Friend in immigration holding. Questions?

[Karatedrifter7]

A good friend of mine from Italy let his visa expire, and then he got picked up on his job by immigration. Now he can only call us, we can't call him, plus the call is short and recorded. Its too bad because he worked real hard, not a great jobs, but managed to save alot of money. We think he needs an immigration lawyer, but his hearing is coming up soon. He's hearing down there that his only option is getting married. So now I'm trying to contact one of his old girlfriends, she lives out of state to where he hasnt lived.

Any ideas?

 

[Bill Mattocks]

A good friend of mine from Italy let his visa expire, and then he got picked up on his job by immigration. Now he can only call us, we can't call him, plus the call is short and recorded. Its too bad because he worked real hard, not a great jobs, but managed to save alot of money. We think he needs an immigration lawyer, but his hearing is coming up soon. He's hearing down there that his only option is getting married. So now I'm trying to contact one of his old girlfriends, she lives out of state to where he hasnt lived.

Any ideas?

http://www.heiserman.com/

Tell him you need a referral if he cannot do the work himself.

 

[Carol]

Very sorry to hear about your friend. I've known a few people through my community of faith that have had similar troubles.

If your friend wants to go back to Italy, then he should be able to work things out with ICE without an attorney. If your friend wants to stay here in the states then he MUST get an immigration attorney qualified to practice in the state where he was living. Realistically, immigration law is NOT a do-it-yourself matter.

All the best to your friend. I hope things can be worked out.

 

[Xue Sheng]

A good friend of mine from Italy let his visa expire, and then he got picked up on his job by immigration. Now he can only call us, we can't call him, plus the call is short and recorded. Its too bad because he worked real hard, not a great jobs, but managed to save alot of money. We think he needs an immigration lawyer, but his hearing is coming up soon. He's hearing down there that his only option is getting married. So now I'm trying to contact one of his old girlfriends, she lives out of state to where he hasnt lived.

Any ideas?

Getting Married will not solve a thing. It is not an automatic pass they will investigate this "surprise marriage" and it will likely get your friend in deeper trouble and the old girl friend in a whole lot of trouble, so to be honest I wouldn't go there.

Very sorry to hear about your friend. I've known a few people through my community of faith that have had similar troubles.

If your friend wants to go back to Italy, then he should be able to work things out with ICE without an attorney. If your friend wants to stay here in the states then he MUST get an immigration attorney qualified to practice in the state where he was living. Realistically, immigration law is NOT a do-it-yourself matter.

All the best to your friend. I hope things can be worked out.

Agreed

But

Realistically, immigration law is NOT a do-it-yourself matter.

You might be surprised at the number of Chinese nationals that do not share this opinion. They tend to study things quite intensely, talk to others that have gone through it and not use attorneys at all. And get through immigration rather well and quite legally. But I myself sure as hell wouldn't try it

 

[jks9199]

A good friend of mine from Italy let his visa expire, and then he got picked up on his job by immigration. Now he can only call us, we can't call him, plus the call is short and recorded. Its too bad because he worked real hard, not a great jobs, but managed to save alot of money. We think he needs an immigration lawyer, but his hearing is coming up soon. He's hearing down there that his only option is getting married. So now I'm trying to contact one of his old girlfriends, she lives out of state to where he hasnt lived.

Any ideas?

Your friend needs to talk to an immigration lawyer. He definitely does not need to participate in a fraudulent marriage with the intent to falsely obtain legal status... I know that's illegal -- and possibly it's federal felony. It'll also guarantee that he will not be able to obtain legal status ever again...

It might be that his best option is to voluntarily return to Italy, and work from there to get legal status to return.