Can he adjust his status? is he here illegally?

[klox23]

Hello

I have a few questions. Hope you can help me with

My cousin, (30 years old, not married) came to the states on an F1 visa. He dropped out of school after a few years. He has been out of status for around 6 years now.

Now, both my uncle and aunt are naturalized citizens. My cousin's priority date is fast approaching(category F1).

How difficult is it going to be for him to adjust his status? Can he even do it?

I read somewhere that a student out of status is no really considered to be in the States illegally. Something like that. I'm not sure. Is this correct?

Also, my uncle is looking for a good lawyer to help with the case. And he would like to stall the AOS as much as possible without completely missing my cousin’s turn. The deadline to adjust once your priority date becomes current is 1 year, correct?

Thank you all for taking the time to answer

 

[Jackolantern]

If he came the US before 2001 he might qualify to adjust status based on 245(i). Otherwise, he can only adjust status based on marriage to a US citizen, or being petitioned by his US citizen son or daughter when they're at least 21 years old.

I read somewhere that a student out of status is no really considered to be in the States illegally. Something like that. I'm not sure. Is this correct?

Sort of, but not quite. For an F-1 student with D/S on their I-94, unlawful presence for the purpose of the 3-year or 10-year ban does not accumulate unless USCIS or an immigration judge has made such a determination of their status. So being out of status would still prevent adjustment of status within the US based on his parent's petition, but without unlawful presence he would still be able to obtain a green card by interviewing for it outside the US at a consulate.

The problem is that he doesn't know what action USCIS or immigration courts have made regarding his status, especially if he's moved around since going out of status and thereby not received any notifications from them.

 

[XtremeCold]

I don't understand much about the laws. I can only tell you that lots of my old friends in college in Seattle were international students with F-1 status; they partied hard , dropped out of school, and worked in Asian restaurants for cash. A few years later, some got married with USCs and got their PR card without any problem.

 

[Jackolantern]

I don't understand much about the laws. I can only tell you that lots of my old friends in college in Seattle were international students with F-1 status; they partied hard , dropped out of school, and worked in Asian restaurants for cash. A few years later, some got married with USCs and got their PR card without any problem.

Yes, I mentioned above that marriage to a USC would enable him to adjust status despite being out of status. That's what your friends did. But this guy is not married to a USC; instead he's relying on the petition his father filed.