Need some help. Any Immigration Attorneys or Experts out there?

[OregonBlue]

I want to sponsor my Canadian Niece, who is 30 years old. She is a certified hairdresser and has good income but not any extra cash. From looking at the government information, it appears I can only sponsor an immediate relative.

I have a business that I need help with. In addition, I have parents who are both 85. My 63 year old sister is currently living with them and helping with their care. They are not disabled but getting more feeble each day and she needs breaks more often.

Is it possible for all of us to sponsor her? Should I even bother. The only forms I could find were for sponsorship of a spouse, parent or sibling.

[Union Thug]

1. Not quite the same situation...but...

We sponsored my wife's niece (russia) for a 30 day visitor's visa. I had to file an Affidavit of Support, which included copy of my bank statement/history and verification of full time employment. It took a while, but there were no significant issues. Strangely, when we brought my wife's son over, it was a mess. We finally wrote Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell who worked some kind of magic for us and shortly after we were assigned a local contact in Murray's office, the visa was approved and all went smoothly.

[OregonBlue]

2. May sound stupid but I couldn't even find the form to use. The only ones available on Immigration

website were for spouses and parents and siblings. In addition, I would like for her to be able to stay for a year and actually work for me while she is here. I am assuming it is either a no go or will be pretty difficult.

[Union Thug]

3. Affidavit of support is form I-134. I have a copy in pdf format if you would like me to send to you.

[OregonBlue]

5. Thanks. I can go and download it.

[Voice for Peace]

4. I may not know what I'm talking about, but one of the reasons we have elected

officials is to help us out with practical matters. Really.

I never knew this until very recently, when I contacted Rep. Chris Van Hollen for help in getting a visa for my daughter, because for a variety of reasons we were meeting resistance.

It was a different situation from yours -- but a call from an officially important person on your behalf can make a difference.

I made a couple of phone calls, and sent a very nice email to Van Hollen's office, asking for his help. A couple of days later it was a done deal.

A good friend told me this is why they are elected... to help. It would never have otherwise occurred to me to ask.

[OregonBlue]

6. Brilliant. Especially given that it's an election year. Unfortunately for me I have a Puke for a rep

Still, I will contact him. He should not have a problem given that she is employable and WHITE.

[Union Thug]

7. YOu're spot on. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell

were instrumental in clearing whatever bottleneck Homeland Insanity had put in place. As I mentioned above, I was even assigned a contact within Murray's office. The good ones will work with you!

[OregonBlue]

8. Thank you so much. I'll contact Walden.

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

9. Immigration expert here!

:hi:

Firstly, your representatives can only help you in immigration matters if you have already filed something and, generally speaking, only once that 'something' has been processing for a long time or when the situation is highly unusual. I have dealt with numerous congressional liaisons and one of my closest friends is an immigration liaison for congressman from NC. While in NYC, I dealt with both Sens. Schumer and Clinton (their staff, not the senators themselves) and both were very helpful.

As for the question at hand, you are correct. Unfortunately, you can only sponsor an immediate relative. Spouses, parents and children younger than 21 of US citizens have first priority. Then you have spouses of permanent residents, children older than 21 but unmarried, children older than 21 but married and brothers and sisters. Since these categories are allotted decreasing numbers of visas in relation to their priority, the lower categories usually take 10 or more years. I know this personally, as I was the older daughter of a permanent resident for a long time and, had I not gotten married to a US citizen, I would have had to wait a total of 13 years based on my priority date.

Unfortunately, your avenues when it comes to a family sponsorship are limited by law. It doesn't matter if you have a million dollars to support her. Let me also add that there are two forms for the affidavit of support. A previous poster indicated the I-134, but that is used under limited circumstances usually related to employment-based sponsorship of family members (such as when an employee on a visa applies for a green card, s/he would have to prove via the I-134 that s/he earns enough or has sufficient assets to support his/her family). The affidavit of support that is most often used for family cases is the I-864. It uses a formula for the income. It calculates how many people the sponsor is financially responsible for and then, based on that number, there is a corresponding 'poverty level threshold' income. If you make more, then you are ok. If you make less, you need to have sufficient assets or a co-sponsor.

As for the employment visa route, that is tricky, though not impossible, but it depends on your niece's qualifications, education and your business. It encompasses a variety of visa categories, some of which are numerically limited (such as the H-1B) and others (such as the L, E and O) have very peculiar criteria. If your niece is a well known hairstylist and has worked on prestigious projects, she could try to find an agency to represent her in the U.S. and then the agency could then petition on her behalf for a visa. Again, this is a complex area that would require reams of paper to explain.

I strongly suggest you contact a competent and qualified US immigration expert to see if anything can be done.