HOW can I adjust my status?

J

jo23171

New Member
My grandparents brought me to this country when I was 17 to live with my father (16 years ago). My father married a US citizen about 4 years ago and will be getting his citizenship in a few months.

I'm desperate and can't take this life anymore. Being here illegally didn't bother me while growing up, but over the past few years it started to affect me greatly. I am constantly depressed and I see no end to this nightmare. If I hadn't grown up here I would had gone back a long time ago. I think about just dropping everything and going back, but I am very scared since I don't know anything about the country where I was born, I only have very faded memories.
I wish I was never brought to this country in the first place.

What should I do? I don't want to marry someone just to get a GC. Should I go back and ask my father to apply for me once he receives his citizenship?

Thank you
 
Talk to a lawyer. You father can't apply for citizenship for you since you will be facing a 10 year bar.
 
15 years of overstay may be a problem.

jo23171 said:
My grandparents brought me to this country when I was 17 to live with my father (16 years ago).
Click to expand...

Are you married?
jo23171 said:
I'm desperate and can't take this life anymore.
Click to expand...

Which country might that be? You left at 17, you should have plenty of memories, not just faded ones.

jo23171 said:
I don't know anything about the country where I was born, I only have very faded memories.
Click to expand...

Consult a good attorney.

jo23171 said:
What should I do?
Click to expand...
 
You could try the asylum route, depending where he is from. Go talk to a lawyer. Preferably the best one you can find.
 
nscagony said:
You could try the asylum route, depending where he is from. Go talk to a lawyer. Preferably the best one you can find.
Click to expand...

Sorry for those people who really need asylum status, but get tougher checks because of abusers.

And if my memory serves, there is one year limit to apply for asylum. Correct me if I'm wrong.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
"Applicants are excused of this requirement if they can show: 1) "changed circumstances which materially affect the applicant's eligibility for asylum," or 2) "extraordinary circumstances relating to the delay in filing the application." INA § 208(a)(2)(D)."
 
nscagony said:
"Applicants are excused of this requirement if they can show: 1) "changed circumstances which materially affect the applicant's eligibility for asylum," or 2) "extraordinary circumstances relating to the delay in filing the application." INA § 208(a)(2)(D)."
Click to expand...

And where is extraordinary circumstance in this case ?

Shooting in the dark doesn't always work.

OP's best bet is some amnesty or marrying to USC.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I'm from Brazil and never married. I was hoping my name would not be in the system anymore since I entered the country so long ago, if that was the case I could leave and apply through my father.
 
jo23171: thats called immigration fraud, and lying to federal authorities, and will get you banned for life best case.

GotPR: A shot in the dark is his best chance at this point. But seeing that he is from Brazil, a pretty nice and decent place to live, asylum would be indeed pointless.

Marriage-based AOS might work out for you. Whenever the time comes for that, make sure you hire a good attorney.
 
jo23171 said:
I'm from Brazil and never married. I was hoping my name would not be in the system anymore since I entered the country so long ago, if that was the case I could leave and apply through my father.
Click to expand...

16 years isn't all that long ago. You've gotten an I-94, and are therefore subject to the 10-year bar. Marriage-based AOS is your only hope.
 
Triple Citizen,
I left my country of birth when I was 17. I have faded memories of it, plus the country has changed so much, I didn't recognize much when I visited it for a couple of days 8 years ago... I am sure it changed even more since then....
So, I can sympathize with the original poster. It's just too late to go back.
 
nscagony said:
jo23171: thats called immigration fraud, and lying to federal authorities, and will get you banned for life best case.

GotPR: A shot in the dark is his best chance at this point. But seeing that he is from Brazil, a pretty nice and decent place to live, asylum would be indeed pointless.

Marriage-based AOS might work out for you. Whenever the time comes for that, make sure you hire a good attorney.
Click to expand...

Just because someone may assume that a country is pleasant to live in does not mean that legitimate political asylum cases cannot come from there. Some countries like Brazil, for example, are great if you are wealthy and connected. If you're average or poor, or a minority, or an orphan, you can easily be persecuted, victimized by corrupt police, tortured, etc. That may not be the case for this poster, but it is certainly true for some...
 
We can simply agree to disagree then. The way I look at it personally, nothing, absolutely nothing justifies breaking the law, including immigration law. I am a hardliner in this aspect. I no longer talk to family members (cousins, uncles, aunts, etc) who stayed illegally in the US past their I-94. My wife calls me anal retentive for a reason :)


LucyMO said:
So, I can sympathize with the original poster. It's just too late to go back.
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top