does an anchor baby help if parents overstayed tourist V. 7 years?

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area51

Registered Users (C)
Hope someone can help me understand the situation and provide advice.

We met a nice East European couple that came to the USA about 7 years ago on tourist visa's, overstayed and have been living and working here since without a greencard.

Their child is about 4 years old and a US citizen. It seems to be a sore subject to them, but they mentioned having to leave the country in a few months and can't come back. (I'm guessing immigration found them)

Is there any hope for them?
Anything we can do for them?
Would there be any point sending a letter to our Congressman on their behalf? Would helping their young daughter send a letter or make an appearance make a difference?

Thank you for your time.
 
Until baby becomes 21 years old, nothing can be done.
THey will be on 10 years bar, but their baby will be eligible to sponsor the parents more than 10 years later so that they will be able to receive immigration visa when baby turns 21.
 
Yes. Sadly the baby can not sponsor them until he reaches 21. But also... the baby must have such a source of income... to sponsor financially 3 people according to the poverty guidelines (I-864P)... And the baby must meet the "lived in the US for X many years after turning X many years of age" requirement, right?
 
thanks for your replies
From what I understand, if they leave the country they get the 10 year ban, but I've often read that the judges don't like to deport parents of a US citizen. Or maybe that's just for the ones that got in without a visa to begin with? We're just looking to give this couple some kind of help if we can.

I wonder if they should just wait it out if they can. Seems every few months half of Congress tries pushing through another amnesty bill. It'll be their luck to fly out of the country a month before Congress actually does it.
 
I remember reading that people who are in removal proceedings who are granted "voluntary departure" are not subject to the 10-year entry bar. See e.g. here. But I'm not sure how it will help this couple - it'll be 17 years before the child can petition for them anyway. I suppose they need to look into employment based immigration if they don't want to wait this long.
 
thanks, that's a great link. about the voluntary departure possibly saving them from the 10 year ban. Perhaps they can line up some jobs or apply for the greencard lottery. At least it gives them some opportunity.
If they haven't heard about this, do you think we should try and get some legal help for them?




austriacus said:
I remember reading that people who are in removal proceedings who are granted "voluntary departure" are not subject to the 10-year entry bar. See e.g. here. But I'm not sure how it will help this couple - it'll be 17 years before the child can petition for them anyway. I suppose they need to look into employment based immigration if they don't want to wait this long.
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I think it never hurts to try to get some legal counsel ... they don't have much to lose right? (Except someone could lose money spent on lawyers if their case is truly hopeless!) As far as I understand it, the key is that they already must be in deportation/removal proceedings to avoid the 10 year bar based on voluntary departure. If they "voluntarily depart" before they are removed, they WILL get the 10 year bar (I'm not sure I understand the logic, but I read that this is how it works!).

But, deportation carries a bunch of other nasty consequences such as losing social security benefits they may have earned that they could be eligible to have sent overseas during retirement if they leave before being deported. But that depends on if they paid social security taxes and if they are eligible for benefits (usually requires 40 quarters, so they may not have earned enough quarters yet anyway).

Anyway, with a US citizen child, at least they have a shot at a life in the US in the future. I'm sure there are provisions such as that the child must have lived in the US for some time which can be overcome, perhaps the child will want to come study/work in the US in the future and then petition for the parents which will be his immediate relatives, if the law doesn't change. Or, with the economic expansion of Eastern Europe, they might not want to go back to the US anymore in a decade or two. I'm sure it's even changed a lot in the last 7 years. They'll find a lot of Austrian banks and gas stations there now. :)
 
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