This question is frequently asked regarding the I-864 Affidavit of Support.
Unfortunately, the person who filed the I-864 cannot cancel or withdraw it.
The I-864 remains effective until one of the following events take place:
The Affidavit of Support is a contract between the person who filed it and the U.S. Government. It is not a contract between you and your ex-spouse. It is also not a contract to provide you with support.
The Affidavit of Support is essentially a means by which the Government can seek reimbursement from the person who filed the Affidavit of Support for the costs of any of the designated Federal, State or local means-tested public benefits, if the person for whom the Affidavit was filed receives them. Therefore, only the government can enforce the Affidavit of Support, and only if you are receiving benefits in one of the designated programs.
In a divorce situation, any support to be provided by an ex-spouse, if any, is governed by the orders issued by the Court granting the divorce.
Immigration law is one of the most complex areas of the law, if not the most complex. In fact, USCIS spokeswoman Karen Kraushaar has stated that “immigration is a mystery and a mastery of obfuscation, and the lawyers who can figure it out are worth their weight in gold,” because of this complexity.
Immigration is also an area where mistakes can carry extreme consequences — deportation and bars from returning to the United States.
This combination of high complexity and extreme consequences make it imperative that, for all but the simplest and straight forward cases, one have an experienced attorney handling the matter. Having an attorney from the start of the case will cost less than having to hire an attorney to try to fix a problem caused by a mistake that could have been avoided if an attorney had been handing the case.
Our firm has seen this time and time again. We have had cases where employers attempted to file a Labor Certification by themselves, only to have it denied because they did not comply with all the requirements. We have had cases where people have filed appeals on denials without realizing that they would have been bettered served by refiling. We have seen cases where persons have been ordered deported because they filed forms they should not have filed.
While having an attorney does not guarantee success, it does dramatically increase the chances of success.
The only visa that has a grace period is the F-1 student visa. The grace period for the F-1 visa is 60 days after completion.
For all other visas, if you have not applied for an extension, you are expected to leave on the earliest of either the expiration of your I-94, or the point where you fall out of status. For work visas, you would fall out of status when your employment ends.
If you timely filed for an extension of the visa, you are allowed to remain in the US until USCIS makes a decision on the application. If the application is denied, you are expected to then leave.
The longer you stay in the US out of status, the harder it will be for you to come back to the US, and if you stay 180 days or more out of status, you will be barred for three or ten years from the US after you leave.
245(i) is a section of the law that can allow a person to get the green card in the US even if they are out of status or entered the US illegally.
In order to qualify for 245(i), the person must have been in the US on December 21, 2000, must have had a petition filed for them on or before April 30, 2001, and that petition most have been approvable when filed. Only if all these conditions are met, is the person qualified for 245(i).
A person who qualifies for 245(i) must still have a valid petition, whether family based or employment based, that would be the basis for the green card.
In order to get a social security number, you must be work authorized, or be a US Citizen or National. That means that you must either have a work visa, the green card, or a work permit.
If the applicant cannot establish US Citizenship, the Social Security Administration will check the person’s status with USCIS, and will only issue the social security number if USCIS verifies that the person is work authorized.
Applications are handled at the local Social Security Administration offices. Instructions for applying are on the .
Under current law, if you are in the US without status or out of status, you generally cannot get the green card.
In order to be able to get the green card in the US despite being out of status — meaning you entered with a valid visa but overstayed — you would only be able to get the green card if you married a US Citizen or you qualified for 245(i).
If you entered the US without inspection (illegally), then the only way you could get the green card in the US is if you qualify for 245(i), or to process outside the US after obtaining a waiver for the applicable bar based on extreme hardship to a US citizen or legal permanent resident spouse or child.
Obtaining a waiver of the applicable bars is difficult, and should be applied for with an attorney.
Our Los Angeles Immigration Lawyers are available to assist you.
J-1 visas can be subject to a two-year foreign residency requirement, requiring that the J-1 visa holder return to the country the country that sponsored the J-1 visa for two years.
If you are on a J-1 visa, you can only change your status if your visa is not subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement, or if it is subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement, you have obtained a waiver of that requirement.
If you are out of status, your options are, at best, limited. With rare exceptions, you cannot renew, extend or change your status in the US. You would need to leave the US, apply for the proper visa at the US Embassy or Consulate in your country and then reenter the US. In doing so, however, you face two serious issues.
First, if you were out of status for 180 days or more, the moment you leave the US, you will trigger either a three year or a ten year bar from returning to the US.
Second, because you overstayed during your prior entry, obtaining a visa at the US Embassy or Consulate will be a lot harder.
Unfortunately, the definition of an aggravated felony for immigration purposes lacks common sense and makes many misdemeanors aggravated felonies for immigration purposes.
For example, for immigration purposes, a conviction is an aggravated felony if:
How the conviction is classified for criminal law purposes, does not mean it will be classified that way for immigration purposes.
Technically, you can.
However, in order to change your status to B-2, you will have to convince USCIS that the requested change is not just a means of extending your status in the US. You will have to establish why, whatever it is that you want to accomplish with the B-2 visa (visit tourist sites, etc.), could not have been accomplished while you were on your previous visa. The outcome of the case therefore depends on the facts and on the officer that adjudicates it.