HELP - Green Card Holder sponsors an illegas status wife

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pachanga

Registered Users (C)
I have a family friend who is planning to sponsor his wife's permanent residency. Here is the situation...

- He has been a permanent resident for 20 years now but is not a US citizen. He is eligible for sponsoring her to obtain her permanent residency.
- His wife entered to the United States with B-2 visa as a visitor in 1991. She no longer has a valid visa to remain in the United States. She has been illegally staying in the United States since 2002. In addition, she does not have any valid legal document of her country (s.a. passport, DL, etc.).
- They have been married for 4 years now
- His wife has a son who is 18 years old and is a US citizen. He can potentially sponsor her after he reaches age 21.

Here is my question:
She is currently an illegal immigrant without any documentation. If his husband sponsors her permanent residency, does she have to leave the United States for a certain period of time? If she does not have to leave the United States to apply for her permanent residency, can she obtain an employment authorization card and then SSN after he submits I-140 and I-485 for her?

Thank you for your advice.
 
First of, He has to be a US citizen to sponsor her & file for I-485 and so on, so that would be the first step. His wife should try to get copies of her documents from authorities if she lost the originals. If she entered the country legally, she can adjust her status without leaving. But she willl need to get those documents from her embassy, USCIS and so on.
 
pachanga said:
He is eligible for sponsoring her to obtain her permanent residency.
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No he's not really eligible to do that. She is here illegally, so he would have to become a US citizen to sponsor her. Get back to US after he becomes a US citizen.

- His wife entered to the United States with B-2 visa as a visitor in 1991. She no longer has a valid visa to remain in the United States. She has been illegally staying in the United States since 2002. In addition, she does not have any valid legal document of her country (s.a. passport, DL, etc.).
Click to expand...
Does she at least have an expired passport? And the I-94 she got when entering the US back in 1991?

If his husband sponsors her permanent residency, does she have to leave the United States for a certain period of time?
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If she leaves the US before her green card is approved, she will be banned from reentering the US for 10 years.
 
- His wife entered to the United States with B-2 visa as a visitor in 1991. She has been illegally staying in the United States since 2002
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where was she between 1991 and 2002? what status did she have?
 
Jackolantern said:
No he's not really eligible to do that. She is here illegally, so he would have to become a US citizen to sponsor her. Get back to US after he becomes a US citizen.
Click to expand...
I found after I posted this here that he needs to become a US citizen to sponsor her residency. BTW, she has never left the United States and still lives here.



Jackolantern said:
Does she at least have an expired passport? And the I-94 she got when entering the US back in 1991?
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She is from Mexico and still has an expired tourist visa or permit. I am not sure whether she has a passport or not.

Jackolantern said:
If she leaves the US before her green card is approved, she will be banned from reentering the US for 10 years.
Click to expand...
 
pachanga said:
Jackolantern said:
No he's not really eligible to do that. She is here illegally, so he would have to become a US citizen to sponsor her. Get back to US after he becomes a US citizen.
Click to expand...
I found after I posted this here that he needs to become a US citizen to sponsor her residency. BTW, she has never left the United States and still lives here.
Click to expand...

I meant get back to "us" (we the people here on the forum), not get back to "US" (the country).
 
pachanga said:
She has never left the United States after she left Mexico.
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OK, but if she was illegally present starting in 2002, and never left the US since entering in 1991, that implies she was legally present from 1991-2001. So if she was legal for those 10+ years, what type of legal status did she have throughout those years? Student status?
 
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