Legal Question in Immigration Law in California

Re: Asylum vs. marraige

That is the procedure which you need to follow. Good luck.

Re: Asylum vs. marraige

You need to file a petition for him first with the INS and not the court. The INS is taking about eight months to more than a year to approve this kind of spousal petition. The problem is that at your boyfriend's court hearing, if the petition was only recently filed, the immigration judge may not be willing to continue the proceedings until the INS approves the petition. In that case, it's best to proceed with the asylum case and if he loses, he can appeal (assuming it's not a frivolous case) and wait for the petition to be approved. If the asylum claim is dismissed too soon and your boyfriend doesn't qualify for any other kind of relief (except for voluntary departure), then he would have to leave the country or be deported.

Liem Doan, Esq.