A. If you filed a Form I-360 as a deferred action request, you are still in the United States, and your Form I-360 now qualifies as a widow(er)’s visa petition, the filing of an adjustment application (Form I-485), with the required filing fee will make it possible for you to file a Form I-765 to apply for employment authorization based on the pending Form I-485. 

A.  A child who was listed on your Form I-130 can be included on your converted I-360, regardless of whether your child was the beneficiary of his or her own Form I-130.

A.  Your spouse’s children may already be U.S. citizens if they were born in the United States or were born abroad but obtained citizenship by birth or naturalization.  If your spouse’s children are not citizens, then whether they can be included on your converted Form I-360 depends on whether they are your children as well. Generally, your stepchildren through marriage to the U.S. citizen would be considered your children, and thus covered, as long as your marriage took place when the child was younger than age 18. If those children did not already derive U.S. citizenship through your deceased spouse at birth or on entry into the United States under the Child Citizenship Act of 2000, they may be eligible or immediate relative status under the INA.

A.  Yes. Regardless of whether your children are also the children of your deceased U.S. citizen spouse, the program covers your children in the United States, as long as they meet the definition of your “child” in section 101(b) of the INA,.

A. No.  Those who obtain permanent residence based on being the widow(er) of a citizen are not subject to conditional permanent residence and will not have to file Form I-751.

A.  If you remarried after the death of your previous U.S. citizen spouse, you are ineligible for this program based on your first marriage, regardless of whether your subsequent marriage ended due to a divorce from or the death of your subsequent spouse.  If your second spouse is deceased but was a U.S. citizen, you may be eligible based on your second marriage.  

A.  If you were divorced or legally separated from your U.S. citizen spouse at the time of his or her death, you are ineligible for this program.

A.  Generally, if a widow(er) remained in the United States after the U.S. citizen petitioner died, while awaiting the outcome of Form I-130 that can now be approved as a Form I-360, they will be deemed not to have accrued any unlawful presence as a matter of policy.  This protection applies only to widow(er)s who had a Form I-130 pending before USCIS, the Board of Immigration Appeals, or the courts on October 28, 2009, but applies even if the widow(er) was not in a lawful status while the now-converted Form I-360 was pending.  If your spouse never filed a Form I-130 for you, you may file a Form I-360 within the applicable filing period, but the new filing will not affect any unlawful presence you already have accrued.