Gainesville Consular Cases & Waivers Lawyer
If you are at a social event with people from a variety of national backgrounds and you ask all of the naturalized United States citizens and lawful permanent residents how they got their green cards, their answers will probably all be different. Some of them will have gotten their green cards after a family member who is a U.S. citizen sponsored them. Others may have gotten U.S. residency after marrying their spouse, who already had U.S. citizenship when they met; perhaps some of these first moved to the United States as students with student visas and then met their spouses through studies or work. You might even find people who received their green cards through the green card lottery or after being sponsored by employers. It is possible to get a green card without going through the long process of entering the United States on a nonimmigrant visa and then adjusting your status. The Gainesville consular cases & waivers lawyers at Shirazi Immigration Law Center can help you with your case.
Is Consular Processing the Only Way to Get a Green Card?
To apply for a green card when you are already in the United States on a visitor visa, student visa, or nonimmigrant work visa, you must file an application for adjustment of status. You can and should remain in the United States while the application is pending, and if United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) approves it, you will get a green card. It is also possible to apply for a green card while you are in your country of citizenship. Applying for a green card at the U.S. Embassy or a U.S. consulate in your own country is called consular processing. It is available for people who are unable to obtain nonimmigrant visas and travel to the United States before applying for a green card.
Who Is Eligible for a Waiver of Inadmissibility?
Inadmissibility means being ineligible to apply for a green card, and it is the main reason that USCIS denies people’s green card applications. These are some reasons that USCIS rejects green card applications:
- The applicant was convicted of a crime in the U.S. or another country
- The applicant was deported from the U.S.
- The applicant previously entered the U.S. illegally
- Certain medical diagnoses such as hepatitis C or tuberculosis
An immigration lawyer can help you apply for a waiver of inadmissibility before you apply for a green card or after USCIS has denied your application.
What Is a Provisional Waiver?
If you applied for a green card from the embassy or consulate in your own country, USCIS schedules your green card interview at the same embassy or consulate. If you have traveled to the U.S. on a nonimmigrant visa in the meantime, especially if you are staying with family members in the U.S., you can apply for a provisional waiver. If USCIS grants the provisional waiver, you can do your interview in the U.S. instead of traveling all the way back to your country of origin.
Consular Cases and Waivers Lawyers in Gainesville, Georgia
Contact Shirazi Immigration Law, Inc. at our offices in Atlanta, Georgia to represent you in your consular processing or provisional waiver case.
