Texas Lawyer Blog

Think of a foreigner married to a person in United States and shortly after the marriage the spouse dies.  Could you imagine what type of mental agony and additional worries of deportation the person is going to face next?

As per current American immigration law if any American spouse of an immigrant expires before 2 years of their marriage, the surviving one would automatically be deported. It means the living spouse would be forced back to his/her home country, because the widows are not American citizens by birth, so they don’t have any right s to remain in the United states after the death of their spouse.

However there is good news too, as president Obama has signed a new bill as a part of bigger homeland security where Widows penalty would be discouraged now onwards. With this new law the surviving widows can submit a petition seeking residential status. It signifies that those widows can stay in US, work, travel in and out of the country and get time to obtain natural citizenship of US.

Though it applies for both husband and wife, but too some extent wives are the greater beneficiaries of this amended law. For them it’s a big relief as they don’t need to stay like a prisoner and criminal.  There are number of incidents where widows expressed their gratitude to this change for betterment.

Almost all the states and cities in US have started this new regulation. If you are in New Jersey and wondering what caused this massive change, let me tell you- it started with class action lawsuits filed in Los Angeles. In fact individual lawsuits were claimed in other states like Georgia, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Ohio, and Texas. After the deportation department was attacked Congress proclaimed the change for it.

So if you are an immigrant residing in New Jersey and undergoing similar tragedy for instance, check with NJ Immigration Lawyers to find legal rights for you. You can be rest assured to spend your remaining life in New home peacefully.