My friend her her boyfriend are in florida and want to come to oklahoma but her boyfriend cant get a real job. He was brought to the U.S. illegally when he was 1. Now he is 19, has a 1 1/2 year old daughter and another baby on the way, if im not mistaken, you gain citizenship after being here for 12 years. Or.. well im not sure how it works. But can he become a citizen? And how does he go about getting a SSC. 

i dont think thats right because i used to work for dps and we had a lady from british columbia had been here since the 70's was not a us citizian and had to go and talk to immigration okc 

O okay. Well, they live in pensacola florida right now but plan on coming to oklahoma before their 2nd baby is born. would he end up being deported or something like that? 

more in likely but he should call immigration before hes found maybe they will look at that in a good way maybe not I dont know 

brit, I am by no means a specialist on INS issues, but I will tell you this, presently, hardly ANYONE gets granted citizenship/permanent residence status without the "10 yr penalty" that is being given to all who apply. Well I shouldn't say all, I don't really know about permanent residents. It did used to be that way (the 12 yr thing you are talking about), and also if you had a US born child, they could apply for you but only until the age of 21 (18 if they sign on to military). I have several, and I mean several friends, family that have applied, and don't know if it is just the wrong time, but every single one of them has had to be deported and is not allowed back into the country for 10 years, no questions asked. And that is with a lawyer that came with a hefty fee. I do have one friend, she applied, got deported, but only had to stay two years. Why? I couldn't tell you, but her husband is/was military for like 12 yrs, and I know that helped them alot in the process. She is granted "temporary status" and will hear back from INS within 6 mos on if she has to return to mx or can stay, but she did enter legally just this last month. It cost them everything they had though. He sold their house (that was willed to him through family), and his pickup, he now drives a run down bug, and on top of all of that took a huge loan out with his bank. They will be in debt for forever. Is it worth it? I can't be the judge of that. There's rants going on on craigs right now, and I truly get it from both sides,but any who that is a whole nother discussion that can get really ugly or heated.... I hope this helps. If anything tell him to consult with a lawyer, the consult is usually free, and make sure it is a lawyer that specializes or is certified in some way with legalization services. 

oh and as far as the ssn, there is no way he can get one if he is not legal. sorry. and there is an INS office in okc, but you have to have an interview with them, you are absolutely not allowed to walk in just to ask a question, you have to have an appt even for that (been there done that with my mom-that's awhole other horror story)but the nearest consulate would be in dallas i believe. 

wow tish great info we always jsut told ppl to get ahold of ins when i was a dl examiner

but never thought of a lawyer which is great advise 

Well, and sometimes lawyers are not even the best route. I've known some that don't do to well, but sure do ask for alot of money......

: ( 

im a permanent resident for 2 years now. Im german and my hubby is in the military. Well if you apply the legal way these days its not really a big deal to get permanent residency as long as you can prove that you are financially stable. I have my green card for the next ten years now and after you just renew it. which is pretty easy since my friend lives here for 12 years now. And with citizenship its not a problem either since i already got a letter if i consider becoming a citizen after only two years. and 20 years ago my mom also lived here cuz she settled a branch of her company in jacksonville florida and also had absolutely no problem with gettin a green card. For matter its still valid. But she has been living in germany again. So thats the legal side. As long as your financially stable and if your married its actually real and not fake then the government is not gonna seperate a family. hope this helps a little. But in his case i dont know. On the one hand it wasnt his fault that he came here illegal cuz he was too young but on the other hand they will say that he has been a semi grown up for a while now so he could have contacted them earlier to go by the law. Good luck to them though 

Wow Tatjana, props to you lady, wish we had your luck. I have two half-sisters, they are age 13 and 17, they are permanent residents and my bioligical father (u.s. citizen) recently applied for their citizenship. They got deported (got the 10 yrs penalty also) and are currently working on there 3rd year at Mexico. My father has appealed because their mom has had to go back to Mexico (leaving everything here, their home, etc), obviously to return back with them, and my father has stayed back here in the U.S. They have since divorced, partly i think because of the separation for so long, even though he does try to visit often. He has had two interviews to Juarez (consulate) and been turned down both times. : (

