Green Card through Children FAQs

1. The answer is No.

2. No. There is no special procedure for leaving the United States.

3. There is no limit to their time. The only limitation is if they are scheduled for an interview they should plan on returning on a short notice.

4. You just need to show your Advance Parole and passport.

5. There are no  instructions, other than the fact they should be ready to come back when needed. If they schedule an interview we try to get the interview waived. If they do not waive the interview, the interview can be rescheduled and it is a valid ground for rescheduling if they are outside the United States.

6. If somebody is on Advance Parole and their Green card gets approved, they should board the flight using the Advance Parole. When they arrive at the airport in the United States the CBP (Customs and Border Protection) officer should admit them as Green card holders. If that does not happen then they usually let them in on Advance Parole.

1. You have to be a US citizen to sponsor her Green card. For Green Card holders as I recall the only family other than the children and wife they can sponsor is unmarried adult children over 21 but unmarried you can apply for their Green Card. Once you become US citizen your possible beneficiaries can be larger including your parents. There is little-known provision that is sometimes used, use it if it's necessary when let say your parents they don't have anybody in India to take care of them. We have been able to extend their tourist visa in those cases, stay in tourist visa even though you are on Green card we can try to make an argument that there is nobody in India to take care of them. This provision is not very clear cut in cases of holders of Green Card but believe it or not if you are on non-immigrant visa like student or H-1 visa or O-1 or B-1 any of those visas or L-1, you actually have more rights to bring your parents here. The reason being that there are certain categories of visas where people are not directly dependent and you cannot sponsor them for derivative visas but government recognizes that we will give you an extension of tourist visas. So if you are here on H-1 and you wanted to bring your mother here because she is alone in India, you could actually do her because she can't get her H-4 being your mother, she can still get B-1 or B-2 which can be extended because she is recognized or covered under those situations. However, Green card holders they don't have same privilege but you can be able to get their extension sometimes. It's not the full proof method for me wait until you get naturalization. Once you are naturalized, your parents can be here within a year on a Green Card.

2. I have done it repeatedly, every six months we have to do it, there are some people who are in 3rd, 4th or 5th year we are doing repeatedly for them. But it's not or no means it should be taken as given or guaranteed rule. 

See clip from Attorney Rajiv S. Khanna's conference call video that addresses this question.

FAQ Transcript:

This is one thing very common in many cases. The issue of applying for a green card, when you are visiting on a tourist visa or even converting a tourist visa to H-1, L-1 and student visa is always a problem.

When you try to do that the government can bring the issue that when you entered USA on a tourist visa it was your intention to convert to a long term status which is illegal according to the government. There is actually a 30 - 60 day rule which says if you enter on a tourist visa and you changed to a longer term visa and status within 30 days of entry, will presume it that you had a preconceived intention to do so. That can be considered to be a fraud and if you’re not able to rebut that fraud presumption that can become a permanent bar from entering the USA.

So if you try to change statuses in 30 days of entry and if you do it within 60 days they can still question it but there is no automatic presumption. If you do after 60 days they may not question. But remember even if you try to change status after 60 days you can be questioned by USCIS, CBP or even consulates about your intention. So when your parents are visiting it is important that they don’t have an intention to apply for a green card when they enter on a tourist visa. If after staying here for 3-5 months it so happens that their intention changes I don’t see any problem with that. Remember you the child, you the son or the daughter what your intentions is I do not care but your parents should not have the intention to convert into green card. If they arrived with the preconceived intention to change to green card they can have a problem. So don’t let them have that intention. After a few months if they are living here and you are able to convince them to file their green card then I think that’s ok.

As for the question regarding birth certificate it should not be an issue because having the maiden name is common in USA as well as India. That should be ok even though her passport contains her married name and her birth certificate contains her maiden name. Under Indian laws - under Hindu Marriage Act you are not required to have any marriage certificates when you are going through a religious marriage. It only has to comply with the laws of that religion. Having a marriage certificate under religious laws is not required.

Regarding marriage certification you can get affidavits from two people who attended the marriage. 

As for the question about your father not having a birth certificate you do need to get a certificate of non availability from the place he was born. There is no particular format to the certificate of non availability. All it has to say is that they have looked at the records. When you have that you can get affidavits of two people who were alive when you father was born. So certificate of non availability combined with two affidavits will be required.

Yes you can. Having the same last name is not required.

You have several choices, including "No Last Name Used." If she wishes to use some other name, including adding a last name, now would be a good time to do it.

She can sponsor you for your green card upon turning 21.