However in order to be recognized as an ‘abused child’ you need to be under 18. After that agze, you’re just an adult living on his/her own. So, GO TALK TO YOUR/A SOCIAL WORKER TODAY. It’s absolutely urgent and you must do this immediately.
And you need to move on this because the date of filing is your priority date. Sometimes they process things in groups, and a day can make the difference of six months or a year. I filed my daughter’s citizenship papers and missed the six month group by a day or two, so that moved her into the next batch. Not a big deal, except they assigned her an interview date when we were on vacation, so that moved it another six months! Then, the law changed and she was in suspense, having become a citizen with the law change but having no paperwork to prove it.
In the end it was fine but just a lot more hassle for me, and it all could have been avoided by filing just a few days earlier. File NOW.
That’s incorrect. An “abused child” may file on his or her own until the age of 21. Take a look at the link that @happymomof1 provided (post #18 above):
https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/battered-spouse-children-parents
But @twoinanddone is right - processing any of these applications takes time, and if @Redmadam needs her green card in order to be able to start college, then she needs to start the process ASAP.
I stand corrected. Thank you.
Here is the rub…this student says he or she will be starting college THIS fall and needs financial aid.
I think the student needs to ask to defer their college acceptance for a year…assuming the current visa allows him or her to stay here and work. If that is the case, the student can work, and at the same time wait for his green card…which usually takes a while to process!
I’m so sorry about your situation. It’s terrible that you have been dealt such an unfair hand. I hope you can get this worked out ASAP–don’t delay a minute longer on your end! Best wishes!
The student needs to defer. It’s terribly unfair but s/he needs to get the green card issue processed first, and that needs to be done ASAP.
@twoinanddone - Thanks for the feedback. My counselor wasn’t in school yesterday to talk to her regarding it, so now I have to wait until Monday. I’m trying my best, but given that I cant afford an immigration lawyer it’s difficult.
@dodgersmom - Thanks!! That’s definitely useful. I’ll try to file the documents as soon as I can.
@thumper1 - Well here’s the issue, I’m not here on a visa. I have a work permit but my visa expired years ago (my family first moved to the US when I was 10, now I’m almost 18). My work permit is only valid for a few more months, which is why I’m trying to figure out a way to avoid deferring my admission because I’m not sure if I’ll be able to keep working when my work permit expires.
@choirsandstages - Thanks for the encouragement! Much appreciated.
@MYOS1634 - I’ll talk to my counselor first on Monday and then make a decision as to whether or not to defer my admission by a semester (or would I have to take a full gap year?). I’m still waiting to hear back from Simpson College regarding their merit scholarship, so if the scholarship that they offer is big enough I might be able to attend without financial aid freshman year and then apply for financial aid for the other three years once I have the green card issue sorted out. Are you aware of any private organizations (that don’t require a green card/social security number) where I could take out a loan for freshman year? That might also be an option if it’s at all possible.
Your priority is getting a green card as an abused spouse/child/partner of a permanent resident/citizen.
Simpson doesn’t meet need and tomorrow’s the day you’re supposed to deposit. I know you’re holding on for that, but it’s not going to happen. We’re 24 hours to the deadline and it’s a weekend.
Your status is complicated - do you have a SSN? You’re not an international (no visa) and you’re not DACA -you’re an abandonned minor (there’s a process for that, but the battered/abused child status is more appropriate for you and, most importantly, gives you a bit more time.) Once you’ve been sorted out and processed in th right category, a document will be issued that means you can’t be deported or found delinquant, you’re not illegal but a permanent-resident-to-be.
However, if you fall out of status, you’re stuck. SO you MUST do everything in your power NOT to fall out of status and thus have proceedings in place as soon as possible; you really need to prioritize this over anything else.
Talk to your GC and get permission to do what it takes so that your case is treated and your papers are processed. And it needs to be done ASAP.
@Redmadam You can get free representation for immigration petitions from a law clinic run by a law school or from other charitable organizations such as churches. The law clinics may have more hoops to go through than the churches. I have heard of Catholic Churches offering this kind of assistance - you don’t need to be Catholc. Contact law schools nearby and even if they can’t help, ask for referrals.
You could check with a nearby law school and see if they offer any pro bono services. You really, really are making a mistake if you don’t try to see an attorney of some kind in the next two weeks. Skip school Monday if you have to in order to deal with this – you may find yourself deported, when you could possibly do something in the next two weeks to stop it.
I also suspect that you are going to have to kiss up to your mom a little. You don’t have to move back home, but I can’t believe she wants you to be deported even if she has picked your stepdad over you in terms of who lives under her roof. Find out what she would need to do, then ask her to meet you for coffee and see if you can get her to do whatever it is that is needed.
