKinney, Dallas County, Collin County, Denton County, and all of Northeastern Texas.
Results listed are not a guarantee or indication of future case results.
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