Immigration Atty. Michael Gurfinkel
Michael J. Gurfinkel is licensed, and an active member of the State Bar of California and New York. All immigration services are provided by, or under the supervision of, an active member of the State Bar of California. Each case is different. The information contained herein (including testimonials, “Success Stories,” endorsements and re-enactments) is of a general nature, and is not intended to apply to any particular case, and does not constitute a prediction, warranty, guarantee or legal advice regarding the outcome of your legal matter. No attorney-client relationship is, or shall be, established with any reader.Many people have their cases denied because they committed fraud. The main law prohibiting visa fraud or misrepresentation is Section 212(a)(6)(C), which states:
“Any alien who, by fraud or willfully misrepresenting a material fact, seeks to procure (or has sought to procure or has procured) a visa, other documentation, or admission into the United States or other benefit provided under this Act is inadmissible.”
Dear Attorney Gurfinkel:
I am a green card holder, and have petitioned my wife and children. I know that it will take a few years until the priority date on their petition becomes “current”, enabling them to be processed for their immigrant visas.
Would there be a problem if I go back to the Philippines to live, while waiting for the priority date to become current?
Very truly yours,
K.M.
Each month, the Visa Office of the State Department publishes, in the Visa Bulletin, the priority dates for that particular month, for the various family and employment based categories. This means that immigrant visas (or green cards) would be available for persons whose priority date is earlier than the cut-off date listed below. If your priority date was “current”, but later retrogressed (or became “unavailable”) before your immigrant visa was issued (or before you adjusted status in the US), you would have to wait until it becomes current again.
On January 6, 2012, the USCIS published a proposal to allow immediate relatives of US citizens (spouse, parents, child) to request a waiver of the 3/10 year bar, before they depart the US for immigrant visa processing at the US Embassy. If this proposal is implemented (or put in force), it could have tremendous benefits for: (a) crewman (or jump ships) who married US citizens, but do not have the benefit of Section 245(i); (b) people who entered the US without inspection (EWI), who married US citizens, but do not have the benefit of Section 245(i); and (c) people who entered the US on a K-1 fiancée visa, but did not marry the American who petitioned them, but instead married a different American. In all these cases, the person is ordinarily not eligible to receive a green card (adjust status) in the US, but instead must go back to the Philippines for an immigrant visa, which could trigger the 3/10 year bar.
The Award-winning immigration show, Citizen Pinoy, goes to New York, as a public service of TFC and the Law Offices of Michael J. Gurfinkel. Since the show’s inception in May 2005, Citizen Pinoy has remained dedicated to its commitment of public service, and the desire to serve remains strong and steadfast. Attorney Michael J. Gurfinkel, the host of Citizen Pinoy, says that “the goal of Citizen Pinoy is to go where our kapamilyas are, to be able to reach out to them, to provide answers to their immigration questions, to bring families together. That is why we continue to go to different locations, so that we are able to address the concerns of as many kapamilyas as we can across the US”
