Undocumented students qualify
UNDOCUMENTED students often qualify for scholarships and loans. A new publication, the 2013-2014 Scholarship List and Guide, available online from Educators for Fair Consideration, provides a wealth of useful financial aid information for undocumented students. The guide is also useful for those here with Deferred Action for Undocumented Students. The EF4C guide includes lists of scholarships programs and colleges and universities that grant financial aid without regard to immigration status. Many of our nation’s best institutions of higher education provide scholarships for undocumented students. Check out the guide at http://e4fc.org/resources/scholarshiplists.html.
Q: I came to the United States from Canada via automobile without a visa. At the border, the officer asked us how our day was, where we are coming from and where we were going. He didn't ask about our immigration status. The officer did not require us to show any documents. Can I get my green card
without leaving the United States?
Rachel, New York
A: If you qualify for your green card as an immediate relative of a U.S. citizen, you can interview in the United States, the process the law calls “adjustment of status.” That’s true despite your having entered without a visa. The immediate relative category includes the spouse of a U.S. citizen, the unmarried children under 21 of U.S. citizens, and the parents of U.S. citizens where the U.S. child is at least age 21.
The law allows immediate relatives of U.S. citizens to adjust status provided a U.S. border officer inspected or admitted them. Your entry counts as having been inspected and admitted. The hard part is proving how you entered. It is best if you have proof that you were in Canada on a particular day and in the United States shortly after that. Q: My wife, a green card holder, petitioned for her daughter, now age 14, and USCIS approved the petition. The daughter came here on a visitor’s visa six years ago, then overstayed. We know that because she overstayed, she must return to her former home in Malaysia to apply for an immigrant visa. If she travels home, will she face the 10-year unlawful presence bar to permanent residence? What are her options?
William, Little Neck
A: The law defines unlawful presence to exclude time here while under the age of 18. So, the daughter would not face the 10-year bar to returning for individuals unlawfully present one year or longer. The bar is three years for individuals here between 181 and 365 days. The backup in the category for the unmarried children under 21 of permanent residence is just a few months. So, the daughter should have no problem getting her immigrant visa interview before she violates the unlawful presence rule.
If your wife can become a U.S. citizen before the daughter turns 21, the daughter can apply to interview in the United States. That’s the process called adjustment of status. The unmarried child of a U.S. citizen under 21 can adjust status despite having overstayed. Your wife can naturalize after she has been a permanent resident for five years. She qualifies after only three years permanent residence if you are a U.S. citizen and you have been married for at least three years.
Either alternative, adjustment of status or consular processing abroad should work for the daughter. Adjustment of status is usually the best choice, but an immigration law expert can advise you about which alternative is best in this situation.