Dad likely to get his card

QI am a U.S. citizen. My fiancé came here nine years ago by sneaking across the Mexican border. Can he get his green card? We have two U.S.-born children, ages 7 and 8. He is working and files his taxes. We plan to marry this spring. Kingsport, Tenn.

AYour husband-to-be can get his green card, but he will need to return to Mexico for the last step in the process, his immigrant visa interview. Because of an Obama administration program begun in 2012, that shouldn’t be a problem.

Many undocumented immigrants are afraid to travel home for their immigrant visa interview. That’s understandable. If an undocumented immigrant leaves the United States after having been here unlawfully for more than 180 days but less than a year, he or she is barred from returning for three years. For those who have been in the U.S. for a year or more, the ban on returning increases to 10 years. The law provides for a waiver of the ban, but only if the immigrant can prove that not being allowed to return to the U.S. would cause “extreme hardship” to a U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse or parent. Usually, immigrant visa applicants at U.S. consulates in their home countries can’t apply for the waiver until their final visa interview.

Now, the Obama “stateside processing” program allows immigrant visa applicants to apply for the waiver while in the U.S.

Once you marry, petition for your fiancé to get a green card. After immigration approves the petition, he can apply for the waiver. If immigration approves the waiver, he need not worry about not being allowed to return to the U.S. because of the unlawful presence bar after he goes to Mexico for his interview. If immigration denies the waiver and he stays in the U.S., he is no worse off than if he never tried to get a green card.

With his two U.S.-citizen children and a solid work history, your fiancé has a good chance of getting the waiver.