Ricardo and his parents fled from El Salvador when Ricardo* was only a few months old. Fearing for their lives in their home country, Ricardo’s parents entered the U.S. unlawfully, living as undocumented immigrants in the Bay Area.
Fast forward to 2017: Ricardo has been married for three years. He and his wife, an American-born citizen, have a young son. His wife has a daughter from a previous marriage. Even though Ricardo was a DACA recipient, he feared the worst after President Trump issued his first travel ban and stepped up his anti-immigrant rhetoric. That fear led prompted him to begin the complex and high-stakes process of petitioning for a marriage-based green card. Because of the stakes involved, he entrusted his case to the Alcorn Immigration Law team.
Facing a Decade Apart
As the spouse of a U.S. citizen, Ricardo is eligible to apply for a green card. However, he must attend an interview at a U.S. embassy or consulate in his home country of El Salvador. Because Richardo has been in the U.S. without a valid visa or green card for more than a year, he would be banned for 10 years from returning to the U.S. once he left for El Salvador.
The Alcorn Immigration Law team applied for an unlawful presence waiver for Ricardo so he could apply for his green card without spending 10 years away from his family.
Happy Ending
We’re thrilled to say that we secured the waiver for Ricardo. And we did it without any Requests for Evidence (RFEs), which is increasingly rare under the Trump administration days. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) approved the waiver in less than four months, far below the 6.5 to 8.5 months USCIS typically takes to process them.
Ricardo and his family are now on their way to starting their happy ending. Ricardo expects to have his green card interview shortly. And if all goes well, the fear of being separated from his family will be forever gone.
* To maintain confidentiality, the name of the client or clients have been changed, and details may have been omitted or slightly altered. Our success in a case does not predict nor guarantee the outcome in your legal matter. The result portrayed above was dependent on the facts of that case. Results will differ based on different facts.
