Demise

I mean, I don't think this should normally be a problem but then again ICE is ICE. The pending I-485 gives you a period of authorized stay while that's pending. I'd keep your EAD and ideally a copy of the I-485 receipt notice on your person if ICE has been spotted poking around the area.

I need the date the original I-130 was approved to give you a CSPA age. That is not the DQ date, that's when the initial petition your mutual parent filed was approved. They could've approved that in essentially any period of time, normally they sit on backlogged categories for a while to extend CSPA eligibility onto derivative children. In any case - if we presume that the priority date becomes current (chart A as you call it) in December 2025, then the oldest is 20 years and about 3 months old at the time, so I think we can skip the CSPA calculation (because you know, under 21 years minus any timespan will still under 21). As long as the DS-260 was filed or will be filed for her somewhere between Feb 2022 and November 30, 2026 she'll be able to immigrate.

So CSPA works like this: CSPA age = Real age when visa becomes available (generally the 1st of the month when the visa bulletin final action date passes the priority date, or when the petition was approved, whichever is later) MINUS the time the petition was pending. In order words the priority date has to become current before the beneficiary turns 21 + whatever time the petition was pending. Then the beneficiary has to "seek to acquire" permanent residency before 1 year after visa becomes available. Yeah I'm definitely wording this a bit awkwardly, but that's because DOS and (sometimes) USCIS let you file based on the "dates for filing" chart, they can't actually issue you the visa or green card until the final action dates chart passes the priority date, in essence they just let you file early, and such early filed application still works to lock in the age provided the other parts hold. "Seek to acquire" basically just means file I-485, file DS-260, or file I-824. Of note is that the application filed to "seek to acquire" and application that ultimately results in permanent residency does not have to be one and the same. Once locked in the CSPA age doesn't expire and the derivative can immigrate whenever as long as they remain unmarried and the primary beneficiary doesn't naturalize before then (petitions just kinda vanish after naturalization of the principal, so follow to join stops being available). So long story short - in this case the petition was pending roughly 4 years and 3ish months. As long as the priority date becomes current before she's 25 and 3ish months old she'll be able to tag along. She should file DS-260 to lock in the age, and then either go to the interview abroad or when parents enter US file I-485. Note that filing DS-260 does show immigrant intent, so it's best not to travel abroad after filing that and just stick around in US as an F-1 student.

According to Volume 12, Chapter 3, F, 1, of the policy manual, the 3 year provision does apply to bigamous cases. Specifically the "or intended spouse" part which is basically defined as: "who believed that he or she had married a citizen of the United States and with whom a marriage ceremony was actually performed and who otherwise meets any applicable requirements under this chapter to establish the existence of and bona fides of a marriage, but whose marriage is not legitimate solely because of the bigamy of such citizen of the United States". In simple terms: You got married, you believed you were married, you lived as spouses, but the marriage was illegitimate only because of the abusive USC's bigamy. (INA 101(a)(50) and INA 204(a)(1)(A)(iii)(I)(bb)) Digging a bit deeper and looking at INA 319(a) (which is what actually covers VAWA naturalization) "or any person who obtained status as a lawful permanent resident by reason of his or her status as a spouse or child of a United States citizen who battered him or her or subjected him or her to extreme cruelty", now we can definitely debate if an intended spouse obtained their status "as a spouse of a United States Citizen" however reading further into INA 204 it does appear so since it does essentially upgrade intended spouses into immediate relatives. In any case, the policy manual (as noted above) does include intended spouses for the 3 year VAWA naturalization. Like all in all, I don't think it'd really matter if you get a divorce or an annulment but just err on the side of caution and get a divorce.

Generally it's not a problem. Unauthorized work isn't normally something that triggers inadmissibility all in itself, it normally is just a bar to adjustment of status and only adjustment of status, so you generally can still leave and undergo consular processing. Of note is that it's not a bar for AOS for immediate relatives of US Citizens (spouses, parents, unmarried children under 21). Only related things that trigger inadmissibilities are: Fraud in somewhere in the immigration process, like you lie to the DOS during a consular interview, lie at port of entry to the CBP, or lie to USCIS while seeking something in US (which triggers a misrepresentation bar that can be waived with an I-601). Falsely claiming to be a US Citizen in any context, even in a private casual conversation (which triggers a false claim of citizenship bar at point of which you are utterly screwed). Lying otherwise (e.g. falsely claiming to be an LPR on an I-9, or using a wholly made up SSN) do not trigger anything here. So you know, in your case since you just worked under the table, own up to it, file and pay off the back taxes, and you'll be fine.

I got my green card May 2024. Still 2 years to go for citizenship. Celebrating just nobody else needing VAWA I guess.

I think it's just selection bias more than anything else. Most people get approved and go live their lives. The day we don't need this thread anymore will be a day I'll be celebrating.

In family cases the priority date is the day that I-130 was filed. DS-260 generally comes before DQ so at least we can guess that was filed. When in this case ultimately doesn't matter now that I looked at it again. I asked mainly because I didn't see that he was DQ'd and DS-260 has to be filed before 1 year after the priority date becomes current to lock in the CSPA age. So all in all, it will all boil down to if the priority date becomes current before the oldest kid turns 21 + whatever time the I-130 was pending (e.g. if it was pending exactly 2 years then before he turns 23). So we kinda just need the approval date to see how much wiggle room they've got. Also lastly: Both your brother and nephew need to remain unmarried until they're in US as LPRs. Funnily enough a different section of CSPA handles this scenario. An F2B whose petitioning parent has subsequently naturalized can choose which category to go via (either F1 or F2B). The process is pretty simple, he'll provide proof of the parent's naturalization and write a letter to the NVC that's either "My petitioning parent naturalized, please move me to F1", "My petitioning parent naturalized, please keep me in F2B". This can be done at any time, so it's best to just wait until one of the categories crosses or at least is about to cross the cutoff. Only exception for this if the beneficiary married. If parent was still an LPR at the time then the petition is dead. If parent was a citizen at the time then it'd drop to F3 and termination of marriage would move it back to F1 with no option to go back to F2B.

