I have a friend who has a dire immigration problem. He, a US citizen, married and relocated his wife and her daughter from China to the US. The INS is going to deport her daughter. We want to fight it.
Lengthy details, of varying complexity involving government malfeasance, etc. inside.
I'd really like some insight and pointers to resources we can use to influence some decisionmakers at the INS and elsewhere. The situation is (with some details probably wrong):
My friend and his wife began an extended long-term relationship via the Internet, and he eventually went to China to meet her. While there, he proposed and she accepted, which included relocating her, and her daughter to the US. In 2004, they applied, and about a year later, received K-1 and K-2 visas (his wife received a K-1 - aka "fiance visa",her daughter, a K-2" - which applies specifically to the offspring of a K-1 nonimmigrant). His wife came here in early 2005 and her daughter arrived in July of 2005 (as she graduated from high school). The daughter is classified as a "K-2 non-immigrant" under the LIFE provisions in immigration law. The law is pretty clear: K-2 non-immigrants must be under 21 years old. The daughter turned 21 in April of this year. If she had waited until she was 20 to apply, that would be one thing, but she didn't wait very long.
In 2005 the family applied for "adjustment of status" for the daughter.
There have been a series of quite extended delays on the part of the INS - one delay of 180 days and another of over 100 days - a rejected application and subsequent resubmittal, and a lost letter as a result of a change of address, her application for residency (form I-485) was rejected because the she is 21 now, even though she wasn't 21 at the time the application was made - she was 18. She has sixty days to depart. There is a process whereby a motion to reopen can be sent to the INS, but there is no appeal possible, she has to refile her application. They have no money to support this - refiling costs about $900.00.
Because of the visa requirements, neither the mother or daughter are allowed to work, and my friend, the husband, was disabled last year. So they have no financial resources other than some small pensions.
It's pretty obvious, when you look at the timeline, that if this process were handled in a timely manner by the INS, she would have been approved. The i's were all dotted, the T's were all crossed, the requirements were more than met by the family. The only reason they denied the change in status is because she turned 21 while on a K-2 visa. The process from applying for the adjustment to status was filed very shortly after the daughter arrived, and it took over a year to process.
The only reason she was denied, in short, is because the INS dragged their feet throughout the process.
Questions:
When I review the K-2 visa information available on the Internet, it appears that the "I-485 Adjustment of status" is the only real method for someone in her position (a minor's mother married an American who brought the immigrant back with them) to get a different type of visa or status (such as an immigrant visa rather than a non-immigrant visa). Is this really the case or are there loopholes somewhere?
We will be filing a motion to reopen her application, which is the only step we can take. Is there anything we should do to prepare for, and respond with, to make this process go smoothly?
Are there any free/low cost organizations that can help us? it's obviously a complicated problem and will take some horsepower to solve.
Thanks in advance for your help.
posted by disclaimer to law & government (13 comments total)
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Are there any local Chinese groups that can help?
I'm an engineer and pride myself on being reasonable intelligent, but immigration law is almost incomprehensible to me. Best of luck to your friends.
posted by beowulf573 at 2:39 PM on July 12, 2007