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Ask an Immigration Lawyer - AIM - 23 How to fill out the Form I-485 for an Adjustment of Status in the United States

AIM - 23 How to fill out the Form I-485 for an Adjustment of Status in the United States

03/07/19 • 27 min

Ask an Immigration Lawyer
How to fill out the Form I-485 for an Adjustment of Status in the United States? 00:01 We don't give legal advice but I felt it would be nice to show how to complete a form, what it looks like. It's all done for general information only and when you have a case like an adjustment of status based on family, on deployment, those are really complicated things and you should definitely work with an attorney 00:35 We will now begin with form I-45, and this form is extremely important that you have all of your information correct because this is the form that the USCIS will use in order to prepare your green card. 02:07 Information about you continues with the country of birth and country citizenship. The alien number again, is only if you've been in the U.S. before. So if you entered the U.S. through crossing the border or an airport and you were admitted at a port of entry, which you have to have been admitted at a port of entry in order to file for adjustment of status, you will click on this that you were inspected. 03:56 Some people have entered a with an advanced parole or a humanitarian parole. And if that's your case, then you want to click on this one. And if you came into the United States without admission or parole, you want to click on this one. 05:03 They want to know the name as it appears on your I-94. Usually it is almost the same as it appears on your passport 05:46 Are you applying for adjustment based on immigration nationality act, section 245-I? So some people who have petitions that were filed prior to April 30th of 2001and entered unlawfully without a visa would mark yes here. And those people would have to complete another form as well, but we're just focusing on the marriage case right now so you probably entered legally, you're going to answer no 06:31 This section is usually not for marriage cases because it has to do with petitions that have already been filed for other people through an employer or through a relative it's really important for you to be very honest and very clear. 08:06 It wants you to provide your most recent address outside the U.S. where you lived more than one year. That would also match the information that you put on your I-130. How many times have you been married before? So and this includes annulled marriages, so you want to put down how many times you've been married before. 09:53 Information about prior marriages, this is where you put all your prior marriages, where you get married. You do need to have this information, so hopefully you remember it or have it with you 11:02 Read this carefully. It's telling you how many children you need to enter in here, whether they're married or unmarried, living with you or elsewhere. You want to include any missing children and other children that were born outside of your marriage. 12:32 some of the questions are very intricate and you have to be very careful how you answer these. So let's start with the first one. Have you ever been a member of, involved in or in any way associated with any organization, association fund, foundation, party, club society or similar group in the United States or in any other location in the world, including any military service. You want to put that information here because this is needed for your background check. So it's very important that you complete this as thoroughly as possible. 13:30 It's asking if you've ever been denied admission to the United States. So if you've ever tried to enter the U.S. and they said no, you can't come in or they canceled your visa or anything like that happened. 14:32 You'd want to answer. Yes. Have you ever been denied a visa to the United States? If you applied for your B-1, B-2 visa and it was denied or you're applying for an F-1 visa and it was denied and then later you apply for another visa and it was approved, you still have to answer yes that you've been denied a...
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How to fill out the Form I-485 for an Adjustment of Status in the United States? 00:01 We don't give legal advice but I felt it would be nice to show how to complete a form, what it looks like. It's all done for general information only and when you have a case like an adjustment of status based on family, on deployment, those are really complicated things and you should definitely work with an attorney 00:35 We will now begin with form I-45, and this form is extremely important that you have all of your information correct because this is the form that the USCIS will use in order to prepare your green card. 02:07 Information about you continues with the country of birth and country citizenship. The alien number again, is only if you've been in the U.S. before. So if you entered the U.S. through crossing the border or an airport and you were admitted at a port of entry, which you have to have been admitted at a port of entry in order to file for adjustment of status, you will click on this that you were inspected. 03:56 Some people have entered a with an advanced parole or a humanitarian parole. And if that's your case, then you want to click on this one. And if you came into the United States without admission or parole, you want to click on this one. 05:03 They want to know the name as it appears on your I-94. Usually it is almost the same as it appears on your passport 05:46 Are you applying for adjustment based on immigration nationality act, section 245-I? So some people who have petitions that were filed prior to April 30th of 2001and entered unlawfully without a visa would mark yes here. And those people would have to complete another form as well, but we're just focusing on the marriage case right now so you probably entered legally, you're going to answer no 06:31 This section is usually not for marriage cases because it has to do with petitions that have already been filed for other people through an employer or through a relative it's really important for you to be very honest and very clear. 08:06 It wants you to provide your most recent address outside the U.S. where you lived more than one year. That would also match the information that you put on your I-130. How many times have you been married before? So and this includes annulled marriages, so you want to put down how many times you've been married before. 09:53 Information about prior marriages, this is where you put all your prior marriages, where you get married. You do need to have this information, so hopefully you remember it or have it with you 11:02 Read this carefully. It's telling you how many children you need to enter in here, whether they're married or unmarried, living with you or elsewhere. You want to include any missing children and other children that were born outside of your marriage. 12:32 some of the questions are very intricate and you have to be very careful how you answer these. So let's start with the first one. Have you ever been a member of, involved in or in any way associated with any organization, association fund, foundation, party, club society or similar group in the United States or in any other location in the world, including any military service. You want to put that information here because this is needed for your background check. So it's very important that you complete this as thoroughly as possible. 13:30 It's asking if you've ever been denied admission to the United States. So if you've ever tried to enter the U.S. and they said no, you can't come in or they canceled your visa or anything like that happened. 14:32 You'd want to answer. Yes. Have you ever been denied a visa to the United States? If you applied for your B-1, B-2 visa and it was denied or you're applying for an F-1 visa and it was denied and then later you apply for another visa and it was approved, you still have to answer yes that you've been denied a...

