Q&A’s published on Lawyers.com and the Epoch Times – 10/27/2017 1.I Am An Asylee With Approved Asylum Case, Applied for Refugee Travel Document Before I Left the States. 2.Can Stepdad File An I-130 and I-485 for Child With Expired K-2 Visa If Mother And Stepdad Are Divorced? 3.What Is The Process for a Temporary Green Card Holder Deportation From the U.S.A. After Criminal Conviction Was Vacated?

1. I Am An Asylee With Approved Asylum Case, Applied for Refugee Travel Document Before I Left the States.

It has been more than three months, I have not received my refugee travel document. I want to know what are the implications if I travel back to the states without my refugee travel document in hand? What will happen if I show them my asylum approval, my work permit, a letter from my organization explaining why I had traveled, and the receipt from USCIS that they received my application for refugee travel document and that I have already done my biometrics. I want to know if I will be able to return without my refugee travel document in hand?

Mr. Lee answers:
Without having your refugee travel document in hand, you might certainly have a difficult time at the port of entry. Assuming that you are even able to make it to the port of entry in that the air carrier (if flying in) has allowed you to board, the immigration inspector would certainly place you in secondary inspection and you would likely be stuck there for quite some time while Customs and Border Protection decides what to do with you. Ultimately they may allow you back in, but it may be quite an ordeal for you. I note a 1999 memorandum from legacy INS that a person in your situation is inadmissible and subject to removal proceedings and may not resume status in the U. S. unless he or she applies for and is granted a refugee travel document at a U. S. consulate or port of entry, or is granted parole back into the country.

2. Can Stepdad File An I-130 and I-485 for Child With Expired K-2 Visa If Mother And Stepdad Are Divorced?

My son was born out of wedlock in Germany to a German mother and US citizen father. Paternity was established many years later and he pays child support under a court order. In 2008 we came to the US to marry a different man with a K-1 and K-2 visa, but my son’s I-485 was not filed because I was told by the DA’s office and USCIS hotline he is a U.S. citizen by birth, but father fails to file a 600 for him. With attorney’s advice I acquired citizenship in June 2015 to file for my son. I filed I-130 and I-485 last September and got denied because of wrong status on I-94 entry form. Now they want to deport him while he is still a minor and we have no relatives over there anymore. The original petitioner and I are divorced. Can he still file for my son?

Mr. Lee answers:
Under present law, your son is eligible for adjustment of status under the original petition. The marital relationship was adjudged bona fide by USCIS as you are now a US citizen and could only have been adjusted to permanent residence through the petitioner of your K-1. The crux of the matter is that the original petitioner either had to have filed an I-864 affidavit of support in the past, or he is willing to do it now.

3.What Is The Process for a Temporary Green Card Holder Deportation From the U.S.A. After Criminal Conviction Was Vacated?

Who is barred permanently: If you have been convicted of an aggravated felony, entered the U.S. without permission after being removed (deported), or illegally reentered the U.S. after having previously been in the U.S. unlawfully for more than one year, you may be permanently barred from entering the United States. This isn’t quite as bad as it sounds, however, in that you are allowed to apply for a waiver of inadmissibility after ten years. Am I illegible for this waiver? 

Mr. Lee answers:
You may be eligible for a waiver of the “permanent” bar after you have been outside the US for 10 years. At that time, you could apply for one and it would be adjudicated in accordance with law. One of the things that will be considered is the aggravated felony even if the criminal conviction was vacated. In the eyes of DHS, an individual can be declared inadmissible if he or she admits the facts of the barring act.