Marrying Citizen/brought here as minor

[Pusher]

hello i am new to this forum and haven't found much helpful information on my situation. moderators please remove my thread and accept my apologies if i am posting in the wrong section.

I was brought here by my mother when i was 8 years old and just recently found out that i have been here illegaly the entire time. i am now 20 years old and since i live in NYC never needed a drivers license but since i applied for a job in Westchester county i now need to drive in order to take the job so i asked my mother for my documentation since here a social security card is required to acquire a drivers license. That's when she sat me down and told me that i am undocumented. all my life i thought my status had been adjusted when i was just a little boy and since i've been in school this entire time i never needed any of my documents for anything. I also want to marry my fiance of 2 years and had it all planned out but now i need to know what i should do in order to become a legal resident. I barely understand spanish and don't remember much about my country (dominican republic). If i was to go back i don't know what will become of me. i have no family there other than my grandparents (one of which died 2 months ago) and are not well-established at all and are kept alive by the money we send from here. Can someone give me some advice and some hope as to what can be done to become legal without having to leave the only country i can call home? thank you in advance for your responses.


EDIT: i was brought here without inspection.

[Laura]

Wow, well, you will have to marry in order to get your legal residency most likely.

Did you enter without inspection or with a visa? Is there documentation of your legal entry if it was legal?

[Pusher]

entered without inspection.

[Chapital]

Pusher...welcome. What a situation to be in. I think a key question is how you entered initially. Did you come on some type of visa that expired or did you enter illegally (EWI). That will greatly impact the path you must take for legalization. There is a great deal of helpful information here. Start reading. You can start the process as the fiance of a USC and actually that process is a bit faster than the spouse route.

[Pusher]

hello chapital, i entered without inspection.

[Chapital]

hi pusher...read every link in Laura's signature...and then start asking questions!

[Laura]

Okay, entry without inspection is more complicated. That means you will eventually have to return to the DR and interview there for your visa, unless you were petitioned by a relative before 2001 and can qualify under 245i. Assuming that's not the case though, your fiance/wife will need to file a waiver for your unlawful presence. I don't know too much about the Santo Domingo Consulate, but generally Latin American consulates are more lenient on hardship. The fact that you have been in the U.S. your whole life will be a benefit.

Read the guides in my signature though which will explain the basic process.

I'm sorry you were misled all these years. I can't imagine that...

[Pusher]

Thank you Laura. I read all the info on your signatures and quite honestly i don't know what to do. If I have to go back for more than a few weeks the hardship factor will apply since i only have a limited amount of money worth of savings. my mother is ready to retire and i can't really depend on anyone supporting me economically once i run out of my own money. the worst part is i won't have a place to stay there. that's why i am trying to see if there's a way of adjusting my status without leaving. later on today i will go see a lawyer and gather all the information i can about a case like mine and of course ill share it all with everyone here. I don't know a thing about the consulate of my country either so i'm pretty much wondering about it as much as you are. anyways thanks for your replies

[Chapital]

Would cancellation of removal apply here? Have you been in the US for 10 years ( I assume yes if you are 20 now) and have NO criminal issues? I know that each area is a bit different on what qualifies you for this, and you'd want to get a great attny who specializes in cancellation of removal, and that might cost as much as living outside the US for several months.

[Laura]

Cancellation of removal is an option, but he would have to marry and then prove that his spouse would suffer extremely unusual and exceptional hardship in order to qualify. It's really hard to get cancellation approved. I heard it has a 10% approval rate. This method involves basically initiating deportation proceedings on yourself as well, so if you are denied, you will be detained and deported, which is a crappy way to leave the country. If that happened you'd have to go for the waiver anyway with the added complication of needing a waiver for deportation.

The waiver process is more of a sure thing, but you would have to be in DR for more than a few weeks. Also, the hardships have to be to your USC fiance/spouse, not to you. Unless your parents are USCs - then you could use both the fiance/spouse and parents as qualifying relatives for hardship.

I would strongly suggest you consult with either Laurel Scott (http://visacentral.net) or Heather Poole (http://humanrightsattorney.com). They are familiar with EWI cases and will be able to offer you an honest picture of what you are up against.

