Legal Services
We are proud to offer quality representation, outstanding service, and trusted counsel to individuals facing a variety of immigration concerns. Regardless of the issue you may be confronted with, we are dedicated to helping you reach your immigration goals, and can be trusted to guide you through the process and ensure you that any roadblocks you may encounter do not prevent you from achieving your goals.
Fiance Visas
K-1 visas permit U.S. citizens to bring their foreign fiancés into the United States in order to marry. Under a K-1 visa, your foreign fiancé is allowed to reside and work in the United States.Once your fiancé enters the U.S., you and your fiancé have 90 days to marry. Once married, your new spouse can apply to adjust their status to become a lawful permanent resident of the United States.
In order to obtain a K-1 visa, certain requirements must be met, such as:
The petitioner must be a U.S. citizen
Both you and your foreign fiancé are free to get legally married
You met your fiancé within the past two years
Both you and your fiancé have intentions to marry within 90 days of your fiancé’s arrival in the U.S.
You meet the minimum income/financial requirement
Your fiancé does not meet any criteria that render him/her inadmissible to the U.S.
K-2 visas are available for your fiancé’s children who are under the age of 21 and not married.
The K-1 fiancé visa is available to same- sex couples. It is perfect for those who are unable to marry because same-sex marriage is not legal in their country of origin.
Family Based Green Cards
If you are a citizen or lawful permanent resident and are hoping to bring family members to this country to live, you will first have to file an alien relative petition on their behalf with USCIS. Once this has been approved, and your loved one has a visa number available, he or she can complete the process of obtaining a green card either through consular processing or adjustment of status.
The US government supplies an unlimited number of immigrant visas for this category. A visa number would always be available for any member of this group once the petition is approved. This category includes:
This type of visa is limited, with a specific quota set for each of the four categories. The key difference between immediate relative visas and family preference visas is that there is a limit to the visas available in the latter group, and there may be a wait of several years for a visa number to become available. The qualifying relationships in this category include:
The Supreme Court of the United States in U.S. v. Windsor struck down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which now means that same-sex marriages and spouses are recognized as lawful under the Immigration and Nationality Act if the marriage is valid under the laws of the state where it was celebrated. Matter of Zeleniak, 26 I&N Dec. 158 (BIA 2013). Spouses of same-sex marriages that are valid in states where the marriage was celebrated are now eligible for family-based green cards.
Once the foreign national seeking to obtain a green is the beneficiary of an approved petition, and a visa number is immediately available to him or her, there are two ways to apply for a green card: consular processing and adjustment of status. If the applicant resides outside of the US, or if the applicant resides in the US but is ineligible for adjustment of status, he or she must apply at a US consulate abroad. The foreign national submits the necessary paperwork, and attends any required interviews, at the US consulate in their country of origin. The result of a successful case of consular processing is that the foreign national is granted an immigrant visa, which enables him or her to lawfully enter and remain in the US as a permanent resident. The person's green card will then be mailed to his or her new home address in the US within a few weeks of his entry.
Adjustment of status is a procedure that allows an eligible foreign national to obtain a green card in the US without having to return to his or her home country to apply for an immigrant visa at the US consulate. Instead, he or she is permitted to remain in the US, and apply for work authorization while the green card application is pending. He or she may even be able to obtain a travel document to travel abroad while awaiting a decision on his or her green card application. One cannot just choose to adjust status in the US. The foreign national must be eligible under Section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Generally, the applicant must have entered the US lawfully, after inspection by immigration agents, and be in valid visa status at the time he or she applies for adjustment. One major exception regarding overstays applies to the immediate relatives (spouse, minor children, parents) of US citizens. As long as they were admitted to the US, whether with a visa or an advance parole travel document, they may apply for a green card through adjustment of status, even if their lawful status expired.
Immigrants who obtain a green card based on a marriage that was less than two years old at the time of the petition, are granted conditional resident status, and receive a green card that is valid for only two years. In order to remain a lawful permanent resident beyond this two-year window, the immigrant must file a petition to remove the conditions on during the 90-day period before the conditional permanent resident status expires. Failure to properly and timely file a petition to remove conditions can result in the immigrant being placed in deportation proceedings.
Citizenship
Lawful permanent residents (green card holders) must meet a number of requirements in order to obtain US citizenship. The requirements are as follows:
There are a few exemptions available for the English and civics requirements listed above. An individual can be exempt from the English language requirements (but still required to take the civics test) if they are age 50 or older at the time of application and have lived as a green card holder for 20 years, or if they are age 55 or older at the time of application and have lived as a green card holder for 15 years. For the civics section of the test, an individual may be exempt if they are unable to comply with the requirements due to a physical or developmental disability, or a mental impairment.
Green card holders who are married to a US citizen can apply for naturalization under different eligibility requirements. These include having been a permanent resident for at least three years, married to the same US citizen spouse during that time, and other residency and physical presence requirements.
The US government values the selfless commitment of foreign nationals who serve our country in the armed forces. As such, members of the military, as well as their spouses and children, may be eligible for citizenship through an expedited process. This form of naturalization may also be conducted through overseas processing, if necessary.
Foreign citizens may also obtain citizenship through their parents through two distinct pathways, one at birth and one after birth but before the age of 18. The requirements for a child to derive citizenship from a parent have changed several times since the law was enacted so eligibility is dependent on the applicable law at the time of the child’s date of birth.
Crimmigration
"Crimmigration" involves the intersection of immigration and criminal law, and and it is one of our specialties here at YNGELMO LAW. A criminal conviction can destroy an immigration application at any phase – getting a green card, renewing a green card, becoming a citizen, or fighting deportation. Some convictions, known as aggravated felonies, lead to almost automatic deportation. Even smaller convictions for crimes like shoplifting and drunk driving can affect an individual's immigration status.
Many non-citizens plead guilty to crimes to stay out of jail without realizing that their conviction can make them ineligible for immigration benefits, or can get them deported. Most criminal defense lawyers have no knowledge of how a criminal conviction can impact a non-citizen’s status in the US. If a non-citizen is facing criminal charges, they need an immigration lawyer to explain the potential immigration consequence of any possible plea agreement. In crimmigration matters, it is wise to resolve the criminal charges first, because the result of that case will determine whether you face removal or become ineligible for immigration benefits. We regularly work with criminal defense attorneys in crafting plea agreements that will not carry, or will minimize, negative immigration consequences.
