In 1999, my friend was seeking to change his status of being an illegal immigrant to a status of legal and had hired an attorney to fix his dilemma. The attorney botched up the paperwork and my friend received an Order of Deportation from the judge instead. He did not understand Appeal rights, etc. and instead he just did not leave. For the past 14 years that he has been here he has work under a valid driver's license and ss#. In 2001 his sister, who has a legal permanent residence status, filed a I-130 petition in behalf of my friend and it was eventually approved and is now awaiting an immigrant visa number. I would like to get a better understanding of the laws governing immigration. Will the approved I-130 override the Order of Deportation. He does have one misdemeanor DUI, but nothing else. He pays his taxes every year and has worked the entire time here in the United States. He is from El Salvador, a ex-member of the military and trained at Fort Bragg as a Green Beret for his country. He is 100% in love with this country and would defend it if it ever came to that. Is there any way his problem can be fixed should it arise and if we got married, would he have to return to his country for a year?![]()

