Bronx Green Card Lawyers

Last Updated on: 11th October 2025, 11:04 am

Bronx Green Card Lawyers

The I-751 got denied in August. She found out when ICE showed up at her apartment in Kingsbridge. Notice to Appear charging her as removable. The conditional green card she’d had for eighteen months meant nothing now because USCIS decided the marriage wasn’t entered in good faith. Her husband had stopped cooperating with the waiver application after the divorce papers were filed. No joint sponsor statements, no updated financial records, nothing. The immigration judge set a merits hearing for March 2026.

What Conditional Green Cards Actually Mean

Marriage to a U.S. citizen when you’ve been married less than two years at approval gets you a conditional green card valid for two years. File I-751 to remove conditions within 90 days before the two-year anniversary. If you dont file, your status terminates automatically. If you file and get denied, you’re in removal proceedings defending the original basis of your green card.

The Bronx has high marriage petition rates. Fordham, Highbridge, Concourse Village, Belmont. USCIS scrutinizes these cases. Age gaps, cultural differences, quick marriages after deportation orders trigger extra review. Officers conduct interviews, ask couples to describe their bedroom furniture, their daily routines, what they ate for dinner last Tuesday.

When PERM Recruitment Fails

A Bronx hospital filed PERM for a physical therapist from the Philippines last year. Conducted the required recruitment – two Sunday newspaper ads, 30-day job order with the state workforce agency, internal posting, three additional recruitment steps. Received 23 applications from U.S. workers. The hospital documented rejection reasons for each applicant. Insufficient experience, wrong licensure, salary demands above the prevailing wage.

DOL audited the case. Requested all resumes, all interview notes, all recruitment documentation. The hospital provided everything. DOL denied the PERM six months later. Why? One rejected applicant actually had sufficient qualifications according to DOL’s review. The stated rejection reason – “insufficient progressive experience” – wasn’t supported by the applicant’s resume which showed five years of relevant work. Appeal filed to BALCA in March 2024. Still pending. The physical therapist is approaching her H-1B six-year limit.

Priority Dates That Move Backward

EB-3 Philippines showed April 2020 as current in the January 2024 visa bulletin. By March 2024, it had retrogressed to September 2019. Seven months backward. Anyone with a priority date between September 2019 and April 2020 who thought they could file I-485 in January couldn’t file in March. They had to wait again.

The per-country limit caps each nation at 7% of total immigrant visas. Philippines has massive EB-3 demand. The visa bulletin moves forward slowly, sometimes moves backward when demand spikes exceed available numbers.

EB-2 India currently processes priority dates from 2012. That’s a thirteen-year wait. EB-2 Philippines runs about three to four years. EB-3 times vary but often run longer for high-demand countries.

Family Preference Categories and Aging Out

F2A category covers spouses and unmarried children under 21 of lawful permanent residents. Wait time: about two years for most countries. But the “under 21” requirement creates problems.

A Parkchester resident petitioned for his daughter in June 2022 when she was 19. Priority date became current in March 2024. His daughter turned 21 in January 2024. She aged out. She now falls into F2B category – unmarried adult children of LPRs. F2B wait time: seven years minimum.

Consular Processing and the Unlawful Presence Bar

Most people prefer adjusting status in the United States. File I-485, interview at USCIS, receive green card without leaving the country. But adjustment of status requires you were inspected and admitted or paroled at a U.S. port of entry.

If you entered without inspection – crossed the border without going through a port of entry, arrived by boat, overstayed a visa obtained through fraud – you generally cannot adjust status. You must do consular processing abroad unless you qualify for 245(i) protection, which almost nobody qualifies for anymore because it required having a labor certification or immigrant petition filed before April 30, 2001.

The I-601A Provisional Waiver Process

Consular processing triggers the unlawful presence bar if you’ve been in the United States unlawfully for more than 180 days. Over 180 days unlawful presence gets you a three-year bar. Over one year gets you a ten-year bar. The bar is triggered when you depart for your consular interview.

I-601A lets you apply for a provisional waiver before leaving. If approved, you leave for the interview with the waiver already in place. If denied, you’re stuck – can’t adjust in the U.S., can’t leave without triggering the bar.

Must prove extreme hardship to a U.S. citizen or LPR spouse or parent. Not children. Just spouse or parent.

A client in Norwood filed I-601A last year. His U.S. citizen wife has rheumatoid arthritis. He’s her primary caregiver. They have two U.S. citizen children, ages 8 and 11. We argued extreme hardship – his wife can’t manage her condition without him, the children need their father, the family would suffer severe financial hardship if separated.

USCIS denied it. The decision said the hardship doesn’t rise to “extreme.” Said the wife could hire a caregiver, that family separation is common in immigration cases and doesnt by itself constitute extreme hardship. We filed a motion to reconsider in November 2024. No response yet.

Marriage Green Cards in Bronx Neighborhoods

Marriage to a U.S. citizen is the fastest pathway. No annual cap, no preference category wait. File I-130 and I-485 concurrently if the foreign spouse is in the United States. Timeline typically 18 to 24 months.

But USCIS scrutinizes marriage cases heavily. Highbridge and Concourse have high petition rates. Officers look for fraud indicators during interviews. They ask couples detailed questions separately. What side of the bed does your spouse sleep on. What did you have for breakfast this morning. If answers don’t match perfectly, officers become suspicious.

A Fordham couple was denied last year despite 14 months of marriage, joint accounts, lease, photos, affidavits. The denial cited that they met online and married within six months. They’re appealing to AAO. Processing time: 12 to 18 months.

When Cases Get Held for Additional Review

Sometimes officers don’t make a decision at the interview. They say the case requires additional review. Background checks, fraud investigation, supervisory review. The application goes into administrative processing with no clear timeline.

A Morris Heights resident had her interview in June 2023. Marriage-based I-485. The officer said everything looked fine but the case needed supervisory review. That was 20 months ago. We’ve submitted multiple inquiries through USCIS’s online system, contacted the Ombudsman, filed a mandamus petition in federal court. The mandamus was filed in January 2025. Still pending.

What We Handle for Bronx Residents

Family-based petitions – I-130, I-485, marriage interviews, removal of conditions, consular processing

Employment-based cases – PERM labor certification, I-140, I-485, EB-1 through EB-5 categories, NIW petitions

Waivers – I-601A provisional waivers, I-601 waivers, I-212 reentry applications

Removal defense – contesting I-751 denials in immigration court, adjustment during removal proceedings

Consular processing – DS-260, NVC processing, embassy interview preparation

Appeals – AAO appeals, BALCA appeals, federal court mandamus actions

I’m Todd Spodek. My father practiced immigration law before me. Spodek Law Group has over 50 years combined experience. We represented Anna Delvey in the case that became a Netflix series. Featured in The New York Times, Newsweek, Bloomberg.

We handle Bronx green card cases through every pathway and every complication. Call us. We’re available 24/7.