# Is my immigration lawyer right?



## Whitby (Jun 20, 2011)

Hi all, some help would be really appreciated on this as my wife and I are being fed two different lines about emigrating to the US and we really don't want to mess it up. I've posted about this on here before, but now a company-retained immigration lawyer has come into the picture with some differing advice.

*Background:*

Wife (USC) is moving to NYC in January. I (UKC) want to go with her (would not be transferring over there with a firm - I would be unemployed at the time) and live and find work etc. 

We have, independently, filled in the I-130, G-325a etc and filed it with USCIS here in London a day or so ago with a view to getting a (conditional - married for fewer than two years) Green Card (CR-1 visa). 

Today, wife's company's immigration lawyer told us we had been stupid and that the better - much better - way would have been, and I quote, to "go to the US and file from there, which would have been quicker and you would be together".

*Query:*

What is the immigration lawyer talking about? I understood that to "go out to the US" would mean, for me, going on a tourist, ESTA, 90-day thing. Filing for a Green Card from the US would be all well and good, but I thought I would have to do it under an AoS right? Which would accompany all the usual risks of deportation and black-listing? What could the immigration lawyer have in mind?

Secondly, if the immigration lawyer is right and I have been an impatient idiot - can my wife 'withdraw' her I-130 petition at the US embassy here and we just go ahead with the immigration lawyer's plan and do it from the US? Will the fact we have previously applied and withdrawn a petition cause a problem?

Any help would be gratefully received as I'm terrified that my impatience has meant an added two- to five-month wait in the UK apart from my wife.

Thanks a lot all.


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## mamasue (Oct 7, 2008)

I think your lawyer may be telling you to go to USA on a tourist visa, and file for adjustment of status.....Bad advice!
If you enter on a tourist visa with the intention of adjusting status, you're actually committing immigration fraud....Bad idea, and lousy advice from a lawyer!!
You're going the right way about it by filing from the outside....stick to the plan.
Some people have managed to adjust from inside the USA as a spouse, but if you go on a VWP (Visa waiver) and they reject your AOS, there's no appeal.
It'll take longer on the correct route, but you'll almost instantly get your green card. With AOS from VWP it'll take a few months in limbo before you'll get it.
Good luck!!


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

We have, independently, filled in the I-130, G-325a etc and filed it with USCIS here in London a day or so ago with a view to getting a (conditional - married for fewer than two years) Green Card (CR-1 visa). 
@@@What do you mean by that? Two I-130s ...

Today, wife's company's immigration lawyer told us we had been stupid and that the better - much better - way would have been, and I quote, to "go to the US and file from there, which would have been quicker and you would be together".
@@@And what exactly does he mean by that? What are you supposed to file?


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## Whitby (Jun 20, 2011)

'Independently' meant doing it outside the auspices of the firm-hired immigration services, i.e. we did it on our own.

As regards what the lawyer meant when she said "go to the USA and file from there" - well, that's part of my question really. I have no idea what she could have meant other than the AoS to which MamaSue refers above. I was concerned I had missed an obvious path to visa-hood that meant I was spending an unnecessarily long time apart from my wife...

It may be that the lawyer is confident of her 'ability' to get the AoS approved, but it seems like (i) prima facie immigration fraud; and (ii) one heck of a risk...


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## mamasue (Oct 7, 2008)

Whitby I agree.... and your lawyer shouldn't even be suggesting you break the law!!!
AOS on a VWP is a very dodgy business....with no chance of appeal on rejection!
Maybe you need a new lawyer.... or if you're filing the papers correctly and straightforwardly, you don't even need him! 
Spouse visa is definitely the safest way to go!:thumb:


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## Whitby (Jun 20, 2011)

Thanks MamaSue. I was just extremely worried that I'd missed an obvious route to immigration and condemned my wife and I to 6-10 months of administrative hassle and waiting when there was an easier option, but it sounds like this isn't the case!

Thanks all.


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

Just because someone can hang a shingle does not mean they know what they are doing. Especially immigration cases they are not familiar with. You are not alone. I paid dearly for the advice on how to bring a family member to the US. We followed up and found out it would have been a disaster. 

Fatbrit posted everything for you in another thread of yours where you wanted to know how to go about your visa. As long as you have your documentation in order there should be no issues. Where is the "administrative hassle".


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## Whitby (Jun 20, 2011)

Thanks. 

"Administrative hassle" in the sense of having to do it all for one's self rather than just e-mailing a lawyer my parent's dates of birth and then, eight months later, magically being invited for an interview etc. but I'm hoping it'll be fairly smooth.

FatBrit was very helpful (and I have gratefully followed the advice) but, again, I had a brief panic attack that, in focussing on the Green Card route, I'd missed something obvious. If I had then my DW would not have been a happy bunny, so am glad of the confirmation that the hypothetical route the lawyer suggested was a no-go... You never know, unbeknownst to all but this one lawyer, the USCIS could have had a change of heart in the last week and started allowing spouses to come and purchase green cards at their port of entry for a couple of bucks...


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

Whitby said:


> Thanks.
> 
> "Administrative hassle" in the sense of having to do it all for one's self rather than just e-mailing a lawyer my parent's dates of birth and then, eight months later, magically being invited for an interview etc. but I'm hoping it'll be fairly smooth.
> 
> FatBrit was very helpful (and I have gratefully followed the advice) but, again, I had a brief panic attack that, in focussing on the Green Card route, I'd missed something obvious. If I had then my DW would not have been a happy bunny, so am glad of the confirmation that the hypothetical route the lawyer suggested was a no-go... You never know, unbeknownst to all but this one lawyer, the USCIS could have had a change of heart in the last week and started allowing spouses to come and purchase green cards at their port of entry for a couple of bucks...




This option does exist - 500k invested at risk.


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## eddyhartley (Oct 14, 2011)

If in case you do apply in US and let say by some reason your application is rejected then its applicable upon the visa which you hold to stay in US. Its a stupid suggestion to do the visa proceedings from US. You can only go for any extension on H1B, L1 etc in US, not application for visa.


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## Kevlegs (Jun 15, 2011)

@ the OP, carry aon as you are and it won't take too long. I had a 6 week deadline from start to finish and it worked for me. 
One tip would be arrange the doctors exam asap so you have that paperwork ready for the next Embassy appointment.


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