Matawan, NJ Immigration Law Firms & Lawyers

If your only ground of inadmissibility is your illegal stay in the US and you are married to a US citizen, you may be able to benefit from the I-601A waiver if your permanent departure would cause extreme hardship to a US citizen spouse or parent. The difference between this provision and regular law is that in the past, the US citizen would have to first file the I-130 relative petition for you, have it approved, and you would then go overseas for a consular interview at which time you would be refused and then invited to apply for a waiver of inadmissibility on form I – 601. You would have to remain outside the US during the time that the waiver was being adjudicated. Under the I – 601A, you are allowed to remain in the US during the time that the waiver is being adjudicated and if approved, you would leave the country for an immigrant visa interview at your home consulate or embassy, at which time you would normally have a routine interview as the main bar to your admissibility would have been removed even before you left the States. 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.

She can certainly apply for Citizenship as long as she meets the requirements. It would be best to apply for a new green card as she will want to go to the interview showing an updated green card. We are aware of some folks who do NOT update their green card in some cases but we do not recommend that.