The USCIS stipulates that your spouse must earn 125% of the poverty threshold for your household size in order to sponsor your green card. Your household size will be your spouse, plus you, plus any dependents who live with you (children or other dependents listed on your spouse’s taxes), and anyone your spouse has previously sponsored for a green card. In 2022, for a family of two (you and your spouse), your spouse Read More
Do I need to tell USCIS about my past marriages and all of my children?
Yes! USCIS considers this information relevant to most family-based applications, and even if it does not seem relevant to an employment-based application, USCIS wants to know all of this information. Make sure that you have valid, final divorce decrees for all your divorces, even old ones. We have seen cases where clients filed for applications without divorce certificates from the 1970s, and USCIS wants the Read More
Can I get a green card if I’ve worked without authorization?
It depends! If you are applying for a green card based on your marriage to a US citizen, then past work without authorization is not a basis of ineligibility on its own. You may have worked as a babysitter or in a restaurant, and the employers didn’t ask for any proof of work eligibility. You may have even used someone else’s documents, and in some cases, that will not make you ineligible. The big problem comes if, Read More
What are “biometrics”? – Get Biometrics Appointment for Green Card with Cambridge Immigration Lawyer
“Biometrics” means a background check that USCIS runs when you apply for a USCIS benefit. With it, you’ll have your fingerprints stamped and your photo taken. Historically, all applicants had to appear for biometrics every time she filed any type of application, such as a work permit, TPS, or green card. Since COVID, USCIS has switched to waiving biometrics appointments for green cards if the applicant had USCIS Read More
45 Minute Approval
This week our client won a non-Legal Permanent Resident cancellation of removal. Our client is an exemplary community member who is loved and respected by his community and friends. Unfortunately, like many other people in this country, our client did not have legal status. He was facing possible removal from the country. If our client was ordered to leave the country, his young US citizen son and his wife’s Read More
How long will it take for my marriage-based green card case to get approved?
Right now, as of December 2022, marriage-based green card cases are processing in about 6-9 months in the Boston USCIS office. We are seeing much longer case processing times in Lawrence. Cases there are taking over a year. It’s important for us to note that we are also seeing a wide range of processing times even in the same office, so even if most of our Boston cases are processing in 6-9 months, your Read More
Respect for Marriage Act signed by President Biden
On Tuesday, December 13, President Joe Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act. A proposed law that would protect same-sex and interracial couples from discrimination. President Joe Biden remarked in his speech last Tuesday that, "Today is a good day, a day America takes a fundamental stride toward equality, toward liberty and justice, not just for some, but for everyone." In addition to the President's Read More
Can I work while my marriage-based green card application is pending?
Maybe! Some people are eligible to work even if their marriage-based green card pending after submitting the application because they have another visa that allows them to work. Others are not eligible to work with their marriage-based green card pending until a temporary “employment authorization document” is approved. Currently, USCIS is processing the temporary work permits very slowly…or not at all before the Read More
Can I travel while my immigration application is pending?
Unless you speak with an immigration attorney first, you should not leave or try to enter the US while you have a US immigration application pending. In many cases, you will be able to leave the US and enter the US while your case is pending. You may be in H1B status, which allows you to leave/re-enter the US while a green card application is pending. You may have advance parole, which allows you to leave/re-enter Read More
I’m married to a US citizen. Can I get a green card if I crossed the border to get into the US?
'Yes. Crossing the border—which is a certain type of illegal entry to the US—will not prevent you from getting a green card if you meet other requirements. The most important other requirements are (1) that your US citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident spouse or parent will suffer extreme hardship if you don’t get the green card and (2) that you have an approved I-130, I-140, or I-360 petition or that you have been Read More
Hello@CambridgeImmigrationLaw.com
Visit us at our office:
111 Rice Street Cambridge, MA 02140