If the Senate Immigration Bill becomes law, it will eliminate the right for US Citizens to file for their Brother or Sister (FB-4 Category). Many people are filing for the I-130 application immediately before the New Immigration Law is passed.
I would say the chances of the Bill passing into law before 2014 are 50/50. To show my age, I’m quoting the Music Man, “Ya got trouble in River City.” In this case, “Ya got trouble in the House of Representatives.” The House is different than the Senate and much more susceptible to public opinion.
First, the House of Representatives is going to vote on their own Immigration bill. Moreover, it maybe more than one Immigration Bill that is passed by the House of Representatives.
Unlike the new Senate Bill, this is very simple. Based on the recent Supreme Court Ruling. If a gay U.S. citizen marries their spouse in any state which allows gay marriage, the Spouse can immediately file for a Green Card.
Any Felony or three misdemeanors makes and alien ineligible for the potential New Immigration Law. Some States considered some minor traffic offenses as misdemeanors; however, the New Senate Bill will not consider those crimes as misdemeanors for eligibility for the New Immigration Bill.
The language of the Bill is not completely clear, it seems to say if you travel with US CIS authorization outside the US after December 31, 2011, you should be still fall under the new immigration law, however, the question will remain: is the person in legal status at the time of traveling? which may make the immigrant ineligible unless they fell out status before April 16, 2013.
Should I fall out of status so I can get a green card through the New Immigration Bill?
Many of our clients are wondering if they should fall out of status and become illegal, and get the benefits of the possible new law. Unfortunately, the bill has stated that you must be already out of status as of April 16, 2013 which was the day the bill was introduced. There will be some questions as to when person fell out status for Student and Business Visa, but the simple answer is that people legally in status as of April 16, 2013 should stay in legal status.
The bipartisan group of senators known as the “Gang of Eight” introduced S. 744, the “Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act.”
