It was supposed to be a routine four-day trip to Mexico so Karen Serrano Roberts of Yeadon, a Mexican national, could have legal resident status in the United States.

She’s now been stranded for 18 months, and could be away 10 years, separated from her U.S.-born husband and five children, writes Valerie Russ for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Roberts, 31, was brought to the United States without legal documents when she was 4.

She grew up here, married LaMar Roberts, and raised a family.

She only wanted the legal residence to do more for herself and for them.

 “I wanted to grow a little more. I wanted to get a driver’s license and get a license for my business and make it legal. Just all those things you can’t get when you’re an immigrant.”

So she visited the U.S. Consulate in Mexico to get a green card.

But because she lacked a waiver for being in the U.S. without documentation, she wasn’t allowed back in, and the law says she now has to wait 10 years.

Roberts could have applied for the I-601A waiver while home in Yeadon but followed advice that sent her to Mexico, according to her attorney, Thomas Griffin.

Read more about Karen Serrano Roberts’ immigration predicament at The Philadelphia Inquirer.