Ventura, CA Immigration Law Firms & Lawyers

Sorry to hear about the heartache from the loss of your father and the conduct of your step-mother. Conduct of the type you described may be problematic, but it does not have immigration relevance: if your step-mother is here as a Permanent Resident, for example, her recent conduct could not be treated as a way to revoke her status. From an outsider's point of view, it seems appropriate to mention that many view details of a funeral and burial as rituals intended to benefit the surviving family members, and I wonder whether your step-mother made the decisions she made to help her get through her own loss and grief. Beyond that, many people behave at their worst when they face a crisis and may be frightened and worried about their future. Although I have no professional expertise in this area, and these issues run far afield from immigration legal matters, it may be worthwhile for you and your siblings to let more time pass and then reach-out to your step-mother to try to resuscitate your relationship. For the benefit of everyone involved, it even may be wise to engage a social worker, psychologist or other family counseling professional to help your family try to re-establish a family relationship.

He could certainly file a visa petition to get the process started. There will certainly be complexities in finishing the case, but one can certain;y start the visa petition process.

That will depend what country you are from, but could be anywhere between 10 and 25 years. If she has a college degree, the employment route would be better.