I-130 Pending, Removal Proceeding, F-1

[Bjarke089]

I came on F-1 visa and couldn’t continue school. Hence ended up in Removal Proceedings.
Got married to United States Citizen in April 2019, filed I-130 with USCIS and is pending, also my Master Calendar is coming up in July 2019.

How can I ask the judge to allow me more time to get my I-130 approved ? Do I have to file paper work for it OR just take my I-130 receipt to judge and ask for more time orally ?

Help me out, folks! Please

[Paulthesheik]

The general advice when someone is in removal proceedings is to get a competent immigration attorney. Removal proceedings are not an environment in which to proceed pro se (without a lawyer). That said you do not need to file paperwork. Carry your I-130 along and explain to the judge. Remember the judge will only allow you more time if in his opinion your I-130 is approvable by USCIS i.e. has a good chances of being approved.

[yanjan]

I would say get a lawyer. I found myself in similar situation due to my ex back ground , hired a lawyer in 2011, the court kept saying my case wasn't urgent so they kept pushing it bck like I went in 2013 n they pushed it back to Nov 2019. The case finally got closed 2018 n now I can adjust status. It's a long process n u need an experienced lawyer.

[Sherief Zahl]

If I may ask what lead to you being in removal proceedings? Where you caught randomly? Thanks

[Bjarke089]

The general advice when someone is in removal proceedings is to get a competent immigration attorney. Removal proceedings are not an environment in which to proceed pro se (without a lawyer). That said you do not need to file paperwork. Carry your I-130 along and explain to the judge. Remember the judge will only allow you more time if in his opinion your I-130 is approvable by USCIS i.e. has a good chances of being approved.

How would the judge know that my I-130 has good chance of being approved or not ? The jurisdiction of this matter lies with the USCIS, right ?

[Bjarke089]

If I may ask what lead to you being in removal proceedings? Where you caught randomly? Thanks

I fell out-of-status for not being able to pay tuition and fees and ICE raided my house. They raided just one month after I got told by my school that I went from In-Status to Out-Of-Status.. Even though they told me I had a five month window to file for reinstatement.

[Paulthesheik]

How would the judge know that my I-130 has good chance of being approved or not ? The jurisdiction of this matter lies with the USCIS, right ?

The judge has to know that your case is approvable before he will continue/extend the case. That means for example if you tell him you're planning to adjust through marriage and you for example have a murder conviction on your record, he knows such a petition is not approvable because murderers are ineligible to adjust status. In such a case you will be denied. Or let's say you have a previous sham marriage in your past, since the law says a person cannot adjust status through marriage if they have had a previous sham marriage, such a case is not approvable and thus the judge will not bother to extend your case.

Continuances for a pending I-130 Petition In Matter of Hashmi, and more recently, in L-A-B-R- the BIA set forth factors that IJs must apply in determining whether good cause exists for a continuance to await the adjudication of an I-130 Petition for Alien Relative, which, if granted, would make the respondent eligible for adjustment of status. In assessing good cause, the IJ must consider: 1) the DHS response to the motion to continue; (2) whether the underlying visa petition is prima facie approvable; (3) the respondent's statutory eligibility for adjustment of status; (4) whether the respondent's application for adjustment merits a favorable exercise of discretion; and (5) the reason for the continuance and other relevant procedural factors. 44 Because “the focus of the inquiry is the apparent ultimate likelihood of success on the adjustment application,” if the respondent is prima facie eligible for a visa petition and for adjustment of status, the IJ should favorably exercise discretion and grant a continuance.

https://www.americanimmigrationcounc...e_advisory.pdf

[Bjarke089]

The judge has to know that your case is approvable before he will continue/extend the case. That means for example if you tell him you're planning to adjust through marriage and you for example have a murder conviction on your record, he knows such a petition is not approvable because murderers are ineligible to adjust status. In such a case you will be denied. Or let's say you have a previous sham marriage in your past, since the law says a person cannot adjust status through marriage if they have had a previous sham marriage, such a case is not approvable and thus the judge will not bother to extend your case.



https://www.americanimmigrationcounc...e_advisory.pdf

Thanks. I really appreciate the detailed answer.
I don’t have any thing bad on my record. It’s perfect clean. No previous marriages. Just been out of status.
I have heard that judges give you further time to wait for the USCIS response on your I-130 application. What are my options now ?

[Paulthesheik]

Thanks. I really appreciate the detailed answer.
I don’t have any thing bad on my record. It’s perfect clean. No previous marriages. Just been out of status.
I have heard that judges give you further time to wait for the USCIS response on your I-130 application. What are my options now ?

The Master Calendar Hearing is a very short proceeding where you will meet with the Judge and the government attorney to figure out how your case will proceed. The Judge will schedule dates for your submission of written documents, and for your individual merits hearing (at which the substance of your applications or claims and/or defenses will be addressed in detail). The Court will not address any legal claims or defenses of your case.

On the surface your case appears approvable. As a precaution take your I-130 along. Your wife should preferably go to court with you. Try to get him to schedule your merits hearing as far in the future as possible by which time hopefully your I-130 is approved. If you're not confident of your ability to read and understand forms and basic immigration issues, get an immigration attorney instead of proceeding pro se (by yourself).