I got my GC on March 2003 in EB-II category. I now qualify to apply for Citizenship on either Employment based or Marriage-based grounds since my wife is a US Citizen (by birth). Here's my issue: my past employer that sponsored my GC made a STUPID administrative error mid-way through the process. Somehow they sent a letter to INS telling them that I had left the company (when in fact I was still working for them and had expressed no intention to leave and was in good terms with them) and requested INS to cancel my H1B visa. About 7 months later they got a letter from INS confirming cancellation of my visa. That's when they realized their mistake! Until this point I was not even aware of what they did. Anyway, the company lawyers sent a letter to INS saying that they were very sorry about the mistake and that it was an administrative error (they meant to send someone else's name but sent my name by mistake). They requested INS to reinstate my visa. INS came back to them with strong words effectively scolding them for being fools but thankfully, reinstated my visa. The problem was that for some strange reason, they reinstated my visa as of about 1 month after the date my visa was originally cancelled by them. This meant that for that period of 1 month, I was effectively Out-Of-Status, which is a very serious matter. I was fully expecting that they would eventually deny my GC (which was parallely going on while this drama was unfolding). I was overjoyed to find out later that I got my GC without any issues or references to the visa issue. My $64,000 question is: will they dig up everything again if I now apply for Citizenship and deny, or worse, deport me because of that Out-Of-Status issue? What if I apply based on marriage criteria, will that make my situation better? Given all this, I have nightmares applying for Citizenship because I have so much to lose compared to the benefits of getting Citizenship. Or am I just being paranoid? Any inputs would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading my rather long posting.
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Citizenship blues: please help!!!
- Thread starter BadKarma
- Start date
Badkarma,
I don't think it is a big problem since the mistake wasnot made by you. Get ALL of your documentation including the letter from your past employer ap[ologizing to INS because of their error and the corresponding INS letter when they did reinstated your visa.
You are in a strong ground and you didnot make mistake. You were in fact still working with your past employer in that 1 month period.
GoodLuck and relax...
I don't think it is a big problem since the mistake wasnot made by you. Get ALL of your documentation including the letter from your past employer ap[ologizing to INS because of their error and the corresponding INS letter when they did reinstated your visa.
You are in a strong ground and you didnot make mistake. You were in fact still working with your past employer in that 1 month period.
GoodLuck and relax...
The fact that your employer admitted their mistake will make USCIS realize that your visa was canceled due to an administrative error beyond your control that you had no prior knowledge of. Applying for 3 year marriage rule instead of 5 year rule will not make a difference in overall processing of your case. You have nothing to worry about.
Thanks chitown08 and Bobsmyth!
Unfortunaltely, I don't have ANY documents to substantiate what I mentioned above. All communications were directly between INS and my previous company lawyers. The company people were very cautious in completely avoiding email with me during this process and all communication between me and the company were only done over the phone. I think they were covering their rear-ends and did not want to give me proof of their bungling just in case I thought of taking them to court. Maybe I should privately hire the same laywers to file my Citizenship application? Hopefully they would not have destroyed the old documents. In any case, USCIS should have all documents with them. These govt. types tend to save every scrap of paper for eternity. If they deny me Citizenship, I don't think it will be because of lack of proof on my part.
Unfortunaltely, I don't have ANY documents to substantiate what I mentioned above. All communications were directly between INS and my previous company lawyers. The company people were very cautious in completely avoiding email with me during this process and all communication between me and the company were only done over the phone. I think they were covering their rear-ends and did not want to give me proof of their bungling just in case I thought of taking them to court. Maybe I should privately hire the same laywers to file my Citizenship application? Hopefully they would not have destroyed the old documents. In any case, USCIS should have all documents with them. These govt. types tend to save every scrap of paper for eternity. If they deny me Citizenship, I don't think it will be because of lack of proof on my part.
Thanks chitown08 and Bobsmyth!
Unfortunaltely, I don't have ANY documents to substantiate what I mentioned above. All communications were directly between INS and my previous company lawyers. The company people were very cautious in completely avoiding email with me during this process and all communication between me and the company were only done over the phone. I think they were covering their rear-ends and did not want to give me proof of their bungling just in case I thought of taking them to court. Maybe I should privately hire the same laywers to file my Citizenship application? Hopefully they would not have destroyed the old documents. In any case, USCIS should have all documents with them. These govt. types tend to save every scrap of paper for eternity. If they deny me Citizenship, I don't think it will be because of lack of proof on my part.
Contact your employers HR department and demand that they send you a letter indicating their response to USCIS. They should have it on file since they sent it to USCIS.
Jackolantern
Registered Users (C)
Don't worry about it. They approved your green card after knowing about and acknowledging the issue. Your status was reinstated, so unless your I-485 was filed during the gap in status, you would have been in legal status at the time of filing, and thus would be eligible to adjust status.
Once the green card is approved they don't go back in time to dig up pre-GC status violations, unless your lack of status made you ineligible to get the green card.
Bottom line: Don't worry about it.
Once the green card is approved they don't go back in time to dig up pre-GC status violations, unless your lack of status made you ineligible to get the green card.
Bottom line: Don't worry about it.
One way or another I concur with the general sentiment that you should not have an issue. USCIS should have a record of what went on, and I very much doubt that this will become an issue. Furthermore, spouses of US citizens get more leniency on past out of status issues. Anyway, I see it is a non-issue and I wouldn't even waste my time contacting the HR of your previous company to get any letter. However, for your peace of mind you might want to do it anyway. I would apply based on 5 years to avoid extra paperwork.
Good luck.
Good luck.
Homo.Erectus
Registered Users (C)
Are you people completely paranoid? I know a person who came on a visitor visa, overstayed for 9.5 years (being illegal alien for 9 years). Got deported then came back as a permanent resident through American wife with waivers of inadmissibility. Applied for citizenship based on marriage and got it with NO problems! And you worry about some silly 1 month out of status before you even got a greencard?! Get a grip.
Cheers.
Cheers.
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Homo.Erectus: You are right, I must be paranoid at some level. However, there are plenty of reasons to mistrust the benevolence of Big Brother. Here's a true story:
http://www.wnep.com/Global/story.asp?S=7372788
http://www.wnep.com/Global/story.asp?S=7372788
Jackolantern
Registered Users (C)
I remember reading more about that case somewhere. They got family-based green cards, and being married would have put them in a different immigration category, making them unable to obtain a green card at the time, if USCIS had known about the marriage.Homo.Erectus: You are right, I must be paranoid at some level. However, there are plenty of reasons to mistrust the benevolence of Big Brother. Here's a true story:
http://www.wnep.com/Global/story.asp?S=7372788
In the case at the top of this thread, USCIS knew the situation and still awarded the green card. And it was not the type of situation that would make someone ineligible for the green card. Also, the case you linked to was not about being out of status prior to the GC, it was about a failure to disclose information that was materially relevant to the GC process.
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I was not comparing those 2 cases. In fact it would be hard to find bonehead employers like mine. I was just pointing out that USCIS is not loath to come after you even for minor errors burried in history by Father Time. But Jackolantern has a valid point (which was not mentioned in the article and I was unaware of).
Homo.Erectus
Registered Users (C)
The link you gave is about people who obtained their green cards while being ineligible in the category of unmarried children of permanent residents. If they'd disclosed their married status they wouldn't enter the country in the first place. Your one month out of status did NOT make you inadmissible (unlike those people's lies). Apply for your citizenship and don't worry too much about it.
Cheer.
Cheer.