Hi. I’m a U.S. Citizen who has made a grave mistake by having my wife brought here in the United States illegally (without inspection). We normally do not conduct ourselves in that way; by law breaking. We took an improper advice from people who claimed that as long as I’m a U.S. Citizen, my spouse would be granted a green card upon payment of a fine set by the immigration court. Of course it was too late by the time we found out that was not the case… There WAS a provision set by the government called “I-245” which granted green cards for immediate family members who had illegal presence in the United States.

But I-245 was a temporary provision and had expired by the time my wife came to the United States. We do admit guilt and word can’t describe how deeply we regret breaking the law in the first place, but the law abetted law breaking by providing loopholes such as I-245s and amnesties (during the Reagan administration).

I know that my wife was well qualified to come to the United States legally, but I was willing to pay the fines set by the court and other legal fees to expedite our union. My wife at the time were going through an extremely difficult period in her life while in South Korea. And for us being newly weds, to be apart for some unknown amount of time (due to INS processing) seemed unbearable and unreasonable since we thought I-245 would be the answer to our situation. If we knew that I-245 were no longer in effect, we definitely would have taken the measures of having her brought here in the United States formally.

Anyhow, we found an attorney who claimed that there was a way that he could remedy our situation and filed for her I-130 (Alien Relative Petition) and I-485 (Application for Adjustment of Status). During that time, USCIS granted her a work authorization which we used to get her a driver’s license, education (earned her cosmetologist license), and a job. We went to the interview with an immigration officer who denied the I-485 but granted I-130. The USCIS sent her a letter which suggests her to voluntarily leave the U.S. otherwise a court summon will be issued for a deportation hearing.

We have a life here in America. We have a son and families. We go to church every Sunday. I have been operating a business which paid a lot of taxes and supported 12 households. Her driver’s license has expired along with the work authorization and now she is no longer able to take care of our son by herself, in case our son needs to go to the doctor or for other emergencies. She can no longer work or go anywhere without me providing the transportation. If we went to live in South Korea, I would no longer be able to financially support my son and my wife and our lives would be completely destroyed.

My questions are:
If she voluntarily leaves the U.S. to return to South Korea, is there a way for us to have her return to our son (a U.S. Citizen) and I, here in the U.S.?
And if so, how can we do it?
What are our chances of getting approved?
How long could it take?

We’re living a horrible nightmare due to the unforeseen consequences of the bad advices and the immigration system that led to those bad advices (but then again, it was I, who naively took those advices).

Please Help.