Look at this as well. “Pro bono” means free legal services:
https://www.justice.gov/eoir/list-pro-bono-legal-service-providers-map
@MYOS1634 - I will talk to my guidance counselor as soon as I can. I know that May 1st is the deadline, however I had an interview with my admissions officer from Simpson just a few days ago and she said that it’s not really a concrete deadline. If I submit my deposit & choose to attend Simpson after May 1st they won’t reject/deny me the right to attend given my situation. Simpson is the least selective of the colleges I’ve been accepted to, some of the other colleges where I was accepted have better financial aid so until I know how much financial aid I’m eligible for with a green card I don’t know what college I can attend. Even if I choose to defer my acceptance, I still have to deposit my enrollment fee by May 1st at most colleges so I really don’t know what to do at this point.
@JAMCAFE - I will definitely look into it, thank you!!
@intparent - Well I really doubt that I’ll be deported because I’ve lived in the US without a green card for about five years now and if I haven’t been deported already, then especially now that I at least have a work permit I won’t be. I will contact some places and try to figure out what to do, but I also have AP exams next week and I can’t skip them. I will definitely look into nearby law schools and check out the link, thanks.
You were a minor. You couldn’t be deported.
The day you turn 18, everything changes.
So make sure you don’t miss the forest for the tree.
I am not telling the OP what to do but I just wanted to mention the following:
- Your stepfather is still eligible to get you an immediate Green Card because he married your mother before you were 18.
- You mother can file for a Green Card for you but there is a wait time. USCIS publishes a bulletin monthly that gives an idea about how long the wait time is. Here is the latest bulletin:
https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/law-and-policy/bulletin/2016/visa-bulletin-for-may-2016.html
You are in preference F2A, the dates in the first 2 tables are 01NOV14 and 15JUN15. I am not sure which one is applicable. When your sponsor applies on your behalf on Form I-130 she would get back a form I-797 that shows a Preference Date. I interpret these tables that in May 2016 the sponsored persons who have Preference Date before 01NOV14 or 15JUN15 can now apply for Green Card on I-485 for immediate processing.
https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-processes-and-procedures/visa-availability-and-priority-dates
So it seems the current wait time is around 14-19 months and you may get through before you are 21. - Based on your other posts you mother can apply for US Citizenship in 2 years and hopefully get it in 6 months. If she applied for you before as a Green Card holder and you are still waiting for your Green Card she would be able to speed up this process.
- If you absolutely do not want to deal with your family then you can go Battered Child route. It seems they may provide you with legal assistance and immigration advice. Call them ASAP.
- As one of the first steps you should have your birth certificate translated into English by certified translator whose signature is notarized. Your mother probably has yours done already.
Who is “they”?
P.S. The OP has already stated (repeatedly) that she must do this without the assistance of her mother or stepfather. Could we all please focus on solutions that do not require their help?
Ok…if you get a green card…you will still have to list parent income and assets on the FAFSA. In your case, this would be mom and stepdad if that is who you loved with one day more for the year…on the day you file the FAFSA.
Getting a green card would guarantee you $5500 in Direct Loans. If you are lower income, you might get the Pell Grant, or a portion of it. The maximum Pell is about $5800. So, you could potentially get $11,500 more in federal aid IF you have green card status. But without knowing your family income, it’s sort of hard to guess your Pell eligibility.
There is no bottomless pit of federally funded need based aid for green card holders.
No, she wouldn’t. The OP has already stated (post #10) that at least one college has already granted a dependency override.
If the OP is deemed an independent student for purposes of federal financial aid, she would be eligible to borrow up to $9,500 her first year of college, not just $5,500.
@Redmadam - It would help your situation tremendously if you can obtain certification from your high school that you qualify as an independent student because you are *“an unaccompanied youth who is homeless or were self-supporting and at risk of being homeless”/i. This is one thing you can do now, that would probably be much more difficult once you are no longer in high school.
One college has granted a dependency override. It’s possible that others will not.
But suppose they did…the OP would get MAX $9500 in Direct Loans and $5775 in Pell Grant money IF the OP has a $0 EFC. That is the max guaranteed federal aid. Will that make any of these colleges affordable?
The immigration status of this poster is very complicated. The poster has an expired passport, and only a work permit to be here. That will expire also in less than six months. This student needs to act ASAP to get their immigration status worked out…very quickly.
If not your mother, your only other chance is to marry an American and get your spouse to sponsor you for a Green Card. I’m not talking about immigration fraud, but a real marriage. I know this is not a very plausible scenario, but I’m just laying out all the ways you can get a green card.
That is utter nonsense.