Help Anyone Please!!!

[Klame1983]

So, I have a friend that came to the US ewi from El Salvador. He was granted voluntary departure in 1999. Never left though. Then he married a USC. When TPS for El Salvador became available, he applied, go work permit. What happened to the outstanding order of removal since he was granted a work permit? He was later denied TPS, because he failed to get fingerprinted for renewal.

His wife submitted the I-130 recently, but I've heard that if the beneficiary has an outstanding order of removal, immigration will arrest him and deport him. Is this true? Oh, one big detail, the wife has breast cancer and is undergoing chemo. Please help. They're dear friends of mine and I would hate this to happen.

[angela256z]

I personally think the best thing for him to do is go back to El Salvador. i believe once the I-130 is approved the wife can then send in the waiver once an appointment is set. Because she has cancer she can request and expidite and hopfully be approved sooner than the 6 - 8 mon wait going on. She will also have to submit an I-212 with the waiver because of the deportation order.

I may be wrong on the I-212, but someone else will chime in.

[emt103c]

Like Angela said, he will not be allowed to stay and adjust status. He is going to have to go back eventually to process the forms. It is a possibility that he could be deported at the appointment, not necessarily though.

Since she is going through such a hard time, it might be better to put things off until she is well--meaning the appointment--however her sickness will make the I-601 more readily approveable since she obviously cannot get the same or continuous care for her cancer in El Salvador...but I would want my husband with me for that time in life. Their decision to make together.

[Klame1983]

I guess my biggest concern is not him going to El Salvador, but being detained during the I-130 process. Today at work, I heard about this man that had a prior order of deportation "in absentia". His wife submitted the I-130 for him a few months ago, then they were called in for an I-130 interview, and they detained him there due to the previous order of deportation.

Does anyone think this will happen to him? What are the odds of him being called in for an I-130 interview due to his vol. departure which he never obeyed. Again, remember he had TPS for some time, which was given to him after the vol. departure was given. Does this mean the order of deportation that was at one time pending against him is no longer valid? Did the TPS invalidate it?

If anyone has any more thoughts, drop them by! Thank you to emt103c and angela256z for contributing.

[Pinkpig]

I guess my biggest concern is not him going to El Salvador, but being detained during the I-130 process. Today at work, I heard about this man that had a prior order of deportation "in absentia". His wife submitted the I-130 for him a few months ago, then they were called in for an I-130 interview, and they detained him there due to the previous order of deportation.

Does anyone think this will happen to him? What are the odds of him being called in for an I-130 interview due to his vol. departure which he never obeyed. Again, remember he had TPS for some time, which was given to him after the vol. departure was given. Does this mean the order of deportation that was at one time pending against him is no longer valid? Did the TPS invalidate it?

If anyone has any more thoughts, drop them by! Thank you to emt103c and angela256z for contributing.

I do not know odds...but I would definitely NOT go to any interview with immigration before I consulted with a lawyer.

My best advice is to do a consult with Laurel Scott (it will be the best $100 they will ever spend) and put all of these facts on the table before they go to this interview. Depending upon the facts of their case he may be detained at this interview. That is the last thing that they need at this point.

Basically if he EWI'd he will have to return to his country to do consular filing after he has an approved I-130 or I-129f. It sounds like they have a pretty good chance with the Hardship waiver...but they need to verify all the facts BEFORE they show up at USCIS...

[angela256z]

I guess my biggest concern is not him going to El Salvador, but being detained during the I-130 process. Today at work, I heard about this man that had a prior order of deportation "in absentia". His wife submitted the I-130 for him a few months ago, then they were called in for an I-130 interview, and they detained him there due to the previous order of deportation.

Does anyone think this will happen to him? What are the odds of him being called in for an I-130 interview due to his vol. departure which he never obeyed. Again, remember he had TPS for some time, which was given to him after the vol. departure was given. Does this mean the order of deportation that was at one time pending against him is no longer valid? Did the TPS invalidate it?

If anyone has any more thoughts, drop them by! Thank you to emt103c and angela256z for contributing.

Don't go to the interview. Like PinkPig said you consult with Laurel. She also has a free chat on Wednesdays at www.visacenteral.net at 9am PST, but you would be better off calling or doing an email consult with her to get the full details. I wish your friend look and a get well soon.

[corazoncita]

I'm sorry I can't help you, but I just wanted to say that your friends will be in my thoughts and prayers...

I wouldn't go to the interview, either... those immigration officials are sneaky little boogers. I don't know if they even have hearts capable of caring for someone with cancer. Tell them to talk to an attorney!

