I am new to the immigration process and don't know where to start. Please help!

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bluerose1959

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My daughter is engaged to a 21 year old young man from El Salvador. He was brought here illegally by his parents when he was 16. Both of the parents have green cards and have lived in the US for about ten years. This young man and his two sisters do not.

They would like to be married soon but I know the process is tricky and has to be free of mistakes. Does this young man need to leave the country and return on a finance visa? if that's the case, does he need to return to El Salvador or could he go somewhere that would be safer. I have been told he has a valid passport from El Salvador.

Any help you can give me is appreciated. I honestly have no idea where to start. My daughter is a US citizen and was born in the US.
 
Did he actually enter illegally, or did he just overstay a visa?

If his entry was illegal, he cannot get a green card through his parents or his fiancee unless he leaves the US and stays away for 10 years.

How old are his sisters? Depending on their age and whether they are inside or outside the US, they still may have a chance to get a green card through their parents.
 
They can get married here, and his spouse (your daughter) can file the I-130 Petition for Alien Relative. The problem is if he did not make a legal entry and nobody filed for him before April 30, 2001, he is subject to a 10-year bar.

Did his parents ever petition for him and if so was it before April 2001?

Once the I-130 is approved, he will have to go back to El Salvador for an interview to get his visa at the American consulate . He will be denied the visa because he was illegaly present in the US. He should then file the I-601 waiver unlawful presence

Your daughter will have to present evidence proving that she (US Citizen) could not live in El Salvador. This would include evidence of medical problems she may have, financial obligations in the US, familial obligations (i.e. caring for aging parents or disabled relatives.) and anything else that would make it impossible for her to move to El Salvador. She has to prove that the hardship would be ABOVE and BEYOND the hardship that could be obviously expected. This means that the fact that she loves him and "can't live without him" would not mean anything.

You should definitely talk to an immigration lawyer about your options.
 
He has never been in the US legally. If he leaves voluntarily and goes to another country could he then come back legally without having to wait the ten years?
 
To clarify...what if he went back to El Salvador or another country and then she traveled to that country to be with him. Could she then bring him back on a fiance Visa?
 
Just curious ...why can't he leave and then come back? He is 100% undocumented here and has no records. Can he leave, return to El Salvador or another country and then return with my daughter?
 
You mean he would lie about his past whereabouts on the paperwork and in the interview? The forms ask for the past 5 years of addresses and workplaces. So he's going to make false claims about living and working somewhere in El Salvador for the past 5 years? And there is no trace of him attending school or any other presence in the US? And your daughter is going to make up some story about how they first met and established their relationship entirely outside the US? It won't be difficult for the interviewer to figure out that something isn't right with their stories, and if caught lying he would be banned from the US for life and your daughter could go to prison for her part in the fraud.
 
bluerose1959 said:
Just curious ...why can't he leave and then come back? He is 100% undocumented here and has no records. Can he leave, return to El Salvador or another country and then return with my daughter?
Click to expand...

The answer to your question is YES, he can leave the US. As soon as he leaves, there will be a record of him leaving the US, as airlines submitt manifesto to DHS and CBP. Moreover, he will be barred for 10 years for being in the US illegally. How did his parents acquire the green card without getting their kids the same green card?
 
The parents entered the US about six or seven years before they brought the kids in. The parents got their green cards through some previous amnesty program. I may not have the dates 100% correct for the parents but they do have social security cards and green cards. Once they had the money, they paid to have the kids brought in.
 
I don't recall saying anything about lying. But my daughter has no issue with working abroad for five years or more if that's what it takes. She does not want to live in El Salvador but would be happy to live outside the US.
 
What you wrote implied him using his "100% undocumented" status to pretend he wasn't in the US illegally and thereby escape the 10-year ban.

If your daughter is willing to spend 10 years outside the US waiting for the ban to expire, or be separated from him for 10 years while he waits outside the US, then sure he can come back with a fiance visa or marriage-based immigrant visa at the end of the 10 years.
 
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