Returning after being
turned back at the border
By Allan Wernick
Syndicated Columnist
www.allanwernick.com
allanwernick@earthlink.net 
The City University of New York Citizenship and Immigration Project (that I direct) has
launched a Spanish-language Web site. Check it out at www.cuny.edu/ciudadania. The Web
site mirrors the Project’s English version (www.cuny.edu/citizenshipnow). The CUNY site is one
of the only non-commercial immigration-law sites in Spanish on the Web. It provides useful
information and resources on citizenship and immigration law for both immigrants and U.S.
citizens. Helpful information at the site includes tools to prepare for the citizenship test, a list of
the requirements to become a U.S. citizen, information on how to petition for a family member,
and advice on how to replace United States Citizenship and Immigration Services documents.
Daughter who abandoned residence must wait for new green card
Q. My daughter had a green card but then moved back to Ireland. I have petitioned
for her, but the wait in her category is about seven years. Can I get her the right to live here
sooner? My daughter was born in Ireland in 1986. Within a few months of birth, she immigrated
here with my wife and myself. Then she returned to Ireland and now returns for annual visits.
-- Eugene Cusack, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
A. Unless you or your wife naturalized before your daughter turned 18 and before she
returned to Ireland, she’ll just have to wait to get new permanent residence. If you or your wife
naturalized under the conditions I described, your daughter is a U.S. citizen. That’s based on
the rules that applied at the time your daughter turned 18. If she did not get derivative citizenship,
her only option besides waiting for her immigrant visa is to try to come here on a student
or work visa.
Assuming your daughter was abroad for more thanone continuous year without prior
permission, she abandoned her U.S. residence. Further, entering the United States as a visitor
is evidence that a person no longer considers him- or herself a permanent resident.
Spouse of U.S. citizen can count conditional status toward naturalization
Q. My wife and I have been married for three years. I petitioned for her, and she got
her conditional permanent residence valid for two years. She is about to get her permanent
card. When do we start counting the three years she needs before she can naturalize? -- Pierre
Covin, Elizabeth, N.J.
A. Your wife counts her time to qualify for naturalization when she became a conditional
permanent resident. To qualify to naturalize under the special rules for the spouse of a
U.S. citizen, your wife must have been married to and living with the same U.S.-citizen husband
for three years while a permanent resident. That includes time in conditional-residence status.
Sister of citizen can interview here based on spouse petition
Q. I qualified to interview here based on a petition my U.S.-citizen brother filed for me
on or before April 30, 2001. If I marry my U.S.-citizen fiance, can I interview here based on his
petition? I entered the United States illegally. -- M., Dallas
A. You can interview in the United States -- the process we call “adjustment of status”
-- under the 245i “grandfather” law. That law allows someone who had a family or employer
case pending on or before April 30, 2001, to interview here. You can use that right under any
immigrant visa category. To qualify under the April 30, 2001 cutoff, you must have been here
on Dec. 21, 2000. Individuals with cases filed on Jan. 14, 1998, or before need not meet the
physical-presence requirement.
Send questions and comments to Allan Wernick c/o King Features Syndicate, 300 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019.
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