[Auntlily]

:ditto: to what Laura says. I've just read through all of your messages and Laura has the best advice in her signature links. I also agree to talk to Laurel Scott or another atty who is well versed in your type of case. Laurel Scott with preference though...:shy:

[Pusher]

Ok i went to a lawyer who has taken over 100 cases of spouses petitioning for the legalization of their significant other who entered without inspection and he gave me a lot of hope now i hope some of you can review it. he says that all i have to do is pay a 1000 fee for staying here illegaly and that most penalties don't apply to me since i didn't violate any visas or anything of that sort. he claims that because i have NO criminal record whatsoever that that's also a plus, he also says that all the proof i have of my school records and all my family pictures taken here in the USA since my time of entry in 1995 should serve as sufficient proof that the only family i have is in this country and that sending me to unfamiliar lands will mean extreme suffering for me especially since i can barely understand my native language. he highlited parts of the i-485 for which refer to section 245(i) but this is where i doubt his word since to my understanding section 245(i) no longer protects people who entered illegaly unless they were petitioned for during a certain time-span. can anyone who has seen similar cases tell me if he's being bogus or if somehow this act still applies? i'm so confused with it all but i will see atleast 2 more lawyers before doing this. I understand this requires marriage but like i said before i was just about to marry my fiance of 2 years but halted due to the discovery of my status. thank you in advance for your replies

FORMS THE LAWYER SAID TO SUBMIT (different time-frames)

-i485

-i-130

-i-765

-G325A

[Bostonbabe]

Hummm....Thats sounds a little fishy. The only way you can be 245i elegible is if there is a petition filed on your behalf before april 2001. That's it. There's no way around it. Consult other lawyers and see what they have to tell you. But just from all the research I have done on my case (you and I have a very similar case) I can tell you that he is not being totally upfront about the consequences. Good luck!

[Laura]

Ok i went to a lawyer who has taken over 100 cases of spouses petitioning for the legalization of their significant other who entered without inspection and he gave me a lot of hope now i hope some of you can review it. he says that all i have to do is pay a 1000 fee for staying here illegaly and that most penalties don't apply to me since i didn't violate any visas or anything of that sort. he claims that because i have NO criminal record whatsoever that that's also a plus, he also says that all the proof i have of my school records and all my family pictures taken here in the USA since my time of entry in 1995 should serve as sufficient proof that the only family i have is in this country and that sending me to unfamiliar lands will mean extreme suffering for me especially since i can barely understand my native language. he highlited parts of the i-485 for which refer to section 245(i) but this is where i doubt his word since to my understanding section 245(i) no longer protects people who entered illegaly unless they were petitioned for during a certain time-span. can anyone who has seen similar cases tell me if he's being bogus or if somehow this act still applies? i'm so confused with it all but i will see atleast 2 more lawyers before doing this. I understand this requires marriage but like i said before i was just about to marry my fiance of 2 years but halted due to the discovery of my status. thank you in advance for your replies

FORMS THE LAWYER SAID TO SUBMIT (different time-frames)

-i485

-i-130

-i-765

-G325A

Has anyone petitioned for you before 2001? Do you have USC relatives even? That is the only way you can use 245i. Did this attorney not confirm that you had an old petition filed? Seriously, some attorneys are SHADY. If you don't have a petition filed for your before April 30, 2001, you can't adjust under 245i, you have to consular process. Now, if someone did petition for you years ago, even if the visa number hasn't become available yet, you can use that and do what he said, but otherwise....

[Pusher]

the only petition filed for me was in 2003 by my mother who is a permanent legal alien but not a USC. I will see another lawyer next week and ask for a second opinion. This particular lawyer claims that since i have all my school records from age 5 till today and i have tons of pictures in the USA with my family that that should be enough proof for a judge not to deny my adjustment of status request. Anyone have any idea if this might work? my only fear is leaving for good but the lawyer said that if the adjustment of status while remaining here is denied that i'll only be sent away until the process finishes since i will be HONESTLY married to a USC. do any of you know of any lawyers i can email with my case for their suggestions? that would be greatly appreciated

[Laura]

Those are two different things then. He is suggesting you go for a cancellation of removal, because your adjustment would be denied (based on illegal entry), but you could attempt a cancellation of removal because you have been here longer than ten years.

However, your school records are irrelevant. Because in order to get cancellation (the thing I mentioned above with 10% approval rate) you would have to prove exceptional and extremely unusual hardship to a USC spouse, parent or child. They judge is not going to approve a cancellation based on you being a hardworking yet undocumented student. Otherwise all the so-called Dream Acts kids could go that route.

I think you should consult with Laurel Scott, visacentral.net, you can do an email consult for $125 I think but I would suggest the $150 for a phone consult. Lots of people here have used Laurel and she'll be very straight with you.

[emt103c]

Seriously, contact Laurel Scott or Heather Poole, they either have free or inexpensive consultations and are much more experienced than most of the attorneys you will find locally. Even if you don't want to hire them, reap the benefits of their knowledge. Most of us do at one point or another.