Petitioning Parent who is in US on B-2 visa

[VinnyT 0]

My mom is currently with us here in USA. She came in via B-2 Tourist visa last April. When she came in, she was warned by the immigration officer that the next time she comes over, she will not be allowed in because in the last couple of years, she came here 3 times and each time, she stayed close to 6 months. This is because my wife and I had our first baby, also the first grand child of my mom. So this time, with that warning, I am thinking of petitioning my mom so that she can come as often as she wants. I am a USC already so that should not be a problem. I do have a question and would appreciate any help. I thought I read somewhere that I can petition my parent who is travelling here in the US on B-2 as long as their date of entry is more than 60 days but not past the expiration date of the I-94 card. Is that correct? Also, when I apply, I can also send in form 485 at the same time as the I-130 right? I should also be able to send in the Advance parole form so that she can travel outside?

Thanks for any help

Regards

Vince

[aleful 1,905]

My mom is currently with us here in USA. She came in via B-2 Tourist visa last April. When she came in, she was warned by the immigration officer that the next time she comes over, she will not be allowed in because in the last couple of years, she came here 3 times and each time, she stayed close to 6 months. This is because my wife and I had our first baby, also the first grand child of my mom. So this time, with that warning, I am thinking of petitioning my mom so that she can come as often as she wants. I am a USC already so that should not be a problem. I do have a question and would appreciate any help. I thought I read somewhere that I can petition my parent who is travelling here in the US on B-2 as long as their date of entry is more than 60 days but not past the expiration date of the I-94 card. Is that correct? Also, when I apply, I can also send in form 485 at the same time as the I-130 right? I should also be able to send in the Advance parole form so that she can travel outside?

Thanks for any help

Regards

Vince

the GC is for living here, not to be used as a tourist visa. when they see that she does not live here, they will cancel the GC. If she doesn't plan to move and live in the US then don't file for her.

[VinnyT 0]

She plans to live here a majority of her time. But she does like to travel so she will be travelling still.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Vince,

the problem is that there's no visa for the specific need you have, and that's very unfortunate.

Your mom is an immediate relative of yours, in so far you can petition for her even if she overstayed, just like you would for your wife.

The problem she has now will not change, however, as if she travels back and forth and spends about 6 months a year in the US and 6 months abroad and that evolves into a pattern, she will end up being denied entry based on the CBP officer's assumption that she only uses her GC to visit.

There is really no good advice I could give you. Your mom either needs to spend most of her time in the US (GC) or abroad (B2). A catch 22, no doubt.

[VinnyT 0]

I expect my mom to spend more than 2/3 of her time in the US as all of her children are now in the US/Canada. So I would not worry about that. But my question still is, am I correct in assuming that I should file for her I-130/485 within the next few weeks since by then, she would have already spend over 60 days in the US?

Vince

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

You should, but . . . any overstay of an "immediate relative" is forgiven at AOS, unless criminal reasons (i.e., working with another person's SSN) provide adverse reasons.

So, theoretically, you can file many years from now. Since being out of status is neither a crime nor a misdemeanor, there's no penalty for it. (Entering the country without inspection is a crime, however.) Still, if she gets in trouble with the law for some weird reason, she would be deported and at that time a 5-year ban would be triggered.

[sachinky 465]

If you're filing for AOS, then do it before the I-94 expires, just to be on the 'safe side.' Recently, some folks *have* run into trouble filing it after that date.

Agree with everything else Bob said. She needs to maintain permanent residency in the U.S. -- however, she is free to 'travel' anywhere she pleases.

Edited June 17, 2010 by sachinky

[bluegreen 0]

I think you need to be careful with the Advance Parole. I adjusted from visitor status (as a spouse but it's no different). I was advised in no uncertain terms to stay in the US and not use my advance parole. Canadians are allowed to be in the US for up to six months a year as visitors, and so I actually DID choose to use my advance parole and left the country for a weekend. However, I was still within six months of my original entry and had not accrued any overstay. It seems that it is much safer to stay put in the US until you have the greencard in hand if you are adjusting status concurrently in this way, from a non-immigrant visa. That was the advice I received, anyway. I had no trouble at the border but I've heard of others in this situation who were denied re-entry based on their overstay, despite holding an advanced parole document. I could not find a hard and fast rule about this.

On another note, we filed for AOS just over 60 days after I arrived as a visitor. This happened to be how life worked out for us, but I have since read that between 60 and 90 days is a good timeframe...any earlier and it could seem as though she had intent to immigrate when she entered as a visitor (which she obviously did not).

Just some things I heard - not sure if this is helpful. I did a LOT of research when I adjusted status from a visitor visa, because I was very nervous about it, even though I knew I was not doing anything wrong. If you get denied AOS when adjusting this way, you also waive your right to appeal, so I was quite meticulous.