If I was brought at age 4 into the US by my mother and have stayed ever since, is there anything we could do so that I can become legal and get my papers?

Is there someone available to petition for you (ex: spouse, parent)?

Did you enter with or without a visa?

Did anyone ever file a petition for you before?

Have you or a family member ever been the victim of a crime in the U.S.?

Thank you for your email. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to correct your status. If you were brought here illegally, you cannot obtain any status (unless the laws change). There is an existing exception that permits the filing of a penalty ($1,000), if you have had a previous family or employment based case filed by 04/30/2001. Has anyone in your family filed such a case? Otherwise, you must go through a consulate process and be subject to a 10 year bar.

If you were brought into the US unlawfully and are now over the age of 18, there is nothing you can do within the US to legalize your status AND if you go abroad to try to get a valid visa to reenter the US, you will be barred from reentry for a period of 10 years unless you can get a waiver by showing extreme hardship to a US citizen spouse, which is very difficult to do in most cases.

If you are still under the age of 18, you can have a chance of getting a visa at the US Embassy abroad if you leave the US before you turn 18 and you have a sponsor who petitions for you and gets the petition approved.  This is because until you turn 18 you are not accruing unlawful presence time in the US and are not subject to the bar to reentry once you depart the US.