Great Neck, NY Immigration Law Firms & Lawyers

Once they leave, the i 485 will be considered abandoned. They will need to apply for an Immigrant visa, but you will also need to inform the NVC about it.

First, you have to look at your fiance's J1 visa and determine whether it requires him to return to his country for 2 years after his J1 stay in the U.S. is completed. If his visa came with the 2-year home residency requirement, it is nearly impossible to overcome, and he will have to go home for 2 years. If - and only if! - your fiance's J1 visa does not have the 2-year home residency requirement, you can consider trying to keep him in the U.S. until he can complete his immigration process. He will become eligible for a green card in approximately 1 year and 10 months after you file an immigrant petition for him. He cannot stay in the U.S. just because the petition was filed: he must get some legal status - or he must leave the U.S. and wait for an invitation to an interview at the U.S. embassy in his country. If he stays in the U.S. after his status expired, he will not be given a green card when his turn comes but will be deported instead, and not allowed to re-enter for 10 years. The ways to keep your fiance "in status" depend on his education, skills, and financial circumstances. A relatively easy solution is to become a student on an F1 visa - but tuition is expensive, and he will not be permitted to accept employment (with limited exceptions). Other options involve finding an employer that would sponsor your fiance for a non-immigrant visa, but the process is complicated and, to decide whether your fiance can qualify for any of such programs, an immigration attorney would need more information than you provided.

If you re a U.S. citizen and can file an immigrant petition for your husband, and if your husband has no criminal convictions or grave immigration law violations (like illegal re-entries after deportation), you should be able to obtain a permission for him to return to the U.S. There are several procedures that might be used depending on the particular circumstances of the case; so you would have to get, at least, a consultation with an immigration attorney (better, if you can, to have an attorney handle the entire process).