[Paige]

Are you sure he ever really was granted TPS? I say this because my husband applied for TPS and his was pending for quite a while before they finally decided to deny it. In the meantime he was granted a work permit a couple of times. I am wondering if your friend's was just pending all that time. My hubby filled out renewal forms a couple of times while his was pending and he also was called for fingerprinting. I am surprised that your friend hasn't received a notice to appear because of the denial. That is what happened to my hubby. His TPS was denied, then awhile later he received the NTA which resulted in voluntary departure. In your friend's case, I would bet it would be likely he would just get deported without the opportunity for voluntary departure since he has the old order of deportation. I agree with the other folks that he ought to have a consultation with a qualified attorney to see what his best option would be. By the way, if you don't mind my asking, when did your friend first EWI and why was he given voluntary departure in 1999? Depending on a number of things, he might want to check into Cancellation of Removal. I am not too knowledgable about it, but I believe it is for people who have been here at least 10 years, had good character and paid taxes.

[Ginger]

I would say that there is always chance of the deportation. Most of the time it does not happening.
We went to the I-130 interview, I was 5 month after my visa expired, then we went 1 year from that ( we had no clue that I am out of status), no one in INS ever mentioned that to us. There was only one officer who said: ”Tell Thank you that we are letting you go”. We had no clue what they were talking about at that moment.

Mo point is that there is always chance of the deportation if he is illegal. I would say, submit I-130 paper, if they would ask him to come to the Interview, then he should leave and she come on the Interview by herself with the copy of his ticket ( so they would not deny I-130).

Good luck.

[angela256z]

That TPS gets me. I can't believe they would give you a work permit and not consider it TPS. I did the forms for my Ex's family (about 10 people) they were all granted TPS and has a TPS card. It amazes me that a work permit would be issued without TPS since that is the protection you need to be able to work.

By the way this is just me thinking outload. I am not disagree I just think they could have a better process with it.

[Paige]

angela, I am not sure either why they go ahead and give work permits while TPS is pending. It doesn't make sense, but I am sure glad they did for my hubby because with his work permit he was able to then get a SSN and a drivers license without too much trouble. After TPS was denied, he was still able to use his SSN and his drivers license. He renewed his license just before he left the US. I was worried they would ask to see proof of being here legally, but they didn't ask for anything.

[Paige]

Hey Klame, I was just reading some old posts and I thought of something. Your friend should have an alien registration number. There is an 800 number for immigration courts that your friend should be able to call and enter his alien number to find out if he has an order of deportation. It is all automated. I will try to find the number. I know I have it with all my immigration papers.

[djones9714]

Klame: I am with everyone else. I was advised by an attorney that if we are ever called in for an I-130 interview, DO NOT GO. They could arrest him. If you get the wrong person, your husband is doomed. You don't want to have to deal with deportation on top of everything else.

[Paige]

Here is the number for the courts 1-800-898-7180. With this number your friend should be able to find out if he has a deportation order.

[thernand]

On the work permit and TPS thing. The way it works is you file for TPS and the work permit at the same time. The first work permit is granted so that you can work while the processing is going on. If you haven't recieved a decission on the TPS by the time the work permit expires you file for a new one. They will grant it again if they are still not ready to make a decission. If you are later approved for TPS you get your TPS card but if you are denied they send you the denial and also a letter saying that your work permit has been revoked either by the date of the letter or the date on the work permit which ever comes later. (Yes later. I thought it was weird to years ago when my husband recieved his)

Now let me add something else. I have a friend down in Texas whose husband EWIed to get here however he was from a country that TPS was offered too. He got the TPS then there was a family emergency and he applied for the travel thing (can't remember what it is called). It was granted and he got to go home legally and return to the US legally through a prot of entry with the travel thing. When they got to the part about the waiver and all that. They got around him haveing to do all that because he had the legal entry after the EWI. If anyone is in this situation I would talk to a good lawyer. They got to bypass everything and go straight to the green card.
thernand

[sunnysol]

Sorry to hear about this situation. If the wife filed the I-130 and is called for an interview, he does not have to go to the interview in order to get approved for the I-130. In our situation, we were called for an I-130 interview. I was 8 months pregnant at the time (July 2005) and our attorney advised that my husband should not attend the interview--just say that he was unable to attend. At that point, he had been arrested and released on his own recognizance 2 years prior to the interview and had to report once a month. Our attorney came with me to the interview, the immigration officer was very rude, hostile and angry at my attorney because my husband did not show. However, the evidence that our marriage is real was overwhelming--I left the interview crying and feeling like I had made a huge mistake by not having him come with us--a year later after no reply, I began writing the immigration officer and her boss, explaining the situation and reinforcing the fact that we had a real marriage--and that they were welcome to do a home visit. 6 months after writing, we were approved. We live in Cleveland, OH and it is a very conservative office. This is a tough situation, however, I just thought I'd share our experience. Best of luck!