Ins, outs of childhood arrival OK

Q : I have temporary status through Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. If I marry a U.S. citizen, can I get a green card without first traveling abroad? I am a student at the City University of New York. Relatives sneaked me into the United States at age 3. A lawyer told me that to get a green card, I need to first to get U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to grant me advance parole so I can travel abroad and make a lawful entry.

Name withheld, New York

A The lawyer gave you good advice. To interview in the United States based on marriage to a U.S. citizen, most green card applicants must have been “inspected and admitted or paroled.” Though you were only 3, the law considers you to have “entered without inspection.”

Now that you have DACA status, you can correct that prior unlawful entry by traveling outside the United States with advance parole. If you marry a U.S. citizen, USCIS will forgive your prior unlawful entry and time living here illegally.

To get advance parole, you must show you are traveling for an educational purpose (such as a study abroad or exchange program), a business purpose (such as attending a conference or being sent abroad by your employer), or a humanitarian purpose (such as attending funeral services for a family member, paying one’s respects to a deceased family member’s grave, or visiting an ailing relative).

Q : Will a conviction for sexual assault of a minor keep a person from petitioning for a green card for a spouse? I have a longtime boyfriend in the United States. He served three years in prison for sexual assault on a minor, but he’s out now.

Melanie, the Philippines

A. The Adam Walsh Act, enacted in 2006, generally bars a permanent resident or U.S. citizen who has been convicted of certain acts against a minor, including sexual assault, from petitioning for a relative or spouse. USCIS can waive the bar if the petitioner can prove he or she is not a danger to the petitioned relative. The bar applies to crimes where the victim is under 18. Crimes covered by the act include any conduct “that by its nature is a sex offense against a minor.”

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, 4 New York Plaza, New York, NY 10004 or email to questions@allanwernick.com. Follow him on Twitter @awernick.