Binghamton, NY Immigration Law Firms & Lawyers

Adjustment of status should not be denied without a reason. At a stretch, an immigration officer might deny adjustment for a visa fraud if the applicant came in on a B visa while an immigrant petition was already filed (or if it gets filed within 90 days from the beneficiary's entry). Otherwise, there has to be some serious problem with the application - either with the beneficiary (criminal record, prior unlawful presence in the U.S., deportation, connections to terrorist organizations, communicable disease of public significance, etc.) or with the petitioner (usually, if petitioner has too little income to support the beneficiary and does not have a co-sponsor - a frequent scenario when the petitioner loses his job shortly before the interview and decides not to tell USCIS and to "wing it" at the interview). If any of such reasons exist for denial of adjustment of status, the beneficiary will not make it through the consular processing, either. Moreover, a USCIS officer is less likely to be cavalier with a denial than a consular officer - because USCIS denial of adjustment can be appealed and will be reviewed by the Immigration Court (and if necessary, by a federal Court of Appeals), while a consular officer knows that his/her denial of an immigrant visa in consular processing is, generally, final. If you parents intend to live in the U.S., you should seriously consider adjustment of status option; if they are likely to want to go home after a few months, and staying here 1 - 1.5 years until they get green cards might be difficult, consular processing is better suited to the situation. Remember, though, that a) if your parents decide to go via consular processing route, once you file I-130 petitions for them, they will not be able to come to the U.S. (despite their multiple entry B visas) until the process is completed; and b) it is possible that, if they come to the U.S. now with their B2s, they might be denied entry - if an inspector already gave them hard time at the border once, and now you are a citizen, this possibility cannot be ignored (if it happens, you would still have the option of consular processing; denial of admission, under these circumstances, will not bar issue of immigrant visas at the consulate).

The Department of State’s guidance is that a child under the age of 15 cannot act willfully and therefore cannot be found ineligible for fraud or misrepresentation in the circumstances that you describe. Also the period of time in which a person is barred from the country for being declared inadmissible at a port of entry is 5 years. The entire sponsorship process in a marriage case will typically take a year. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.  

If you overstay, you can only get a green card through a marriage to a US citizen. So you will wait until your fiance becomes a US citizen to apply for permanent residency in the US.