help with school

[krystl5003]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? florida
My wife comes from Poland and has been a U.S. citizen for about one year. We have petitioned for green cards for her mother and father and the process is going smoothly. The problem is that her parents have a 12 year old son and as we understand it, to petition for his green card will take several years as he is not considered an immediate relative. This logic escapes me and it is just too ridiculous to comprehend how the government expects families to break up when the purpose of immigrating is to have a better life but that is another discussion altogether. We are exploring ways around this requirement. My question is...if mom and dad came here after getting approved for there green card and brother came here at the same time on his tourist visa and we enrolled him in 7th grade at a public school, then immediately have mom and dad petition to change his status**************is this legal and will this work out? From what I have read, the public school will not question his immigration status, however if INS finds out then the entire family could be deported. Is this true or will this plan work....If this plan wont work, what about doing the same as above but having him enroll in a private school for the two years it will take to change his status once the parents get here. Any usefull advice is greatly appreciated as this is most difficult and we are trying to come up with a legal way for our family to all be together, sooner rather than later.

 

[ImmigAttyLana]

When the mom and dad enter the US as immigrants, it is not a foregone conclusion that the son will be able to enter the US as a visitor because if he needs to get a visitor's visa with both parents immigrating, it is highly unlikely that he will be issued a visitor's visa. Even if he is and they all enter the US, there is no possibility of changing his status immediately because his parents will only be green card holders and they would need to petition for their son (one of them would) and it is currently a 4 year wait for a visa number to become available for that preference category. During that time, he would need to maintain valid nonimmigrant status which will not be possible if he is a visitor. The only way it would work would be if he overstays and waits until one of his parents becomes a US citizen and then either petitions for him or upgrades a pending petition on his behalf and then that would allow him to adjust on the basis of being an immediate relative. But that is going to be about 5-6 years after they all enter the US and during all that time he would be unlawfully present in the US.

Please let me know if you have any additional questions or how I can be of further assistance to you in this matter.

 

[krystl5003]

Thank you very much for your reply it is greatly appreciated.

There is a catholic school locally that will issue I-20's for foreign students. Would we be able to get him a student visa this way, and then would he be here legally for as long as we have him in private school. As I mentioned before we are in process of petitioning for green cards for his mother and father and currently I just sent in the AOS application fee. Would mother and father be allowed on green card and son on student visa and then when parents get here we petition for changing his status. Would that work and about how long would it take to have his status changed.

I truly appreciate any advice

 

[ImmigAttyLana]

It is possible that the boy will be issued a student visa but just as likely if not more likely that he will not be issued a student visa, given that the parents are going to be immigrating to the US and he will be deemed to have immigrant intent as he will not be deemed to want to return to Poland if the entire family is in the US. I have gotten humanitarian parole for these types of scenarios in the past for clients in similar situations but there is no guarantee that this will work now either although that's probably the only option if he is not granted a student visa.