1) Question:

I am a U.S. citizen. I filed an I-130 petition for my 2 year old child. I am not married to my child’s mother yet. Can my child’s mother come to the U.S. as a derivative beneficiary to accompany my child?

Answer:

As the unmarried child of a U.S. citizen who is under 21, your child is your Immediate Relative. Beneficiaries under the Immediate Relative category cannot have derivative beneficiaries. Also, a parent cannot be a derivative beneficiary.

If you are already planning on marrying your child’s mother, you can marry her and petition for her as your Immediate Relative spouse.

Warning: U.S. citizens and Permanent Residents should never marry a foreign national solely to obtain an immigration benefit for the foreign national. There are dire consequences for doing this.

If you do not wish to marry the mother of your child, you should speak with an immigration law attorney to determine if there are other options to bring her to the U.S.

2) Question:

I am a Physical Therapist and am licensed to practice in NY. Could I qualify for an H-1B petition for another state? Is it mandatory that I have a license for the state of intended employment?

Answer:

An H-1B beneficiary must be able to show that they are eligible to begin employment in the offered position on the start date requested on the petition. For those positions where a state license is required to work in that state, such as is required for physical therapists, the petitioner must show that the PT is licensed in the state in which they will be employed. Being licensed in a different state is not sufficient unless it can be shown that the state of employment would allow the beneficiary to work on the current license.

There is an exception to this rule where the State requires the beneficiary to provide a social security number before they will issue the license, and the beneficiary cannot get a social security number until they are in H-1b status. Where the petitioner can show that the only reason the license has not been issued by the state is because of the lack of a social security number, USCIS should approve the H-1B petition for an initial period of one year.