ASK VISALAW.COM

By Marc Topoleski, partner in SSHD’s Michigan office.  Marc can be reached at mtopoleski@visalaw.com

If a person submitted an application under Section 245 (i) for legalization, at what point does that person becomes eligible for work permission? 

 Section 245(i) does not provide immediate amnesty or work authorization.  It only allows people to adjust status when they normally would not be able to do so.  Work authorization would not be granted until the person is eligible to apply for adjustment of status (after the approval of I-130 or I-140, if visa number is available).

 I am currently on an H-1B visa, planning to get married to a U.S. citizen in February.  How much time does it take to obtain a green card after marriage?  In the meantime, will I be able to obtain a new job without having to go through a new H-1B application?

 Marriage petitions take about 9-12 months to be approved depending on where they are filed. 
However, as soon as you file the marriage petition, you will be eligible to apply for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD).  Once you receive the EAD you can use this to apply for employment without going through the H-1B petitioning process.

I am Chinese with Malaysian Citizenship living in Singapore. I am interested in applying for the green card lottery and would like to know what country will be considered my native country?

 For purposes of the lottery, your native country is generally your country of birth.  Thus, if you were born in China, this is your native country and you would not be eligible for the lottery unless you can claim an alternate country as your native country.  Lottery applicants can claim their spouse's country of birth as their native country, as well as either of their parents' country of birth in limited circumstances.  Citizenship or country of current residence is not relevant in determining your native country for the lottery.