Legal Question in Immigration Law in New Jersey

illegal and desperate

hi i am 25 years old tomorrow. I came to the U.S at the age of 7 on as a visitor and have been here ever since. my mother is a permanent resident who became so by marrying U.S citizen who she paid. he did not properly fill out the form where he was suppose to adopt me and thus include me in my mothers naturalization. the i.n.s at the time in 2000 sent a 90 day pass to be brought to there offices with i130/485 with receipts of the money orders used to pay for these were cashed. my mother never went. she lost track of the guy and is now getting a divorce after about 9 years. On the flip side my father is a citizen and has been so before i turned 18. i do not speak to my father because of his long time abuse of my mother. i went to highschool here and i currently work illegally for 5 years now but always file taxes.

ive read through 60 pages and have discovered that i am not eligible for n600 because i am not already a green card holder. i am from sierra leone.

is my only recourse now to marry for a greencard. ive never wanted to do this as for me marriage is sacred. also to add more complexity to my situation the birthdate on my documents when i came here are incorrect it has 1986 when it should be 1983.

what can i do?


Asked on 7/10/08, 1:13 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Marc Seguinot Seguinot & Associates, P.C.

Re: illegal and desperate

It sounds as if you have a confusing set of facts here. First of all, you need to contact an immigration lawyer to see if there is any possibility that you derived citizenship from your father, whether or not you speak to him. Under no circumstances should you consider marrying for documents, okay. It will not help you. If you end up in removal proceedings, since you have been in the U.S. so long and, presuming you have no criminal convictions, you may be able to request cancellation of removal and use your mother as a qualifying relative for hardship purposes. The best thing, however, is to contact a good immigration lawyer, go over the facts with him or her. Then see what the possible resolutions are. Good luck.

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Answered on 7/10/08, 9:28 pm


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