Truckee, CA Immigration Law Firms & Lawyers

There are many ways to prove permanent residency. See what paperwork you can find for him at home - copy of his PR card, actual PR card or welcome notice, his Alien number, file I-90 for replacement PR card Freedom of Information Act request for a copy of the government's file on him.

It will take years. He should apply for an H-1B after the degree. H-1B Specialty Occupation Visa* You qualify for what is known as the H-1B Specialty Occupation Visa. You will need to have an employer agree to sponsor you for a job. It does not need to be a full-time position, but it should be related to your degree. Our firm can do the entire petition. Once we begin processing and get it filed, it normally takes about six to nine months to get the approval. Please note that H-1B's are very limited and are only available for small periods of time during the year. Therefore, Premium Processing discussed next should be used. If you want a work permit in an expedited manner, you can take advantage of the Premium Processing program at USCIS. This will allow you to have the expedited answer in less than one month.

If CIS has asked for additional evidence, you should hear back from then relatively quickly after responding to the request for evidence. But, please keep in mind the difference between the processing of the I-130 and the time period your daughter must wait to have a visa available to her. The first step of the process is submission of the I-130. The I-130 is the petition which is filed with Citizenship and Immigration Services and requires two basic elements to be established. First, the immigration status of the petitioner. Second, the relationship between the petitioner and the beneficiary of the visa. Here, you would establish your immigration status through providing a copy of your alien registration card. As to your relationship with your daughter, a birth certificate should be sufficient. With that in mind, however, different officers working these cases may have doubts regarding the veracity of a birth certificate or other evidence provided in support of a claimed relationship and this may explain whatever issues raised in the request for evidence which you have received. Now the other part of this is the waiting period for a visa number to be available. If the beneficiary of the visa petition is NOT the spouse, parent or unmarried child under 21 of a US citizen. Then there is a waiting period for a visa to be available. The determination of where one stands in this line depends on the "priority date" assigned to the I-130. This should be delineated on the I-130 receipt you received and in most I-130 cases the priority date is the date the application package was received by CIS for processing. Every month, a document called the Visa Bulletin is published by the Department of State. The purpose of the Visa Bulletin is to provide us a monthly report telling everyone where the line stands. The Visa Bulletin looks like a grid and it is comprised of 4 preference categories. Yours is a Second Preference (B) petition (unmarried child over 21 of a lawful permanent resident). So what you will need to do is to find your priority date and look at the Visa Bulletin to figure out whether a visa is available to your daughter. Unfortunately, the time periods that you mention make it sound like your daughter's I-130 has not been pending long enough such that a visa would be immediately available upon approval of the petition by CIS. Yes, this is confusing. If you have questions I would encourage you to discuss the case with a licensed and competent attorney who can explain the case to you so that you are informed about what to do and when to do it. I would suggest that you respond to the request for evidence and hopefully this will get the I-130 approved. Nonetheless, there may remain a lengthy waiting period for a visa to be available in this category. Another suggestion is that if you are eligible to become a US citizen apply to do so. You will retain the priority date applicable to the I-130 which was filed, but the category will move ahead to a First Preference and this can (in most cases) take about one year off of the waiting period. Be careful out there and do not let someone talk you in to hiring them for work that you do not need done. Like is said, there is probably a significant waiting period still ahead of you. The line is the line and no one makes the line any quicker. Don't let anyone suggest to you that they can make things any quicker than they are. Everyone waits in the same line and there is no expedited processing for these types of applications. Keep an open mind and make sure that you understand how the process works before spending your money on anyone to help your daughter with anything. Good luck.