Immigration Corner | What can I do about a two-year-old petition?

Dear Mrs Walker-Huntington,

A friend told me that you probably can assist me with my situation. I'm 32 years old and I'm having a problem with the United States Embassy. My father married an American woman when I was about nine years old. I never met her. She filed for me to migrate to America, but before the process had been completed, my father was arrested and went to prison in 1997 and was deported in 2003.

During the course of that time, there was no communication between him and his wife. My father doesn't know where she is now or even if she is alive. I have since applied for a visa to visit the US and have been denied several times because of this filing, which is 20-plus years old.

Honestly, I don't know what else to do at this point. I would love to get a response from you.

Thanks in advance.

Confused

Dear Confused,

I am sure this must be a frustrating situation and, logically, doesn't make much sense.

The US Government has a position that only a petitioner can cancel a filing. On the other hand, if a petition is not acted upon in a year, they send notification that you have an additional year to act on the petition or it will be closed. By the second position, your filing should have been closed many years ago for inactivity and should have been considered abandoned and the file destroyed.

While there is a pending petition for permanent residency, an applicant for a non-immigrant visa is considered to have a higher-than-normal intent to migrate. Consequently, most first-time applicants in that situation are denied non-immigrant visas.

In your situation, I would recommend hiring an immigration attorney to assist you with the US Embassy. You may even need to apply with a non-immigrant waiver to give you an opportunity to lay out the evidence of your father's situation, how long ago the petition was filed, and your ties to Jamaica. Always remember that a visitor's visa is a privilege to receive and no matter your reason for wanting to travel, the US Embassy has to be convinced that you have enough ties to Jamaica that you will return after your brief visit.

- Dahlia A. Walker-Huntington, Esq, is a Jamaican-American attorney who practises immigration law in the United States and family, criminal, and international law in Florida. She is a mediator and special magistrate in Broward County, Florida. info@walkerhuntington.com