F1, F2A, and F2B can have derivative children. So as long as the brother isn't married then out of wedlock kids can tag along. Anyways back to the questions OP: What's the priority date (i.e. when was the I-130 filed)? When was the I-130 approved? What's the oldest's date of birth? Was a DS-260 filed yet, if so - when?

Had to go digging fairly heavily to find this because the form instructions do point that a CLPR who turned 14 is not required to file, but I wasn't sure why exactly (instructions and policy manual also suck for very specific edge cases), so here you go: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-8/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-264/section-264.5 (b) Permanent residents required to file. A permanent resident shall apply for a replacement Permanent Resident Card: (8) When the bearer of the card reaches the age of 14 years, unless the existing card will expire prior to the bearer's 16th birthday; Since she's got it when she was still 13, and it's valid for 2 years, it will expire shortly before her 16th birthday, so she's not required to file because the card will expire before her sweet 16. So unless the card gets lost or destroyed, the next form to file will be I-751 when that's due.

I'd just file ASAP. You will need to come to US to attend the interview and ceremony since getting sworn in from abroad is not an option in this case. There's no requirement that the spouse is currently abroad "Establish your spouse is a U.S. citizen who is, or will be, regularly stationed abroad as a U.S. service member for a period of one year or more;". Also according to the instructions found at https://www.uscis.gov/military/citizenship-for-military-family-members. You should call their military helpline (877-247-4645) and request an expedite. Who knows, maybe you'll get lucky and get rushed through before it's time to go.

From the N-470 page: "If you are eligible for naturalization under section 319(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) because you are married to a U.S. citizen working for certain organizations overseas, you are exempt from establishing the naturalization residency and physical presence requirements. Therefore, you are not required to file Form N-470. ..." Going further: https://www.uscis.gov/military/citizenship-for-military-family-members https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-12-part-g-chapter-5 It looks like the best option would be to go via 319(b): No N-470 required. If spouse will be stationed abroad for over a year, without any prerequisite time period where you will need to travel back to US to attend the interview and ceremony, declare in good faith that you will continue to live with your spouse abroad after naturalization, and return to US once their foreign deployment ends. Declaration in good faith is basically a declaration of intent, if circumstances change for some reason, then well, they changed and they won't yoink your citizenship away. In this case you may or may not be required to file I-751, depends if you've been a CLPR for at least 1 year and 9 months at the time of the oath of allegiance (if yes - yes, if no - no). You will still need to provide the normal proofs that the marriage is legit as for I-751 even if you're exempt from filing it. Other possibilities like 319(a) (3 years married to a US citizen provision) and 316(a) (general 5 year provisions) require you to have resided in US for at least half the statutory period without breaks in continuous residence (no absences over 1 year, and with absences over 6 months being able to prove that you didn't abandon your permanent residency). So if you'd want to follow to join your spouse abroad those might be better, you'd live in US for 1 year, file N-470, go join them, and file I-751 and N-400 when able to. Only upside here is the ability to get naturalized while abroad. My take is just go with the special provision for military spouses (319(b)).

I think this needs some clean up. So I'll make some presumptions and you tell me if they're right. Lets just call the person who this is about (friend's brother's wife) "A". A came here on a K-1 visa. A married her late husband. They filed for AOS based on the K-1 and subsequent marriage. They were about to have an interview with USCIS and tragedy struck and A's husband died. So, I don't believe that 204(l), which normally preserves immigration benefits in cases where the beneficiary is in US applies to K-1s. If it does please do correct me but I do recall a similar case here. But there is a way to work around it - file an I-360 as a widow of a US citizen. Then regarding the current I-485 it depends: If it was already denied - file a new one concurrently with the I-360. Otherwise she can file a new I-485, or get a transfer to underlying basis from an I-129F to Widow(er) I-360. The exact specifics depend but generally if the interview is coming up - go to it, if she has the I-360 receipt notice bring it with her, if not then bring the husband's death certificate and let them know that she filed or is about to file I-360 and ask that they hold the I-485 in abeyance. If the interview already got postponed - write to the office that has the I-485 (at this stage likely the local office), explain the situation, include a copy of I-360 receipt notice. Regarding what the US family can do is bankroll the forms and ideally a lawyer for her. But there are options at least. They won't need to sign an I-864 or anything, widow(er)s are exempt from that.

Do an infopass? Not sure if they schedule them in NYC, last time I've been at Federal Plaza it was basically a walk-in thing with a line like at the DMV. You can also try to call the help line and try to get the date/time at very least. Showing up with no notice is better than not showing up at all.

So here's the jist of it all: Internally the I-485 stays denied until an I-290B is approved, where the I-485 will be reopened and re-adjudicated. I-290B is currently pending. I-601 is waiting in queue to be assigned, they weren't able to rule on expediting it because you didn't include evidence with the privacy release you sent to your senator. So if you want to follow up on this, you want to include proofs for whatever reasons you asked for an expedite and ask the senator to request an expedite on the I-601 again.