Overstayed in the US For4 Years After Visa Expired and Got Married with a US Citizen

[diane35diane35]

Hello,

I have used a L2 visa to enter the U.S. legally, but then overstayed in the U.S. for 4 years after visa been expired. I already left the U.S. in 2007 and went back to Taiwan after I graduated with a Bachelor's Degree.

My girlfriend is a U.S. citzen and we have been together for almost 9 years. She also moved to Taiwan because of me... We are now both in Taiwan... We plan to get marry soon and would like to return to the U.S. Please advise the below questions:

*** I've heard that there is a time bar on returning to the states, in which it askes to spend 10 years outside the U.S. if I "overstayed" in the U.S. for more than a year before - even during that time I entered the U.S. legally with a visa ...?

1) In my case, if I apply for a green card since I already married a U.S. citizen, would it ask me to wait for 10 years before I could enter the U.S.?

2) How long would the whole application process take in my case?

3) If they are going to denied my application, whether they would give reasons of why my application is denied? Also how long would it take for me to know that they denied my application?

3) If the 10 years time bar is really required, anything I could do to be able to enter the U.S. legally asap? I & my fiance would like to move back to the U.S. if I've got accepted with a green card.

4) If they denied my application for a green card, whether I could still apply for a travel visa?

Thank you so much for all your help here!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Jackolantern]

When you were in the US, were you a student with an F-1 visa? Did your I-94 say D/S, or did it have a specific date on it?

Note that visa expiration doesn't mean your status expired. The visa expiration date is the last day you can enter the US with the visa, not the last day you can stay in the US. Your legal stay may end before or after the visa expiration date. For example, you can enter with a 10-year tourist visa, but you're only allowed to stay for 6 months. Or you can enter with a 1-year tourist visa, but be allowed to stay for 5 years.

Did you remain in the US for 4 years after your studies ended, or 4 years after the expiration date of your visa?

If you are subject to the 10-year ban, you have already been outside the US for 5 years so there would be only 5 years of waiting left. Your future wife can file for you before the 10-years are up, as long as the 10 years are done before your consular interview (so in practical terms that means filing about 4 years from now).

However, it is possible that the 10-year ban does not apply to you. You'll have to give more information about your stay in the US, including answering the questions above, so we can figure out if the 10-year ban is applicable.

 

[diane35diane35]

When you were in the US, were you a student with an F-1 visa? Did your I-94 say D/S, or did it have a specific date on it?

Note that visa expiration doesn't mean your status expired. The visa expiration date is the last day you can enter the US with the visa, not the last day you can stay in the US. Your legal stay may end before or after the visa expiration date. For example, you can enter with a 10-year tourist visa, but you're only allowed to stay for 6 months. Or you can enter with a 1-year tourist visa, but be allowed to stay for 5 years.

Did you remain in the US for 4 years after your studies ended, or 4 years after the expiration date of your visa?

If you are subject to the 10-year ban, you have already been outside the US for 5 years so there would be only 5 years of waiting left. Your future wife can file for you before the 10-years are up, as long as the 10 years are done before your consular interview (so in practical terms that means filing about 4 years from now).

However, it is possible that the 10-year ban does not apply to you. You'll have to give more information about your stay in the US, including answering the questions above, so we can figure out if the 10-year ban is applicable.

Thanks for the quick response!

1) It was a L2 visa.

2) I couldn't find my passport and all the documents but I know I should have overstayed for 3-4 years...
So I guess it might expire on 2003. And I left the U.S. once I graduated from the university in 2007. I didn't really overstay after I graudated from university.

3) Please advise if you think the 10 year bar is applicable and if there anything I could do to enter the U.S. legally before the10 years bar. I am now already out of the U.S. for 5 years.

4) Also since my fiancee is also in Taiwan, would you suggest her to work in Taiwan or to look for a job in the U.S.? Not sure would it be better if she has a stable job in the U.S., which proves that "if" they really approve me with a green card, she is financially stable and be able to support me once I enter the U.S. This way I am not a public charge to the U.S.

Thank you so much for your valuable information!!!!!!

 

[Jackolantern]

Or you can enter with a 1-year tourist visa, but be allowed to stay for 5 years.

Correction: I meant you can enter with a 1 years student visa, but be allowed to stay for 5 years. A tourist visa won't allow you to stay that long.

 

[Jackolantern]

2) I couldn't find my passport and all the documents but I know I should have overstayed for 3-4 years...
So I guess it might expire on 2003. And I left the U.S. once I graduated from the university in 2007. I didn't really overstay after I graudated from university.

You will need to find to find enough documents to prove when you left the US, so the people at the embassy will believe that your 10-year clock started counting in 2007 and not 2010 or some other later year. That includes passports with arrival stamps, and other evidence of you being outside the US, like your employment records in Taiwan.

And if you've been to a US consulate or embassy to apply for anything since leaving the US, that is strong evidence of being outside the US on that date. You don't necessarily need proof of that visit, since it would be in their records, but it would help if you knew the date.

3) Please advise if you think the 10 year bar is applicable and if there anything I could do to enter the U.S. legally before the10 years bar. I am now already out of the U.S. for 5 years.

You almost surely have the 10-year bar. The only exceptions I can think of now are if one of the following is true:

1) You left the US before your 19th birthday. The 10-year bar is for an overstay of at least a year after one's 18th birthday, so if you left before 19 you would have avoided it. Of course, it would also make you one of the geniuses who graduated college before 19.
or
2) You were pursuing a green card via adjustment of status, and your case was still pending for some time after your L2 status expired. The time spent in the US with a pending adjustment of status is not considered overstay (except with certain wrongdoing such as a fraudulent AOS application).
or
3) You were prevented from leaving the US against your will, such as being too physically ill to travel or being kidnapped and locked up in a basement for years. However, if something so extreme happened to you to make you stay 4 years too long, I think you would have already mentioned it.

4) Also since my fiancee is also in Taiwan, would you suggest her to work in Taiwan or to look for a job in the U.S.? Not sure would it be better if she has a stable job in the U.S., which proves that "if" they really approve me with a green card, she is financially stable and be able to support me once I enter the U.S. This way I am not a public charge to the U.S.

She should be living in the US when she files for you, and she should have US employment to meet the requirements of the Affidavit of Support before you have your consular interview (or both of you combined should have sufficient assets -- around $57K according to current guidelines, for a household size of 2 with a US citizen spouse).

Your 10 years will end sometime in 2017 (depending on the specific date you left the US), so you can start planning from now around that date. You need to ensure your 10 years are done by the time you have a consular interview. Once she files the petition it would be about 6-12 months later your case becomes ripe for an interview, so she should plan to file it sometime in 2016. If the case moves unexpectedly fast and is transferred to the consulate a few months before your 10 years are up, you can delay it by waiting until the 10-year mark to file the relevant paperwork on your end to set up the interview (but don't delay it for more than a year, or they might close the case).

 

[pumpkin72]

Illigally in US, can I get married?

Can someone who has been living in the US illegally for 3 years, get married and get his green card? He came on a tourist visa, but stayed in the US. Now he met someone and is getting married. Are there any consquences, can he get deported or have his green card denied??

Thank you

 

[Jackolantern]

Can someone who has been living in the US illegally for 3 years, get married and get his green card? He came on a tourist visa, but stayed in the US. Now he met someone and is getting married. Are there any consquences, can he get deported or have his green card denied??

Yes, if he entered the US legally and can prove it with his I-94 and/or visa and/or passport, and he hasn't left the US since overstaying the visa, and he can show he has a bona fide marriage to a US citizen, he can get a green card despite the overstay.