Adjustment of Status Through Marriage Under DACA
In 2012, the USCIS began granting certain undocumented aliens employment authorization for a period of two-year years. Approved DACA applicants may also be eligible for Advance Parole, which allows them to travel outside of the United States and to re-enter, provided that it was for humanitarian, educational or employment purposes.
DACA applicants are undocumented – meaning that they did not enter the country with inspection. Generally, undocumented aliens cannot adjust their status and get a green card even if they are married to a United States citizen. Advance Parole under DACA may provide a loophole
Example
Valeria was brought to the United States by her parents without inspection when she was 3 years old. She graduated high school in 2010 and was approved for employment authorization under DACA in 2012. In 2013, her grandmother in Mexico and became terminally ill. She obtained Advance Parole under DACA and was able to visit her grandmother for the last time before she passed. She returned to the United States after a one month stay. In 2014, she married her longtime boyfriend, John, who is a United States citizen. Since Valeria was able to provide proof that she re-entered the United States legally in 2013 under Advance Parole, John can petition her for a green card and she can now adjust her status without a ten-year ban or the need for a provisional waiver. She would not be able to adjust her status if she hadn’t visited her grandmother and re-entered under Advance Parole because her only entry prior to that was without inspection.
If you have been approved under DACA, or if you may be eligible, please contact us so that we can arrange a viable strategy for you.
[…] Unfortunately, getting married sooner won’t result in naturalization for Tovar-Contreras. DACA allows immigrants to work and live here, but the path to citizenship is byzantine. Because Tovar-Contreras wasn’t “inspected” when she entered the country, she’s not eligible for a green card — the traditional first step toward citizenship — and the measure that would make marriage a viable option. In fact, to secure a green card, she’d have to leave the country for a time, so she could re-enter under the process known as “Advance Parole.” While this might result in a green card, it also carries the risk that she wouldn’t be able to return. […]