If you want to withdraw petition for wife

QMy wife applied for permanent residence based on my petition. Now she is seeing another man. How can I withdraw my support for her green card? I am a U.S. citizen. My wife and I were married last August. This past May she announced that we are separating, and that she has found a new friend. I am filing for divorce. J.D., Queens

A. You can write to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services asking to withdraw your petition. Make sure to write to the address on your petition receipt, and include any filing receipts. In any event, since your wife is in the United States, if you refuse to attend her green card interview, USCIS will likely deny her application.

Note that if your wife can prove spousal abuse, or abuse to her children, she can selfpetition for her green card despite you not supporting her petition.

QHow can my friends legally immigrate to the United States? They live in Ecuador and life is hard for them there. J.W.

A. Immigration options for your friends are limited. Unless they have close family here or a skill, your friends’ best hope is the green card lottery if they meet the qualifications.

Most people immigrate through a family or employer. The family-based categories include the spouse, children, parents (where the child is at least age 21) and siblings of U.S. citizens at least age 21, and the spouse and unmarried children of permanent residents.

In the employment-based category, most people immigrate because they have a hard-to-find job skill. The employment category includes investors and especially talented individuals.

If your friends have a fear of persecution in Ecuador they can claim refugee status. A better option might be for them to enter the annual

Diversity Visa lottery. Every year, 50,000 people get lottery green cards. The law excludes natives of countries with high immigration rates, but Ecuadorans are typically eligible. For more go to bit.ly/2YDDD8L.

Allan Wernick is an attorney and director of the City University of New York’s Citizenship Now! project. Send questions and comments to Allan Wernick, New York Daily News, 7th Fl., 4 New York Plaza, New York, N.Y., 10004 or email to questions@allanwernick.com. Follow him on Twitter @awernick.