Atlantic Beach, FL Immigration Law Firms & Lawyers

You may be able to apply for adjustment of status now as long as you are still maintaining legal nonimmigrant status in the country. For the month of September 2013, visa availability is current for spouses and unmarried children of permanent residents under the F-2A category. As long as visa availability exists, I-485 applications for adjustment of status to permanent residence can be submitted to U.S.C.I.S. In the event that you are no longer legal, you would likely have to wait until your wife becomes a US citizen before you would be again eligible for adjustment of status. That is because you would then fall into a more favored category, that of immediate relative, which does not require that you maintain status in order to file an I-485 application.Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.  

The difficulty with your daughter’s situation is that her nonimmigrant status ended when yours did since she was only a dependent. Adjustment of status under family cases except for immediate relatives (parents, spouses, and unmarried children under the age of 21 of US citizens) requires the maintenance of status until the filing of the I-485 application. An alternative to appeal or motion is to file an I-130 petition and have your daughter consular process overseas for the immigrant visa. Kindly note that the 3/10 year bars do not apply to children under the age of 18. If your daughter was already 18 by the date of the USCIS denial, the 3/10 year bars only begin to apply if your daughter remains in the US for over 180 days thereafter. The difficulty with appeals and motions is that many are not resolved within 180 days, and if you and your daughter are in this situation, that leaves you and your daughter with a difficult choice of either leaving before the resolution of the appeal or motion or chancing the three-year bar being imposed if the appeal or motion is lost and the 180 days is over. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Esqs.’ (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.

You may be able to prove the father's physical presence in the U.S. through objective documentation like school records, records of property ownership, phone book records, social security earnings, tax filings, medical records, etc. You may want to contact an attorney to discuss your options. Sometimes a private investigator can be useful in locating needed information.