Whippany, NJ Immigration Law Firms & Lawyers

I cannot think of an appropriate visa for your friend from Brazil to change status to in order to do freelance video production unless he is good enough to qualify for O-1 extraordinary alien status. If not, he may wish to consult with an immigration lawyer to go over his options and what compromises he is willing to make with his goals if he is eligible to obtain some other type of visa status to remain in the country for a longer period of time. 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.  

We presume you are a USC. If so, once you are married then You will first have to file a Petition for an Immigrant family member on Form I-130. You can also file for an Adjustment of Status in the U.S. on Form I-485 if your spouse is in the U.S. (and entered with inspection). Alternatively, your family member may be able to process for the green card at the U.S. Consulate. Please note that the process for sponsoring a member of the family has many nuances and we encourage you to consider hiring a qualified immigration lawyer or attorney with regard to this matter. One particular nuance has to do with the planning or filing of the Affidavit of Support Form and package.

If you have taken no actions like leaving the US for long periods of time, you would still be considered a green card holder at this time. Even if the validity date on the green card expires, you are still a permanent resident. I suggest that you schedule an infopass with your local field office of U.S.C.I.S. to see whether an officer would be willing to look for your green card number. If it cannot be done that way, you could attempt to file a freedom of information act request with U.S.C.I.S. If that fails to yield the information that you require, you could attempt to approach Social Security and ask its representative to look into your file to see whether he or she could disclose your green card number to you. Once you obtain your green card number, you can file an I-90 application to U.S.C.I.S. to replace your lost green card. 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