Family-based Immigration

Contrary to popular belief, the vast majority of undocumented immigrants inside the United States entered legal immigration status and then overstayed their status. Many enter as tourists, students, or non-immigrant workers. When their visa status expires, they simply remain in the United States and overstay their legal admission by months, years, or even decades. Thus making them undocumented or illegal. In some cases, the foreign national develops a relationship with a US citizen that leads to marriage. We discuss the process of going from a visa overstay to a green card through marriage here.

As part of the process of obtaining a green card while inside the United States, the intending immigrant must submit USCIS Form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record completed by a designated civil surgeon. One of the many requirements is proof of vaccination against COVID-19. We discuss the required medical examination and the COVID-19 vaccination requirement here.

If you have a US immigration matter that has been pending well beyond standard processing times, you have exhausted all available administrative remedies, and the US government still fails to act on your case, you may be able to find relief with a mandamus action. We discuss mandamus actions to address processing delays for US immigration matters here.