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I used to believe that was true until I met a guy at work that had married a woman from Russia. They still had to go through a lot of red tape to get her citizenship. In no way is citizenship automatic when getting married. I think they can get their green cards faster though.
Even legal immigrants must wait seven years before applying for citizenship. My wife is a naturalized citizen.
Marriage or engagement to a US citizen is one of the criteria for legal immigration. But if someone is already here illegally, they are not eligible to "go back and come in the right way" because they already have a criminal record. That would disqualify them for immigration.
Sometimes I have heard of getting an immigration lawyer to "adjust status." That's if they came illegally, married a US citizen, and wish to become a legal permanent resident/green card holder with a path to citizenship.
In the case of DACA, it's a special case because they were brought as kids and didn't know it was illegal or had no control over it so some means of making them legal needs to be established.
This is not possible for DACA people. DACA only provides a temporary immigration status that allows them to work and and stay inside the country and at this point it can not be renewed nor can the status be adjusted.
The only way that a DACA person can become a permanent resident is if one of their parents are a US citizen. However, even that is problematic because the US citizen parent would have to petition for their child to be admitted into the US while the child is outside of the US.
A lawyer well versed in immigration law may be able to work around this, but there are very few competent immigration lawyers because there's no money to be made on immigrants.
This is not possible for DACA people. DACA only provides a temporary immigration status that allows them to work and and stay inside the country and at this point it can not be renewed nor can the status be adjusted.
The only way that a DACA person can become a permanent resident is if one of their parents are a US citizen. However, even that is problematic because the US citizen parent would have to petition for their child to be admitted into the US while the child is outside of the US.
A lawyer well versed in immigration law may be able to work around this, but there are very few competent immigration lawyers because there's no money to be made on immigrants.
The point is instead of illegals coming here and staying illegally and the DACA illegals signing up for Obama's unconstitutional DACA, the illegals could've used the same pathway as all the other immigrants.
I used to believe that was true until I met a guy at work that had married a woman from Russia. They still had to go through a lot of red tape to get her citizenship. In no way is citizenship automatic when getting married. I think they can get their green cards faster though.
No, it is not automatic. You have to apply for green card like everyone else, and prove you are in living in an actual marriage, not only to get citizenship.
Perhaps but very tricky. If an illegal has been in the US for more than s year illegally he or she is banned for ten years from the US. There is a hardship waiver but it is not a guarantee. And under Trump even applying for it may get you deported. And once deported you will have to beat the 10 year ban. So it is very expensive and may well end up getting you deported.
Well, you can always go back to Mexico and marry there, and then come to US as a spouse of a US citizen.
The point is instead of illegals coming here and staying illegally and the DACA illegals signing up for Obama's unconstitutional DACA, the illegals could've used the same pathway as all the other immigrants.
There's no pathway for them. If we are specially talking about Mexicans they can cross the land border with the US at any time and travel freely within 20 miles of the border. This is basically a tourist visa, although i don't think passports are stamped at land borders.
To obtain an official visa they would have to apply at the US embassy in Mexico and attend an interview. Assuming they pass and are given the visa its valid for 10 years and they can stay for a max of 6 months at a time. This is only a tourist visa and they can not apply for a green card, citizenship, or work with this type of visa.
Only rich Mexicans get these 10 year visas and they can be renewed.
No poor Mexican can apply for a green card to enter the US permanently. The only real way they can come in is to marry a US citizen or have a close relative who is a US resident or citizen petition for them thru what is commonly called "family reunification"
There is also a temp work visa I think its called H2B in which Mexicans can enter and work in the US, but they can not adjust status for a green card with this type of visa. H2b are also limited each year. Some farms as far away as Florida actually apply for them.
There's no pathway for them. If we are specially talking about Mexicans they can cross the land border with the US at any time and travel freely within 20 miles of the border. This is basically a tourist visa, although i don't think passports are stamped at land borders.
To obtain an official visa they would have to apply at the US embassy in Mexico and attend an interview. Assuming they pass and are given the visa its valid for 10 years and they can stay for a max of 6 months at a time. This is only a tourist visa and they can not apply for a green card, citizenship, or work with this type of visa.
Only rich Mexicans get these 10 year visas and they can be renewed.
No poor Mexican can apply for a green card to enter the US permanently. The only real way they can come in is to marry a US citizen or have a close relative petition for them thru what is commonly called "family reunification"
There is also a temp work visa I think its called H2B in which Mexicans can enter and work in the US, but they can not adjust status for a green card with this type of visa. H2b are also limited each year. Some farms as far away as Florida actually apply for them.
You can twist it anyway you want, but they have the same pathway as other foreign nationals living in other countries do. illegally immigrating should not be a pathway to citizenship.
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