Immigration Law Questions

Immigration to the US is governed by immigration laws that every immigrant to the country needs to abide by. Not always are these laws clear to the common person. Even an unintentional violation of an immigration law can result in serious legal implications that lead to questions that are frequently answered by Immigration Lawyers on JustAnswer. Read below five of the top immigration law questions on the site.

If someone is caught carrying large amount of cash at the US immigration without necessary documentation what are the civil and criminal penalties?

Under such circumstances, civil and criminal penalties under certain circumstances can include a fine of not more than $500,000 and imprisonment of not more than ten years. This is applicable for failure to file a report, filing a report containing a material omission or misstatement, or filing a false or fraudulent report. In addition, the currency or monetary instrument may be subject to seizure and forfeiture.

My L1 visa with a company with I94 is expiring in November 2011. An application for H1 visa with another contracting company has been approved for work starting October 2011. If the second company is then unable to find a position for employment, can they convert their H1 to another employer? Can I start looking for jobs outside the contracting client before October or can I continue working on the current L1 with their current employer?

If your L1 visa is still valid, you can depart the US, surrender the H1B I-94 and come back obtaining a new L1 I-94.Otherwise you may not be able to continue working on the L1 because you would no longer be in that status. If you can find a new H1B employer to file a petition for you but in the meantime you could be out of status if you are not working for the H1B Company. You would then have to depart and obtain an H1B visa stamp to re-enter and be in status with a new H1B employer petition. There is no grace period on the H1B to be in status if you do not commence work.

If a citizen of Mexico has a 10 year resident green card through marriage to an American Citizen, wants to get divorced, will they lose their green card?

Normally, you should not lose that status under the circumstances. This is because you do not hold a conditional card like the two year card. The only way you could lose it through divorce would be if immigration had strong evidence of marriage fraud or that you only married for the green card. That can be almost impossible to prove since if you have a child together. If you have further questions regarding immigration law, you could ask an Immigration Lawyer on JustAnswer for quick and affordable answers.

If someone got a divorce after 2 months, and the spouse with no green card arrived on a K1 visa can they remain in the U.S illegally, and is the other spouse responsible for them in any way?

If your spouse on K1 visa doesn't have a 2 year green card, and if you did not file an I-864 affidavit of support after the marriage, then there is unlikely to be any liability. The immigrant spouse could be deportable from the U.S. Even marrying another U.S. Citizen or having a U.S. Citizen Child would be unlikely to change the deportable status of the immigrant spouse. The only options would be to win asylum or similar protection, prove that the other spouse was abusive, wait for a change in the law, or leave the U.S.

If a permanent resident gets an approval notice for a beneficiary over the age of 21 already living without papers, does the person with the approval notice need to ask for a change on the original B-2 to a B-3 before filing the adjustment, or can they file two i-485 or do they need to file a new I-130?

If someone marries before they adjust their status, their spouse should be grandfathered in with them. Each would have to file both an I-485 and I-485A (not a new I-130), plus everything that goes with the I-485 and I-485A -- which is a G-325A for each of the married people and two for the parent that filed for the beneficiary as well.

Circumstances under which a person comes into a different country can vary from person to person. Situations can change between the application of a visa and immigration. Laws of different countries differ. All this can result in concern over the immigrant's status and questions about their legal rights. This results in a number of questions about immigration law that are frequently answered by Immigration Lawyers on JustAnswer. If you have any immigration law questions feel free to turn to the Experts.