Immig history likely to doom petition for visitor’s visa
Ireturned to my home in Brazil in 2009 after border agents took my passport and gave me a notice to appear in immigration court. Now I live in England. How can I get a visa to travel to the United States? Does the law give me a way to apply for forgiveness?
Geraldo Pacheco, London Because of the passage of time, you may qualify for a visa without needing to apply for forgiveness. A more serious problem is meeting the basic qualification for a visa. Because of your immigration history, I doubt a U.S. consul will grant you a visitor’s visa. For that visa, you must prove you intend to leave when your stay is over.
With your history, a consul won’t believe you intend to only visit. If you have the equivalent of a U.S. college degree, you might qualify for an H-1B temporary professional worker visa. If you marry a
U.S. citizen, you might qualify for an immigrant visa. Your first step should be to get your immigration records by filing a Freedom of Immigration Act request. Learn more about FOIA at justice.gov/eoir/ freedom-information-act-foia.
What is the path to U.S. citizenship for an undocumented person in the United States who marries a U.S. citizen?
Margaret, Manhattan A. The first step is to apply for permanent residence — for a green card. Your spouse would petition for you. From there, the process depends on how you entered the United States. If a Customs and Border Protect officer admitted you to the United States, usually you can interview for your green card in the U.S. If you entered illegally, you will need to return home for an immigrant visa interview.
Once you become a permanent resident, if you stay with your U.S. citizen spouse for three years you qualify for U.S. citizenship. If you and your spouse separate or divorce, you qualify for citizenship in five years.
Allan Wernick is an attorney and director of the City University of New York’s Citizenship Now! project. Send questions and comments to questions@allanwernick.com. Follow him on Twitter @awernick.