Can my employer sponsor me for green card (i-140) if I have received DACA?

2 views 6 answers
Hello there. I came to the US when I was 9 years old on visit visa (I have I-94). Unfortunately my parents overstayed their visit & because of that I became out of status. At the age of 23, I received my work permit through DACA & I worked my butt off to pay for my final year in University. In May, 2014 I graduated with the highest honors in Chemical Engineering & I started my job as a process engineer for a decent sized company (40,000 employees) that same May. I have had my work permit renewed once since then. It has been a year since I have been with my company and they are willing to sponsor me. I wanted to know if I qualify for employment sponsorship? My company hasn't started the process yet and I don't want to waste their funds without properly knowing my options first. Thank you.

Attorney Answers

6
Michael Kiran ·
Green card through marriage to a US citizen is very different from a green card through an employer. If you marry a US citizen you are not required to be in valid status when you apply for your green card, you are only required to have a valid entry as you do. If you are seeking a green card through employment you must have both valid entry and be in valid status at the time your green card application is filed. Although DACA is a protected status, it is not considered a "valid status" for the green card application through employment. Since you and your parents have been here for a long time, you should have an experienced immigration attorney review your case to see if you may be eligible for 245i. If either of your parents are 245i eligible, you could possibly benefit from their eligibility. Good luck.
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Adan Vega ·
DACA does not provide you with lawful status other than employment authorization. You will need to be in lawful status in order to adjust status through an employment based petition. If you depart the U.S. with an advance parole document and you enter with a parole entry, you can adjust status through an immediate family petition.
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Andrew Bartlett ·
I think it may be difficult. But your employer's immigration attorney should brainstorm with a DACA experienced lawyer about it. The problem is that you can only adjust status if you apply through an immediate relative petition which forgives periods of working without authorization and time out of status. And generally if you leave the country for consular processing, then you trigger a statutory ten year ban because you had been an adult 5 years before you got DACA. I know of one DACA recipient who was actually approved for advance parole to go attend his consular interview for a family petition. I admired his chutspah in thinking this out - and was impressed that USCIS approved it. But I don't know if the person ever dared to try it. It would have been an awesome outcome. But very high risk. I'd love to be wrong on this, and hope someone here might correct me. If not, then you are still in a great position with a good job with a very forward looking employer. As long as you can maintain your DACA you can at least thrive economically until you do get an opportunity to fix your status.
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Robert Louis BrownImmigration AttorneyCleveland, OH ·
Your employer may do the visa petition for you. The question of adjustment is not a clear. You may be eligible to adjust if you are able to obtain travel authorization , depart the US and return but should discuss directly with an immigration attorney before starting.
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Michael Piston ·
If a labor certification or visa petition was filed upon behalf of your mother on or before April 30, 2001, and she was physically present in the U.S. on December 21, 2000, then you can get your green card in the U.S. regardless of being out of status, provided that the petition or labor certification filed upon your mother's behalf was "approvable when filed". The fact that it was subsequently revoked because her sponsor died is irrelevant.
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