Illegal, Legal, Immigrating...

It has been a very interesting few days. I worked with an intelligent young man who entered the U.S. legally, made a series of errors, and ended up illegal. Sometimes when good people make bad decisions, there is no way to go back and fix the mistakes that are made. In those cases, sometimes non-immigrants have to depart the U.S. to sacrifice in the short-run but correct their errors in the long run. In today's immigration climate, errors are not easy to fix from inside the U.S. because there are no guaranteed remedies for even pretty mild mistakes. In many cases, departure is the only option for getting a legal status but departure does carry risks. I try to explain to people how the laws work and what the likely scenarios are so that they can make their own choices. It's not easy, for them or for me!


On the other hand, I worked with a very young couple who fell in love while the American was doing study abroad in her fiance's country. They were doing all the right things to become fully informed before taking the steps for further travel, study and marriage. Although they were very young, I was impressed with their intelligence in approaching the process of permanent residence through marriage and understanding any risks, the whole process, the procedures and the cost. I feel confident that their story will end happily.

The next couple I worked with had a very tough story. They came to the U.S. using an F-1 and F-2 visa and if they had stayed with those visas, all would have been well. Unfortunately, the wife decided to switch to an F-1 to go to school full-time. This is risky because A. it can be denied on the basis of intention at time of entry and B. if it is not approved by the time the semester starts, the F-2 cannot start classes. Yet if it is approved after the semester starts, it is too late to start classes and yet an F-1 must be full-time enrolled. It is nearly impossible to time a change to F-1 status so that it works smoothly. This was her case. By the time the F-1 was approved, it was too late to start class and then, she became pregnant and could not study. Time passed, the child was born, the couple transferred to another university, and she fell out of status. At this time, they have two American children, a husband who is in legal F-1 status, and a wife who is illegal because she has had an F-1 status for almost two years but has not been able to go to school, due to pregnancies and difficult births. Only an F-2 status would have allowed her to live and stay in the U.S. while tending her husband and children. Even though her children are American, she does not have the right to be here with an F-1 unless she is studying. It is too late to ask for an F-2 because she has been out of status for more than 5 months. It was a sad, messy situation which probably could have been avoided if they had sought good guidance very early on. In fact, most situations that are negative can be avoided by thinking ahead (as the young couple did) and asking for advice from a qualified expert before making any decisions that are likely to affect your future.

Finally, my appointment today was much happier. A professor who could qualify to apply for permanent residence through the "Outstanding Professor/Researcher" immigrant category, which has no priority date and no wait to immigrate, as long as one qualifies (other than the wait due to the backlog in processing, of course, which is currently 9 months). To qualify for this type of immigration, a person must be a professor or researcher for at least 3 years, have a "permanent job offer" at a university or private research lab, and have enough evidence to prove the "outstanding" nature of their work. For a PhD who is 5 years or more into their career as a researcher or professor, it is a viable and relatively easy option for gaining permanent residence. I gave the professor information on what forms and evidence he would need, the procedures and cost. I am very pleased that he is likely to succeed and his story will be a good one.