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FAQ I was Caught and Fingerprinted at the Border when I tried to enter illegally. I
wasn’t detained long and I gave a fake name. Does this matter if my spouse wants to file
for me now? This is a common question I receive, because it’s usually from the US citizen
spouse who’s calling who wants to sponsor their immigrant spouse now for a green card.
When you get fingerprinted at the border, there is usually in a record of your attempted
illegal entry. You can get into trouble if you don’t determine whether or not when
you were fingerprinted you were given a removal order, and it’s not always clear. Sometimes
they give you paper work. Sometimes they just fingerprint you and let you go. So it’s
best to do a freedom of information act request if you can with customs in border protection
always to get a full copy of your file. If you have the copies already, it’s very advisable
for you to bring those to an attorney so the immigration attorney can review it to make
sure that you don’t have a removal order, because illegal re-entry following a removal
order can bar you even from getting sponsored from your US citizen spouse. Using a fake
name is not going to protect you. They run it based on your fingerprints. So any aliases
will also show up on your fingerprint analysis. So it’s always advisable, besides a CVP
for you to try to get the FBI to do a background check which you can do through the mail and
it’s pretty fast and you can find out what they have on you.
About Immigration Attorney Heather L. Poole: I am an expert in complex family based immigration
cases and have a 98% approval rate for the past 12 years. I am a nationally published
immigration author and frequent public speaker on immigration topics. I regularly train other
immigration lawyers on complicated marriage and family immigration cases for the American
Immigration Lawyers association, Federal Bar association and national legal education providers.
I represent clients all over the US, travelling to immigration interviews and deportation
proceedings. Call us today to book your free consultation with me and to receive our free
information guide on choosing an immigration lawyer. Visit our website humanrightsattorney.com
for more in-depth information and articles on complex family immigration issues.