Dafter, MI Immigration Law Firms & Lawyers

To sponsor one's mom, the USA citizen must be at least 21 years old. Whether the USA citizen is married or not, has no effect on the I-130 application for the mother.

Grant of a visa is so much within discretion of a consular officer that the outcome of a particular case is nearly impossible to predict with any accuracy. That being said, in this case, I would estimate your father's chances as very low. The problem is not even his old criminal history, although for the USCIS and State Department, no conviction is old enough, and no criminal is ever sufficiently rehabilitated. Convictions of certain crimes make a person barred for life from any legal entry into the U.S. You have said, though, that your father did visit the U.S. after his conviction; this would seem to indicate that he is not subject to such a life-long bar. The problem is that every applicant for a non-immigrant visa must prove to the U.S. consular officer that he/she has no "immigrant intent" - meaning that the applicant has such a strong ties to his country that he fully intends to return there, and has no desire to stay in the U.S. If absence of "immigrant intent" is not proven, a non-immigrant visa application must be denied. By applying for a green card, you father demonstrated his desire to stay in the U.S. - so he cannot prove lack of "immigrant intent". Does it mean that there is no hope whatsoever? Of course, it does not. If your father shows the consular officer that he has an established life in Bulgaria (real estate, business, good job, family, etc.), that he did travel to the U.S. and to developed European countries and always came back, that it is important for you to have him with you on the day of your wedding - well, it is possible that he might get a visa. As I said, granting a visa is largely within a consular officer's discretion. My advice to you would be to write a really good letter to the U.S. consul general in Sofia explaining everything about the situation. Don't try to sound official or legal; the person who might read your letter is somebody's child and, possibly, somebody's parent; try to make that person relate to you and your need to have your father with you. My advice to your father would be to go to the visa interview without any fear whatsoever. What is there to fear, a visa denial? It would be unpleasant, but your father will survive it. Absence of fear is unbelievably liberating. It will allow your father to tell the consular officer his story, to relate his need on a very personal, human level, and to come across as a sincere, truthful, genuine man - a man who deserves a break. And the break just might be granted.