Previous Episode

undefined - AIM - 22 How to get a green card if US citizen passed away

AIM - 22 How to get a green card if US citizen passed away

How to get a green card if U.S. citizen passed away? 00:01 ] A U.S. citizen spouse just passed away. You're about to get your green card. What do you do? How do you get your green card on your own? 00:14 There are cases where a couple of starts the process, they file their I30 to 45. They're going through the process and suddenly a tragedy happen and the U.S. citizen spouse passes away, an illness, a car accident What do you do? 1:09 There is a petition called I360, a widow petition where if the person is still married at the time of death and they were living together as a bona fide marriage that the surviving spouse can file an I360 petition as a widow, and then complete the process on her own. 2:03 It's very important to document all the paperwork and come prepared for that interview with your attorney to make sure that they understand the law and will adjudicate the case.

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undefined - AIM - 24 How to choose the right immigration lawyer for you

AIM - 24 How to choose the right immigration lawyer for you

How to choose the right immigration lawyer for you 00:00 You need an immigration lawyer, but how do you find the right one 00:11 We wanted to answer one of the most common questions that I get asked how to find the right immigration lawyer for you. 00:36 It's really important to start with a referral 01:06 Most immigration attorneys are offering free consultations. And so it's important to choose some of those that are offering free consultations. 01:25 . Most immigration attorneys are working on a flat rate basis. 02:00 02:47 Most attorneys are working on an hourly basis, but a lot of immigration attorneys are shifting to the flat fee model, which basically allows you to know upfront how much are going to cost you to pay for the case, how much you're going to take time on, on their side to prepare the file. 03:42 Another important factor is to find out if this attorney is a member of AILA, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, which controls most of the immigration bar. 04:22 Most attorneys that are practicing immigration law should have a public profile on Google reviews, on yelp and on AVO, which are the three main sites that you should definitely check your attorneys on Google. 04:45 The other thing you want to check is to see where they are licensed and if there are any disciplinary actions with their, with their bar association. Some attorneys are licensed in one state and they can practice immigration law in another state because the federal law, so it doesn't matter where they are, they can practice immigration law 05:26 I think the most important advice is that it's important to meet with a few attorneys before you make a decision because everybody has a different style. There are many, many good lawyers out there and it's up to you to find the right one for you.

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