FAQs

Family Based Immigration Questions

I am a lawful permanent resident of the United States. May I petition my family members to come live with me in the United States?

Yes. You can assist your family members to move permanently to the United States. The Immigration and Nationality Act limits the categories of family members for whom you may file to: parents, spouses, children (under the age of 21), and unmarried sons and daughters (adult children). If your children marry you cannot file a petition for them until you become a U.S. citizen.

The processing time for an immigrant visa for my spouse or parent to come live with me in the United States is too long. Can’t my family member simply file for a visitor visa, and then apply for adjustment of status to a lawful permanent resident once they get here?

No. Visitor visas are granted to persons who intend to return to their home country after a temporary visit in the United States. If your family member takes this approach, he/she may be subject to charge of fraud by USCIS, who could find that your family member lied to the embassy during the visitor visa interview when he/she stated that she intended to return to their home country after the temporary visit. This will cause terrible problems for your family member. Hire Hykel Law and file the case the correct way.

USCIS denied my (I-130)petition for my spouse because my spouse stated that he was married on his visitor visa application when he came to the United States. USCIS is saying that my spouse was not legally free to marry me when we got married. What can we do?

Your spouse is going to have to obtain a divorce from his wife who remains back in his country of nationality and then you must re-file the case. Hykel Law has extensive experience obtaining divorces for foreign nationals from their spouses back home. In many cases, a U.S. divorce can be obtained. Contact Hykel Law to handle your divorce and re-filing of your I-130 spouse petition case.

We are U.S. citizens and married. We want to adopt a child abroad from a country that is not party to the Hague Convention (Non-Hague). We have identified a child and want to move forward with the process. What is the first step?

It is highly recommended that obtain a pre-determination of “orphan status” from USCIS before proceeding with adoption. In order for an adopted child from a Non-Hague country to immigrate to the United States, the child must meet the definition of an orphan. This is highly regulated to prevent child buying. Therefore, it is highly recommended that you get a pre-determination of orphan status before moving forward with the adoption, or you may risk adopting a child who will not be eligible for immigration to the United States.

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