One of the most common ways to obtain legal status is through a family member that has residency or citizenship. For example, if your spouse, parent, child, or sibling has documents, depending on what types of documents they have, it may be possible for you to become a resident based on your relationship with that person.

If you are a U.S. citizen who is engaged to someone who lives in another country, you may be able to bring your fiancé to the United States through a fiancé visa so that the two of you can get married here in the U.S. and your fiancé can obtain legal permanent residency.

We encourage every person who is eligible to apply to become a citizen of the United States to do so as soon as they can. The benefits of citizenship include voting, helping more family members legalize their status (and often more quickly), leaving the country for extended periods of time without fear of losing your residency.

Although there is no specific law that allows legalization based on caring for the sick, in some special situations, immigration officials will exercise their discretion to grant certain documents to undocumented people who are caring for a sick relative, such as a spouse, child, or parent.

If a U.S. citizen or resident spouse (or ex-spouse) has mistreated you, depending on the level of mistreatment and other factors, you may qualify to obtain legal status without leaving the country. These cases are completely confidential and filing the case will not affect your family member.

If you were mistreated by a different person, such as a romantic partner, coyote, family member, roommate, or anyone else, regardless of whether that person had documents, you may qualify for documents without leaving the country, depending on the level of mistreatment and other factors.

If you have experienced certain mistreatment on the job here in the U.S. you may be able to obtain documents without leaving the country even if you have had prior immigration violations like deportations, more than one unlawful entry into the U.S., or detentions by immigration.

If you have been the victim of certain crimes here in the U.S., you may qualify to obtain documents without leaving the country. We may be able to have your spouse and your children in your case to get documents for them as well, regardless of whether they are here in the U.S. already or they are still in your country of origin.

If you have a two-year conditional green card and separate or divorce from your spouse before the two years has passed, we may be able to help you remove the conditions on your green card so you get permanent residency. These cases are complex, but we have the experience.