Decision time...

Good news:
I have a petition by a sibling.
The application date for that petition (not the actual priority date) is now current.
It could be argued that I have 245i protection as a beneficiary of a parent from decades ago.

Bad news:
I have a final order from childhood that has haunted me.
I don't have DACA protection

I'm really torn up about how to go forward. I plopped down a significant retainer with my lawyer who has gone over every angle and the best he can come up with is that the 245i angle "has a chance" but significant risk under the current government as it can open up the can of worms from my childhood. More risk than marrying a citizen apparently.

My choices:

1. Say fuck it and go forward now.
   
2. Kick the can down the road for another 6 months until my actual priority date comes and hope that perhaps the government is less hostile.
   
3. Kick the can down another 2-3 years and hope there is a much friendlier government and hope that they pass a Dream Act and in the process waste yet another 2-3 years of my life and come up empty handed looking back and hoping I took the risk earlier.
   
4. Get off my ass and try to meet someone to marry.
   
5. Find a nice tall bridge to take a header off...but then it could be like on Castaway where the fear is it wouldn't finish the job and then I'll not only be an illegal but an illegal who is paralyzed and has a bunch of hospital bills and then I'd get deported. That would suck.
   
6. Really really look into marriage...I mean can marriage really be worse than jumping off a bridge?

Perhaps you can do items 2 or 3 while attempting to marry someone.

I'm leaning that way. One of the few joys of life I have is that when I sleep at night, I don't have a fear of anybody knocking my door down and dragging me out in front of my neighbors so I want to keep that as a last resort.

I recall you were leaning towards the 245i angle, I would pursue that if it is the only route.

Well as mentioned, that is currently the ONLY route I have except that it's a dark and scary route with snakes and things along the way. I was hoping my lawyer would be more confident about it but he's got his hands on the pulse of the local situation more than I do and he's basically telling me that he would do it only if I really wanted to do it.

i dont know everything about your immigration situation and how the immigration laws apply to your situation, risk vs the benefits. However the best advice I could give you is to do some research yourself as much as you possibly can, so that whatever decision you make is an informed decision, and not just based on whatever some lawyer cares enough to tell you.

Don't let fear be the deciding factor.

read the quote below

I am in a process of AOS through 245i and got my EAD so I am just waiting for an interview letter now. Do you have the document as proof for 245i?

Is the final order truly on record? You can do a FOIA and check it but consult with a lawyer before you do. I really think you need to spend some money and speak to multiple lawyers in your area in this level of expertise before you file for AOS. Basically, you are trying to avoid a NTA and immigration judge can give you cancellation of removal and GC based on you living here for 10+ years but you don’t want to go that route either. The marriage has same risks either way.

That other route is a 601A waiver if 245i did not apply.

Your main concern is that final order that you had. I would really talk to multiple lawyers on this.

Oh trust me, I've done research time and time again on this for years and it's really the same as what the lawyer told me. I was actually the one who brought up the idea of the 245i beneficiary to my lawyer's attention because in the pile of paperwork, it was in the bottom and got knows how much it would have cost me while they figured it out.

If this was the Obama administration where they would be more likely(but still not guaranteed) to look the other way when they saw that I was otherwise qualified but had a final order on my record, I would go forward. The current regime however has instructed ICE to get anybody with a final order and USCIS has helped them so it throws the risk/benefit analysis balance off significantly.

Healthy fear is not a bad thing if it means survival. Believe me, part of me wants to say fuck it and just go for broke now and put all my cards on the table but my gut is telling me to be a little more patient. It's really gut wrenching because if expanded DACA wasn't killed off and I had it, this would have been my moment to shine and go forward and get my green card and end this nightmare but instead I have the shiny green card dangling in front of me and acting on it could make the nightmare even worse.

Oh yes, the final order is still there and the fly in the ointment in all this. My other family members who had this same order were able to adjust their status but that was throw an immediate family member which didn't require 245i (we went over this already in the other thread) so it had less exposure and it was a different time and place.

Honestly I don't trust any other lawyer besides him because he is the only one I've found who doesn't just tell me to ahead guns a blazing while he makes money and puts me at risk. He essentially pulled a hat trick for another family member in a case that was screwed up badly by another lawyer.

I see your point. and yes sometimes a little healthy fear can keep us safe. I was just saying don't let it be the only deciding factor. if it wasn't for fear I would have probably be a citizen by now. that being said I'm a firm believer in nothing doesn't happen happen before it's time, so I understand your feeling to tread lightly and wait before preceeding. But when you feel the time is right, chase your dream, because it means that much to you.