Winning Mega Million lottery can’t guarantee green card for an illegal immigrant
Must qualify to interview here or face tough path to legal status
Comments (1)Friday, May 11, 2012, 4:00 AM
AP
The Statue of Liberty stands tall in New York Harbor, a beacon to immigrants worldwide.
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Q. If someone here illegally were to win the Mega Million or Powerball lottery, can he or she get legal status?
Clement Blache, Jersey City, N.J.
A. An undocumented immigrant can collect lottery winnings, but it might not lead to legal status. Just being rich doesn’t guarantee you a green card. Unless the winner qualifies to interview in the United States for permanent residence, he or she will have a difficult path to getting legal status.
The law provides for permanent residence for investors under the EB-5 program. The applicant must invest one million dollars in a business that creates at least 10 jobs for U.S. citizen or permanent resident workers. The minimum is $500,000 if the investment is an area with an unemployment rate at least 150% of the national average or a rural area with a population of less than 20,000.
However, for most undocumented immigrant investors, the dreaded “unlawful presence” bar to residence would keep them from getting a green card. Unless the investor qualifies to interview here for permanent residence, he or she would have to return home for an immigrant visa interview. Then, the applicant could face a three or 10-year bar to getting the visa. That’s the penalty for applicants who leave after being here unlawfully for more than 180 days.
Q. The U.S. consulate where my parents applied for a visa has several times denied their request. The reason is that they are ineligible under Immigration and Nationality Act section 212(a)(6)(C)(I). According to the consul, that bar applies to someone who committed fraud in applying for a visa or in trying to enter the United States by willfully misrepresenting a material fact. I understand that committing fraud makes them permanently ineligible for a visa. Can they get that ineligibility waived?
Laura, Brooklyn
A. The law provides for two waivers of the “fraud” ground of inadmissibility. If your parents qualify for an immigrant visa, trying to get a waiver makes sense. If they are trying to get a visitor’s visa, applying for a waiver may be a waste of time. That’s because to get a visitor’s visa, your parents must prove they will return home after their visit. Consular officers consider prior fraud as a sign that a visitor visa applicant won’t keep a promise to return.
Immigrant visa applicants can get a fraud waiver if they can prove that not getting the visa would result in extreme hardship to a U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse or parent. If USCIS grants the waiver, the prior fraud would not longer be a bar to permanent residence. The path to the green card would be clear.
For nonimmigrants, INA section 212(d)(3) waives almost all bars to getting a visa except those dealing with national security and Nazi persecution. In deciding whether to grant the waiver, the government will consider the risk of harm to society if the applicant is admitted, the seriousness of the applicant’s prior immigration law, or criminal law, violations, if any, and reasons the applicant wants to come to the United States.
Q. From what I’ve read in your column, once I naturalize, my daughters will automatically become U.S. citizens. When that happens, will they get a certificate or other USCIS document to prove that they are Americans? Both of my daughters are permanent residents and they are under 18. Both are living with me. Soon I will take the citizenship test. Will they get citizenship certificates when I get mine?
Armen Nunez, Bronx
A. While your daughters may derive U.S. citizenship automatically upon your naturalization, USCIS won’t provide them proof. You would need to either apply for certificates of citizenship for them, or get them U.S. passports. As I have often argued, getting a U.S. passport is the best choice. It is faster, cheaper and they can use it for travel abroad. Besides, passport office examiners overall have a better understanding of the law and a more generous approach in considering whether a child derived U.S. citizenship.
To get your children U.S. passports or citizenship certificates, you typically submit copies of your naturalization certificate and their birth certificates. The law no longer prohibits making copies of naturalization or citizenship certificates. Where only one parent has naturalized and that parent is the father, the parent must also submit either a marriage certificate and proof of the termination of prior marriages or other proof that the child was born legitimate. You should also submit copies of the children’s permanent residence cards or other proof that they are permanent residents — their birth certificates, and proof of actual custody. Where the child’s parents are divorced, the parent should submit proof of legal custody as well. Note that if the divorce judgement does not mention custody, the law presumes joint custody. For adopted children, the parent submits the adoption decree and proof of any legal name change.
Clement Blache, Jersey City, N.J.
A. An undocumented immigrant can collect lottery winnings, but it might not lead to legal status. Just being rich doesn’t guarantee you a green card. Unless the winner qualifies to interview in the United States for permanent residence, he or she will have a difficult path to getting legal status.
The law provides for permanent residence for investors under the EB-5 program. The applicant must invest one million dollars in a business that creates at least 10 jobs for U.S. citizen or permanent resident workers. The minimum is $500,000 if the investment is an area with an unemployment rate at least 150% of the national average or a rural area with a population of less than 20,000.
However, for most undocumented immigrant investors, the dreaded “unlawful presence” bar to residence would keep them from getting a green card. Unless the investor qualifies to interview here for permanent residence, he or she would have to return home for an immigrant visa interview. Then, the applicant could face a three or 10-year bar to getting the visa. That’s the penalty for applicants who leave after being here unlawfully for more than 180 days.
Laura, Brooklyn
A. The law provides for two waivers of the “fraud” ground of inadmissibility. If your parents qualify for an immigrant visa, trying to get a waiver makes sense. If they are trying to get a visitor’s visa, applying for a waiver may be a waste of time. That’s because to get a visitor’s visa, your parents must prove they will return home after their visit. Consular officers consider prior fraud as a sign that a visitor visa applicant won’t keep a promise to return.
Immigrant visa applicants can get a fraud waiver if they can prove that not getting the visa would result in extreme hardship to a U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse or parent. If USCIS grants the waiver, the prior fraud would not longer be a bar to permanent residence. The path to the green card would be clear.
For nonimmigrants, INA section 212(d)(3) waives almost all bars to getting a visa except those dealing with national security and Nazi persecution. In deciding whether to grant the waiver, the government will consider the risk of harm to society if the applicant is admitted, the seriousness of the applicant’s prior immigration law, or criminal law, violations, if any, and reasons the applicant wants to come to the United States.
Q. From what I’ve read in your column, once I naturalize, my daughters will automatically become U.S. citizens. When that happens, will they get a certificate or other USCIS document to prove that they are Americans? Both of my daughters are permanent residents and they are under 18. Both are living with me. Soon I will take the citizenship test. Will they get citizenship certificates when I get mine?
Armen Nunez, Bronx
A. While your daughters may derive U.S. citizenship automatically upon your naturalization, USCIS won’t provide them proof. You would need to either apply for certificates of citizenship for them, or get them U.S. passports. As I have often argued, getting a U.S. passport is the best choice. It is faster, cheaper and they can use it for travel abroad. Besides, passport office examiners overall have a better understanding of the law and a more generous approach in considering whether a child derived U.S. citizenship.
To get your children U.S. passports or citizenship certificates, you typically submit copies of your naturalization certificate and their birth certificates. The law no longer prohibits making copies of naturalization or citizenship certificates. Where only one parent has naturalized and that parent is the father, the parent must also submit either a marriage certificate and proof of the termination of prior marriages or other proof that the child was born legitimate. You should also submit copies of the children’s permanent residence cards or other proof that they are permanent residents — their birth certificates, and proof of actual custody. Where the child’s parents are divorced, the parent should submit proof of legal custody as well. Note that if the divorce judgement does not mention custody, the law presumes joint custody. For adopted children, the parent submits the adoption decree and proof of any legal name change.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/winning-mega-million-lottery-guarantee-green-card-illegal-immigrant-article-1.1075661#ixzz2nq14G9XJ
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