Hi everyone, l would really appreciate anybodys' oppinion or suggestion if any possible, regarding my situation.At this point l'm really desperate. My husband and l applied for political asylum(albanian nationals) back in '97 and our case was denied, we had a hearing in front of a immigration judge who denied the case based on insufficent proof of persecution.We appealed and BIA affirmed his decision. Our attorney filed a petition for review this past july, so basically we have a year to find out. With the recent BIA regulations there isn't really any hope on the turnout of that petition. We have lived and legally worked in US for 6 years and sometime next summer everything goes down the drain.I was granted voluntery departure but my husband has deportation. We tried the canadian point system and didn't qualify.My husband can start a labour certificaton but we missed 245-i, because we were told " we don't qualify", so if he can't get the voluntery departure he gets stuck out of the country for 10 years. Please let me know if you have any suggestions. Thank you.

What about sponsorship through employment? If either of you works in a specialized field, or your employer cannot find an American citizen to fill your position, this is a possibility for you. From your post I understand that you are both here legally and assume you have valid SSNs, etc. I would try that avenue.

I think 245 date is extended to June 2003. isn't it?
Employment base will not work because husband has deportation.

Hi Mohan,

Where did you read that 245 is extended to June 2003 ??? I thought it has not been extended at all...

Sec. 245a.12 Filing and applications.

(a) When to file. The application period began on June 1, 2001, and
ends on June 4, 2003. To benefit from the provisions of LIFE
Legalization, an alien must properly file an application for adjustment
of status, Form I-485, with appropriate fee, to the Service during the
application period as described in this section. All applications,
whether filed in the United States or filed from abroad, must be
postmarked on or before June 4, 2003, to be considered timely filed.
(1) If the postmark is illegible or missing, and the application
was mailed from within the United States, the Service will consider the
application to

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be timely filed if it is received on or before June 9, 2003.
(2) If the postmark is illegible or missing, and the application
was mailed from outside the United States, the Service will consider
the application to be timely filed if it is received on or before June
18, 2003.
(3) If the postmark is made by other than the United States Post
Office, and is filed from within the United States, the application
must bear a date on or before June 4, 2003, and must be received on or
before June 9, 2003.
(4) If an application filed from within the United States bears a
postmark that was made by other than the United States Post Office,
bears a date on or before June 4, 2003, and is received after June 9,
2003, the alien must establish:
(i) That the application was actually deposited in the mail before
the last collection of the mail from the place of deposit that was
postmarked by the United States Post Office June 4, 2003; and
* * * * *
(d) * * *
(1) The Form I-485 application fee as contained in 8 CFR
103.7(b)(1).
(2) The fee for fingerprinting as contained in 8 CFR 103.7(b)(1),
if the applicant is between the ages of 14 and 79.
* * * * *
(10) Proof of citizenship skills as described in Sec. 245a.17. This
proof may be submitted either at the time of filing the application,
subsequent to filing the application but prior to the interview, or at
the time of the interview.
* * * * *
(f) Evidence. * * * Subject to verification by the Service, if the
evidence required to be submitted by the applicant is already contained
in the Service's file or databases relating to the applicant, the
applicant may submit a statement to that effect in lieu of the actual
documentation.
* * * * *

Linda thank you very much for your reply, l can use any suggestions right now. Yes we have considered being sponsored through an employer(my husband current employer)and he's very willing to do this based on my husband's experience (chef cook)and his hard working nature. Our only problem is that his case doesn't qualify for RIR (quick processing) and we only have 12-14 months until the BIA decision on our case. We are both legally working and have very good references from employers, supervisors that had a chance to work with us. If the BIA would consider reviewing the case then that would buy us at least 2-3 years, enough to get everything done without having to leave USA. If they extend 245-i that's big news as long as it's before the BIA decision. There's some rumors that it might be extended till April 2003, l hope that will really happen.

Mohan 245-i not 245-a would apply to us because my husband's deportation is not final yet. If
245-i is extended before it becomes final we are in good shape, but if my husband was to violate the deportation and remain in US, he wouldn't qualify no matter what. So let us all hope that 245-i will come back and allow a lot us to take advantage of it. Thanks for your reply.

245(i) is dead and probably won't be back during the war on terror because of public reaction to the shortage of patrols on the borders.