Family Sponsored Immigration

Steven H. Mevorah & Associates has successfully obtained immigration status for family members of both United States Citizens (USCs) and Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs).  A lawful permanent resident is a foreign national who has been granted the privilege of permanently living and working in the United States.

The immigration process can be complex - Steven H. Mevorah & Associates is there to take you through each step and work with you to obtain status for your loved one.  We have helped USCs and LPRs with spouses or other family members from Mexico, Philippines, Iran, Canada, Great Britain, China, Russia, Iraq, just to name a few.

We take a hands-on approach to assisting our immigration clients.  While some firms or agencies just “fill out the papers” we do much more than that.  Our attorneys sit down with each of our clients through each step of their case to answer questions, avoid potential problems, and prevent delays.  Our attorneys regularly update their knowledge of immigration law so that our clients can benefit from experienced and informed attorneys.   Our attorneys attend interviews with our clients, following the petition and application through to the end.

There are various means by which a USC or an LPR can petition for his or her relative.

A United States Citizen may petition for the following foreign national relatives to immigrate to the U.S.:

• husband or wife
• child 
• brother or sister, if the sponsor is at least 21 years old
• parent, if the sponsor is at least 21 years old

A Legal Permanent Resident may petition for the following foreign national relatives to immigrate to the U.S.:

• husband or wife
• unmarried son or daughter of any age

Before the relative can immigrate to the U.S., he or she must first obtain an immigrant visa.  The time it takes for a visa to become available to that relative depends upon various factors.  Spouses, parents and unmarried children who are under the age of 21 of a USC will have a visa immediately available to them.  Immediate relatives who do not fall into any of these categories will receive immigrant visas under the following preference categories:

K-3 Spouse & K-1 Fiancé(e) Visas

K-3 Visa

A U.S. citizen may also petition to have his or her spouse enter the U.S. and await the availability of his or her immigrant visa through a K-3 visa.  In order to qualify for a K-3 visa, the foreign national spouse must:

1. be living outside the U.S.;
2. seek to enter into the U.S. to await an immigrant visa;
3. be the beneficiary of a pending petition for alien relative (I-130).  

There are several advantages to the K-3 visa.  Obtaining such a visa allows the foreign national spouse to wait for his or her immigrant visa in the U.S. with his or her family instead of waiting for the immigrant visa outside of the U.S.  The processing time for a K-3 visa is also much shorter than the wait time for an immigrant visa.  Finally, foreign nationals who enter the United States in K-3 status may be eligible to obtain employment while awaiting his or her immigrant visa. 

K-1 Visa

The K-1 visa, also known as a fiancé visa, is designed to allow the fiancé(e) of a U.S. citizen to come to the United States to marry his or her fiancé(e).  In order to qualify for a K-1 visa, the foreign national fiancé(e) must:

1. intend to marry a U.S. citizen;
2. have met his or her intended spouse in person within the last two years (certain exceptions exist); and
3. be legally able to marry.

The obvious advantage of obtaining a K-1 visa is that the foreign national fiancé(e) will be allowed to come to the U.S. for the purpose of marrying the U.S. citizen.  Moreover, unmarried children under the age of 21 can accompany the foreign national fiancé(e).

CONDITIONAL RESIDENCE

There are certain issues that a foreign national and his or her spouse must understand while going through the application process. For example, an immigrant who has been married for less than two years to his or her spouse at the time residence status is conferred is granted what is known as Conditional Residence Status, rather than Permanent Residence Status.  A conditional resident enjoys the same privileges as a permanent resident; however, at the end of the two year period from the date conditional residence status is conferred, the conditional resident and his or her spouse must file a joint petition to remove the condition.  This petition must be filed 90 days or less before the expiration of the two-year conditional period, thus timing is very important.  At Mevorah & Associates, we have helped numerous clients through hurdles such as removing the conditions of residence status.  We help you understand the process, we help you assemble a petition that is complete and complies with the government’s requirements, and we follow through to the completion of your petition.

Waiver of the Joint Petition

There are a lot of situations that may arise in the two years following the date that residence status is conferred.  Sometimes marriages don’t work out and they end up in divorce.  Sometimes the U.S. citizen spouse dies or refuses to cooperate in filing the petition.  However, a conditional resident may still be able to remove the conditions to his or her resident status without their spouse’s cooperation.  At Mevorah & Associates, we have helped our clients remove the conditions to their residence status without the help of the uncooperative or former spouse.  The government scrutinizes these types of waivers closely to ensure that the immigration requirements are not being evaded fraudulently, so it is very important that you have an experienced attorney guide you through this process.    
        
In order to qualify for this waiver, the conditional resident must show that:

1. the marriage was entered into in good faith but the marriage was terminated;
2. the marriage was entered into in good faith and deportation would cause extreme hardship to the conditional resident; or
3. the marriage was entered into in good faith, but the conditional resident was battered or subjected to extreme cruelty by the U.S. citizen spouse.