Legal Question in Immigration Law in California

domestic violence and illegal alien

I have been married for 9 years. 12 years ago I came to the US illegally. I am a mexican citizen. i have a 8 year old daughter with my husband. My husband is white and a US citizen. He has been violent and has been arrested for domestic violence. I filed for divorce and have a court hearing. I do not have any paperwork filed for my green card because I came into this country illegally so even though I am married, I cannot get a card since the situation from 9/11. My husband was arrested again on friday, he is currently in jail and a judge granted me full custody of our daughter with a restraining order on him until Dec 23rd which is our court hearing. I heard that I can get a green card through a violence against women act. How can I apply for amnesty so they cannot deport me?


Asked on 12/08/08, 1:49 pm

4 Answers from Attorneys
Rebecca White Law Office of Rebecca White

Re: domestic violence and illegal alien

You will need to file form I-360 with the immigration service. You can get the form from www.usis.gov. If you do not have money to hire an attorney, you may be able to find legal aid attorneys that can help you for free. You can try www.aila.org for a possible listing of attorneys as well. I do handle domestic violence cases as well, if you would like to contact my office for assistance in putting your application together. Good luck with this, and congratulations on getting yourself out of a bad situation!

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Answered on 12/08/08, 2:08 pm
Alice Yardum-Hunter Alice M. Yardum-Hunter, a Law Corp.

Re: domestic violence and illegal alien

An application for permanent residence, not amnesty is filed directly with the Citizenship and Immigration Services. Please contact me offline directly and visit me at my website to check me out at [email protected] and http://www.yardum-hunter.com.

Sincerely,

Alice M. Yardum-Hunter, Attorney at Law, Certified Specialist, Immigration & Nationality Law, State Bar of CA, Bd. of Legal Specialization

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Answered on 12/08/08, 6:58 pm
Amy Ghosh Law Offices of Amy Ghosh

Re: domestic violence and illegal alien

It is not called amnesty. You have to self petition under VAWA. If you need any help you can contact me directly. www.amyghosh.com

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Answered on 12/08/08, 7:29 pm
Marc Seguinot Seguinot & Associates, P.C.

Re: domestic violence and illegal alien

You should be able to find a good immigration lawyer in California, or a service that helps noncitizens like yourself who are victims of domestic violence. You may be able to petition for yourself with an I-360 as long as you have sufficient evidence to show you have suffered domestic violence. Talk with a good lawyer. Feel free to communicate with me offline at [email protected], or via website www.seglegal.com. If you need to locate a lawyer, try www.aila.org to search for one in your area. Good luck!

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Answered on 12/08/08, 8:27 pm


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