There are three couples that I am friends with, in which one of them is citizen and put in for the others permanent residence. Of those three two were also sent back and denied entry for 10 yrs (and that is without any criminal record, which i hear does make a difference). They have both since divorced. The third is the one I talked about earlier. The husband was military and she did get the 10 yr penalty, to which he appealed and has since won. She has been granted "temporary visa status" to re-enter the country, but she was told that does not guarantee her perm. res. I guess we just have bad karma. Its sad, because I don't really know how they expect marriages to survive when they ask them to be separated for that long. And your right on the "financially stable" part. All of these couples that I am talking about have had to prove their quite capable of supporting the other and then some..... I think what did help your situation a lot is the military part (please dont take offense to that, i think that is wonderful) and then with your mom of course with her company, so props to her as well, what a smart woman.

My mom has had her permanent residency for 30+ yrs, but she refuses to apply for her citizenship. She/we had a bad experience when she went in for her testing. I wrote in a complaint on the person that waited on her that day, and she did eventually receive a letter letting her know she was welcome to come again to re-test, but nope, she refuses. She says the day they send her back, it's just meant to be that way and she'll not fight it.

I see both sides when people rant about us "illegals" ( i consider myself even though i was born here in the u.s.), I just get sad to see how ugly things have gotten. I don't know if anyone ever reads about the drug wars in Mexico, but it's everywhere. Those "drug cartels" own that country. I hope it never gets that way here....Sometimes I think that is why our Lord has brought us through so many tests in life lately, His time is coming near, and he is just picking up "his people" so they no longer have to suffer what awaits our world.....I guess that would explain things like Katrina, Haiti, etc. I don't feel happy about any of those, it saddens me, just crushes my heart, I am terrified to even think my little ones would have to live through something like that, but many others did....

Sorry girls, didn't mean to get off the subject, kind of nostalgic tonight. When you get a chance, go hug your loved ones, cause you know that old saying, tomorrow is never promised. Night.

Believing in God's Best,
Tish 

WoW thats bad. Yea i think the military probably is one point but i also heard they go off of what citizenship you have. Lets say it like that, in germany a russian and turk gets a visa way easier then for example a person from spain. I dont understand why but thats what i noticed over the time. And a 10 yr penalty, man i have really never heard of this. Why a penalty? Was it because they where all here illegaly and then applied after they already have been in the country or did they apply the regular way and came after they were granted entry? Well no matter which way it was though i think nobody should have the right to split a family apart (especially when kids are involved) cuz thats just not right! 

Tatjana, yes your right it does seem to be something I've noticed. I'll tell you one example: the Visa Lottery thing, have you ever noticed, that people from countries like brazil, canada, china, dom. republic, peru and mexico (sure there are others)are not allowed to participate in it??? I know its something to the effect that there is a larger # of immigrants that come from those countries, but still, I think a lottery is a lottery, should be open to any and all. But yes I could see someone from Germany or Russia winning those more easily because of them not being excluded from it.

As for the 10 yr penalty it has not always existed, until recently. Before you could "pay" your penalty off in a lump sum if you didn't want to go back. My dad's was $25,000 and that was back in the 80's. Now, you don't have that option. You can apply for waivers, but what basis they are approved/denied on, well that is awhole other topic that I don't know anything about. Yes it would be applied if you came in illegally, but I know my sisters came in with "visas". And, yes like you said, no it's not right, but I know many people have hard feelings on us coming across illegally and that part not being right either. I know you would have to agree with me that atleast the majority that come across don't do it to make other's lives impossible, it is because of wanting to better a life...... My friend recently tried coming across (yes-illegally, wrong i know)and he walked the desert for 5 days straight, and when he made it across, he got picked up like a mile after making it across the border and was deported....To go through something like that, I just don't think I'd want to do it out of pleasure, don't know about anyone else....