Immigration Corner | Can my son file to adjust my status?

Dear Mrs Walker-Huntington,

I read your column on The Gleaner’s website and I have a question that has really been on my mind for a while now. I have been living in the US without documentation for around six years. My 22-year-old son recently got his green card through his father, and I was told that he (my son) could now file for me. Is this possible for him to do? How should he go about doing it? He is employed and has been paying taxes. Can you please advise me?

Thanks.

MF

Dear MF

Thanks for reading my column and for this important question. The answer will have meaning for you but also for other readers who take advice from non-lawyers on immigration matters. A person’s immigration situation is often life-changing and the wrong advice, even though well-intentioned, often leads to catastrophic results. It can be the difference between remaining in America and being deported, or never ever being able to visit or to migrate to the United States. Persons who dispense immigration advice based on their feelings, intuition or the result of a case they are familiar with, run the risk of forever damaging the future of the intending immigrant or US visitor who they so confidently instruct.

Only a citizen of the United States can file a petition for their parent to migrate to or to remain in the United States. A lawful permanent resident/green card holder cannot petition for a parent. A green card holder can only file for their spouse and unmarried children to migrate to America.

In a situation such as yours where you are present in the United States, how you entered has an impact on your case. If you entered the US with a visa and overstayed, you are eligible to adjust your status if an immediate relative files an adjustment of status application on your behalf. Immediate relatives in your scenario are United States citizen spouses, or sons/daughters over 21 years of age. If you did not enter with a visa in your own name and with your own passport – and you have a qualifying sponsor, you may qualify for an I601A waiver and will have to consular process your immigrant visa.

In all the scenarios and others that you might be facing, it is advisable to obtain legal advice regarding your specific immigration matter.

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