Legal Question in Immigration Law in California

Dear Inquirer:

If your father naturalizes before you reach the age of 21, this would "lock in" your age as an immediate relative for the purposes of the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA). As an immediate relative, you would be eligible to adjust status in the US despite your lapse of status. If you depart the US and you have overstayed by more than 6 months, you would be barred from returning to the US for three years; and 10 years if the period of unlawful stay was 1 year or more.

I recommend that you call us at 626-585-8005 or visit www.hanlonlawgroup.com if you would like to schedule an appointment for a confidential consultation to discuss this matter further.

Regards,

Mr. Hanlon is correct. If CSPA doesn't help you then you'll have to go back to your father's case and if you were a derivative of his case there might be the possibility that you could qualify under section 245(i) and adjust status that way. I'd do the same analysis through your mother.

If not, then another choice might be marriage to a U.S. citizen in a real marriage. That relationship is also considered "immediate relative", which forgives overstays for purposes of adjustment of status to permanent residence.

Depending on the country you're from, you might qualify for asylum but would have to show exceptional circumstances that prevented you from applying within the first year you were here. It is not likely that you can show this.

Beyond that, relief might only be available in removal proceedings, but since such is risky as you would be forced to depart the U.S. as a result in the event you lost the case. It is not undertaken lightly by most competent counsel and I would also avoid it only not in the very rarest of circumstances. In those rare circumstances relief in proceedings is possible.

There are a couple of other avenues of exploration as well, but the above are the predominant ones.

The above is for information and not to be acted on. It is not legal advice nor does it create an attorney client relationship. For further information write to me at [email protected] or call 818 609 1953.

Sincerely,

Alice Yardum-Hunter, Attorney at Law, Certified Specialist, Immigration & Nationality Law

State Bar of CA, Bd. of Legal Specialization

Hello:

First things first. Get your father to naturalize and I would try to get it expedited so that you would fall under the CSPA and get your age locked in. I have found in the past that it is possible to get USCIS to expedite cases to preserve these types of issues.