Citizenship or Green Card Eligibility Question

[John Jackson]

I am a U.S. Citizen asking this question in regards to a hypothetical situation (of course this can be taken any way one likes) to a person I will call "the subject."

The subject in question is an immigrant illegally in the United States. The subject had travelled to the United States with their family at an early age (3-5) and has grown up in the country until age 20. The subject had went to a private schooling institution and did very well, as well as performed alot of community/volunteer service, and has no criminal record. The subject is also fluent in english, and plans to go through a four year college program. The subject would like to stay and work in the United States permanently, as well as apply or aid and scholarships for college education. The subject cannot use any marraige options. The subject's family members are also illegally in the United States and/or have Temporary Student/Work Visas. What options does this person have to acquire the goal of Permanent Residency and/or citizenship in the United States?

I apologize for the "cheesiness" of the question, but I'm preferring to leave no liability. I'd appreciate any help in answering this question as I have searched for an answer and have come up dry. Sincere apologies if this has been answered and I overlooked it. It's mainly a special case.

 

[John Jackson]

Many thanks for your reply. Just a supplment to the question now.

So basically, citizenship or permanent residency is not merit based, even if the person has been in the country pretty much all of their life (aside from being born in it), and the only way the person could conceive gaining it is through marraige assuming they were inspected upon entry (which for purposes of the question, they were inspected). What if the person's parent gained permanent residency (through employment) before that person turned 21 and is still unmarried. Would they be able to apply through being a son or daughter of a permanent resident?