Utica, NY Immigration Law Firms & Lawyers

Your friend's situation is likely more complicated than you think. When his sister filed an immigrant petition for him, it did not give him the right to stay in the U.S. and wait for his green card here. If he overstayed the time he was authorized to be in the U.S. on his B1 visa, he is subject to a penalty: if he stayed in the U.S. 6 months or more, he is ineligible to come to the U.S. for 3 years; if he overstayed 1 year or longer, he is barred for 10 years. The penalty does not begin to run until he is out of the U.S. So, if your friend entered the U.S. in 2000 on B1/B2 visa, was admitted for 6 months, stayed until for example June 1, 2006, then left and went back to his country, he cannot get a green card until June 1, 2016. If he came back to the U.S. after leaving, the problem is even worse. Right now, the USCIS is working on the petitions filed for brothers/sisters of U.S. citizens in August 2002. Your friend has about a year before the National Visa Center will contact his sister and begin the final stages of the case. Before it happens, your friend should have a confidential talk with an immigration attorney to see if there are any solutions to this problem.

A U.S. Citizen may petition for a spouse despite the U.S. citizen's DUI charge or conviction. Generally the U.S. Citizen's criminal-related record is irrelevant unless it involves visa fraud or incarceration interfering with the couple living together or with the Citizen's ability to financially support the foreign national spouse. Some immigration law firms, including mine, offer legal services on a "flat fee" basis so that a client will know the total expense from the very beginning, and a few immigration law firms, including mine, offer an initial consultation free of charge.