A: Attorney Andre Pierre says assuming that your brother-in-law is a U.S. citizen and his wife, your sister, entered the U.S. legally and she has not overstayed her status as shown on the I-94, she qualifies to legalise her status once her husband petitions for her.

She is considered an immediate relative and does not need to wait in line for a work visa. The husband can file simultaneously an I-130 (petition for alien relative form) and an I-485 (adjustment of status form) at the local INS office in Tampa along with supporting documents such as their marriage licence, affidavit of support, tax returns for the last three years, birth certificates and medical report. The forms all have instructions that will guide him through the process or he can always contact an attorney in his neighbourhood.

While it will take at least one year for INS to adjudicate the petition your sister will be able to get a work authorisation within 80 days. She can then apply for a social security card and begin the process of looking for a job.

If your sister entered the U.S. legally but overstayed her allotted time for more than one year, she will not be able to apply for residency in the United States. Adjustment of status will be impossible. She will have to obtain a visa abroad but the moment she leaves the U.S., she will become inadmissible for ten years.

Her only hope is to apply for a waiver. If she is the spouse of a U.S. citizen she will have to establish that her exclusion from the U.S. would cause her husband "extreme hardship." If she overstayed for less than a year, she will also have to leave to pick up her visa but will then face a three-year bar.

Meanwhile, your sister will be in no position to sponsor for you or your kids unless she becomes a U.S. citizen, and that is three years away, if her husband is a citizen. Still, once she does qualify to petition for you, you would have to wait approximately 12-15 years before a visa becomes available. It is only then would you be able to immigrate to the U.S. with your children who can then go to school with their cousins.

Assuming your children are minors, they may want to wait until after graduating high school to apply for an "F" or "J" or "M" visa.

They must first, however, be accepted by an approved American college and obtain a student visa at the local or regional U.S consulate.