Legal Question in Immigration Law in Washington

It depends on how the "illegal" immigrant entered the U.S. -- whether through the border without inspection or on a valid visa and overstayed.

I suggest contacting me for a free consultation to determine the best option;

http://www.msclaw.com/Consultation_Request.html

U.S. Immigration Attorney | International Marriage Lawyer

Regards,

Michael S. Cho

Attorney & Counselor at Law

10940 Wilshire Boulevard, 16th Floor

Los Angeles, California 90024

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Internet: http://www.msclaw.com

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San Diego Office

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To check processing times or the status of a particular immigration case, go to: https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/jsps/index.jsp

Foreign nationals must report address changes to CIS on form AR-11. To access the form go to: https://egov.uscis.gov/crisgwi/go?action=coa

You can file electronically at: https://egov.uscis.gov/crisgwi/go?action=coa

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You need to file a petition (form I-130) and several related documents to sponsor her for legal permanent resident card. If she entered the US by going through a port of entry (in other words, she entered with inspection) then you can also file to adjust her status (form I-485 and related documents and forms) at the same time. 6-9 months later you will be scheduled for an interview at a USCIS office and after that, assuming there are no issues, she will get a legal permanent resident card (a/k/a/ a "green card").

If she did not enter the US with inspection, meaning she snuck in somehow, then at some point she will need to return to her home country for processing there. Depending on how long she has been in the US, she is subject to certain bars of inadmissibility for various lengths of time. It is possible to seek a waiver of those bars to admissibility and get her back here. If this is her situation, then I'd estimate 6-12 months that she will need to wait outside the US.

Note, if she has to apply for a waiver to be admissible, there are no guarantees that it will be granted, which can result in a wait of several years before she would be allowed to return to the US. No matter what, I suggest you seek an immigration attorney to help you. I am happy to help, so feel free to contact me anytime at 206-223-9510.

Best of luck!