Wife needs U.S. entry info

Q My wife came here on a visitor’s visa when she was 3. She doesn’t have her passport or an I-94 Arrival/Departure document. She may have been waved in without immigration creating a record. We don’t know for sure. I am a U.S. citizen. Can my wife get a green card without leaving the United States? Stressed with four kids, by email A To interview here — the process the law calls “adjustment of status” — your wife must prove she was “inspected and admitted” at entry. Since she is married to a U.S. citizen, the law forgives her for being here unlawfully.

To prove your wife’s lawful entry, start by checking Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services records. For CBP, file a Freedom of Information Act request online. For USCIS, file form I-102, Application for Replacement/Initial Nonimmigrant Arrival-Departure Document. Get the form and filing instructions at USCIS.gov, or by calling the USCIS form line (800) 870-3676.

If CBP and USCIS can’t find a record or your wife’s entry, try submitting affidavits from individuals whom she traveled with, if you can get them. In any event, she should file her adjustment application. If USCIS denies it, the agency will refer the case for deportation proceedings. Immigration judges are more generous in these cases than USCIS officers. She has a good chance of winning her case. Of course, it’s best if you get an immigration law expert to help with this case. It’s tough, but winnable. Q I have Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. I traveled abroad with USCIS permission. Can I get a green card through employer sponsorship? B. Handgran, by Twitter A It’s unlikely, unless you applied for DACA before turning 18 or applied before you had been here unlawfully for more than 180 days. In employment-based immigration cases, you can interview here only if you entered legally and never violated your status for more than 180 days. If you must return home for your green card interview and you were unlawfully here more than 180 days after turning 18, you face a bar to returning with only limited waivers available.

Wernick is an attorney and director of the City University of New York’s Citizenship Now! project.