Citizenship Interview and previous H1B out of status

E

ekatz

New Member
Hi Everyone,

My citizenship interview is scheduled for end of Feb and I have a question about my earlier out of status time period. Here is the situation and any feedback is much appreciated.

  • Came to US in March 2001 on H1B sponsored by Employer A.
  • In Jan 2004 I got an offer from Employer B. Accepted the offer in Jan 2004.
  • Based on what they told me, I resigned from Employer A and my last working day there was 15 March 2004. At this time, I had an I-94 which was valid through 2006.
  • But, due to some misunderstanding Employer B hadn't filed for H1B transfer by that time. They filed for transfer on 31 March 2004.
  • H1B transfer (premium processing) was approved on 9 April 2004. There was no RFE and the H1 transfer approval came with a new I-94 valid through 2007.
  • I started working for Employer B on 15 April 2004.
  • In July 2004 I sent my H1B transfer approval (along with its I-94) and my passport to Dept. of State port and they stamped a new visa based on Employer B's H1B petition.
  • In Oct 2004, I travelled outside of US, and returned without any problems.
  • Employer B filed for my green card in 2005, and GC was approved in Sep 2007.
  • I filed N-400 in October 2013, and my citizenship interview is scheduled for end of Feb 2014.

In 2004, I was out of status for 30 days. Since I had a valid I-94 I guess I was not unlawfully present. I was also more than 26 years of age before 2004 so selective service registration shouldn't be an issue either.

My questions are:
1. Will my out of status time affect citizenship interview?
2. While applying for H1B transfer for Employer B, I filled out the visa application form (DS-156). In that, I answered NO to two questions:
- 2.a: Have you ever sought to obtain a visa, entry into the U.S., or any other U.S. immigration benefit by fraud or willful misrepresentation or other unlawful means?
- 2.b: Have you ever violated the terms of a U.S. visa, or been unlawfully present in, or deported from, the United States?
Did answering NO to those questions amount to giving false information?
The N-400 form has similar questions
- 2.c: Have you ever given false or misleading information to any U.S. Govt official while applying for any immigration benefit?
Should I answer yes to that question on N-400?
3. Is my case bad enough that I should get an attorney to accompany me to the interview?

Whatever happens, I will post back the interview results here. I hope things work out.

Thanks in advance for any feedback/suggestions.
 
Assuming that your status remained free of issues since your entry in Oct. 2004, don't worry about it. If they decide to dig into your pre-GC history, they almost never care about any status issues before the last entry to the US prior to filing for Adjustment of Status, unless there is something blatant like having over 180 days of unlawful presence and returning to the US before your 3-year or 10-year ban expired.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Technically, you were always under valid H1-B, visa but just had a lapse in the right employer. If I were you, I would answer NO and leave it at that. I highly doubt anyone is going back that far, and even if discovered you play dumb and say that the new employer was given all the paperwork prior to you joining the new job and you have no idea how this could have happened.
 
Dedo, thanks for the response.

Dedo said:
Technically, you were always under valid H1-B, visa but just had a lapse in the right employer.
Click to expand...
I am not sure what you meant by that. I was out of status for 30 days. The only thing is that this was not a lay-off situation, and I had accepted the new offer while I was still working at the old company. Not that the law will forgive that, but I am hoping that (if the issue comes up in interview) the IO will look at it as a mitigating circumstance.

Fingers crossed.
 
ekatz said:
Dedo, thanks for the response.


I am not sure what you meant by that. I was out of status for 30 days. The only thing is that this was not a lay-off situation, and I had accepted the new offer while I was still working at the old company. Not that the law will forgive that,
Click to expand...
The law does forgive that, specifically for people in your situation, that is those who received employment-based green cards.
According to INA Section 245(k), for employment-based GC applicants, an unlawful presence under 180 days total in duration is forgiven at the adjustment of status stage under most circumstances, see
http://www.imminfo.com/News/2013-07-01/section-245k-revisited.html
http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/...da/Archives 1998-2008/2008/245(k)_14jul08.pdf
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top