Immigration Corner | Can I change my status to work in America?

Dear Mrs Walker-Huntington,

I am the holder of a United States nonimmigrant B1/B2 visitor’s visa for about 30 years. My mother is a US citizen and resides in the States. I have been living in Jamaica with my family and have just retired.

Health wise, my mother is not doing well. She has a heart problem, circulatory problems, and is diabetic. I visit her and spend time with her, however, I am not accustomed to sitting down doing nothing. I would like to work sometimes when I am in America, if I can do it legally.

Hence, I would like to know how I can change my status so that when I am in America I can work, while assisting her.

Looking forward to your advice.

SW

Dear SW,

As an American citizen, your mother can file a petition for you to migrate to the United States and obtain a green card/permanent residency. However, because you are an adult you would not be able to change your status while in America unless your visa (green card) was available.

Again, because you are an adult, when your mother files the petition for your US residency, you will be placed in a preference category and required to wait until a visa is available. If you are not married, you will be in the first preference category; if you are married, you will be in the third preference category. Currently, visas are available in the first preference category for those persons who were filed for in December, 2014; and if you are in the third preference category, visas are available for those filed in November, 2008. This waiting period is compounded by pandemic backlogs in the system.

You must not work while visiting your mother, as this unlawful act can come back to haunt your future filing. If you are married and your mother files for you, when the visa is available you can add your spouse. You can also add any minor children (under 21 years old) to the filing – married or not.

Migrating is a process that needs to be planned, and unless you are the immediate relative of an American citizen (spouse, parent or an under 21-year-old child), it is not a process that moves quickly. If you want to be able to move to America to be with your mother, you should let her file for you now. there is a distinct possibility that the wait times for a green card will shorten once the backlog is cleared.

Dahlia A. Walker-Huntington, Esq, is a Jamaican-American attorney who practises immigration law in the United States; and family, criminal and international law in Florida. She is a diversity and inclusion consultant, mediator, and former special magistrate and hearing officer in Broward County, Florida. info@walkerhuntington.com