F-1 status and N-400 Questions!

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wrot9089

Registered Users (C)
In December 2003 my F-1 visa was declared "out of status" due to work without authorization. The Optional practical training (OPT) permit came in late and i countiued to work on campus while my OPT was still pending. This put me my F-1 visa out of status and had to depart the country to reinstead the status. Departed the country as soon a possible!

Got married and re-entered on an marriage based immigartion status. I am currently a permanent resident. Now filling out my N-400 form for citizenship and i have a few quesions!
1. Is my "F-1 visa-out of status" considered a citation or was i cited?
2. Was i removed, excluded or deported?

Please help me answer these questions!

Thankyou!
 
wrot9089 said:
In December 2003 my F-1 visa was declared "out of status" due to work without authorization. The Optional practical training (OPT) permit came in late and i countiued to work on campus while my OPT was still pending. This put me my F-1 visa out of status and had to depart the country to reinstead the status. Departed the country as soon a possible!

Got married and re-entered on an marriage based immigartion status. I am currently a permanent resident. Now filling out my N-400 form for citizenship and i have a few quesions!
1. Is my "F-1 visa-out of status" considered a citation or was i cited?
2. Was i removed, excluded or deported?

Please help me answer these questions!

Thankyou!
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No to both. Citations are for criminal charges, not out of status issues.
Also, you were never ordered removed or deported by an immigration judge , so that would be no as well.
How long did you stay out of status before you left the country and reentered again?
 
If you are male and were under 26 when the status violation occurred, you have another possible problem ... you were supposed to have registered with the Selective Service. If you failed to register, you are likely to face problems with naturalization unless you are 31 or older when you apply (i.e. 5 years after the latest date when you could register).

However, if you got your green card before 26, they should have automatically registered you; if they did so you won't have to worry about this issue.
 
Thankyou so much Bobsmyth! Your response comes to me as a huge relief! I knew "F-1 out of Status" would not be considered a citation but wasn't sure because it is in a way a violation of some immigration law! You asked: how long i was out of status? Here is the time line!
1. On December 5th 2003 I was informed by the University's International Student Services (ISS) that i was out to status due to working without authorization (pending OPT permit).

2. Made travel arrangement and wraped my stuff and left the country on 14th of Dec 2003. So technically i was out of status for 9 days while in the country!

3. Applied for a new F-1 visa on 22nd december 2003 from India and was rejected because i could not establish that i was going to return to my homeland after completing my education in the U.S.

4. I got married to a U.S. citizen on 15th of Jan 2004, filed for immigration from india on 20th of Jan 2004 and re-entered on CR1 visa (Marriage based visa) in late may 2004.

Thankyou Jackolantern for your response! I registered for selective services when i came to the country in May 2004 on CR1 visa and have been updating my address even though i am over the age of 26! So i think this won't be a problem for me! Thanks anyways!

One more question: I have one speeding ticket that i got in 2001 and paid the fine! Do i have to report this on my N-400? I don't have any other traffic violation!

Once again thanks for your help guys!!

Regards,
JP
 
wrot9089 said:
One more question: I have one speeding ticket that i got in 2001 and paid the fine! Do i have to report this on my N-400? I don't have any other traffic violation!

Once again thanks for your help guys!!

Regards,
JP
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Technically yes you have to declare it, but in reality USCIS doesn't care about about speeding tickets and many people choose not to declare them for this reason. There have been a few rare cases where IOs have made speeding tickets an issue at the interview, but these have been the exception rather than the norm.
 
Jackolantern said:
If you are male and were under 26 when the status violation occurred, you have another possible problem ... you were supposed to have registered with the Selective Service. If you failed to register, you are likely to face problems with naturalization unless you are 31 or older when you apply (i.e. 5 years after the latest date when you could register).

However, if you got your green card before 26, they should have automatically registered you; if they did so you won't have to worry about this issue.
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If he was within his I-94 period (which for F-1 is typically D/S), then he may still have been in status. There is an old memo on this from the general counsel of the Selective Service that says that they define status for SS purposes as being within your I-94 period. It makes sense, as I don't think anyone would (know to) register if they had one day of unlawful employment.
 
wrot9089 said:
Thankyou so much Bobsmyth! Your response comes to me as a huge relief! I knew "F-1 out of Status" would not be considered a citation but wasn't sure because it is in a way a violation of some immigration law! You asked: how long i was out of status? Here is the time line!
1. On December 5th 2003 I was informed by the University's International Student Services (ISS) that i was out to status due to working without authorization (pending OPT permit).

2. Made travel arrangement and wraped my stuff and left the country on 14th of Dec 2003. So technically i was out of status for 9 days while in the country!

3. Applied for a new F-1 visa on 22nd december 2003 from India and was rejected because i could not establish that i was going to return to my homeland after completing my education in the U.S.

4. I got married to a U.S. citizen on 15th of Jan 2004, filed for immigration from india on 20th of Jan 2004 and re-entered on CR1 visa (Marriage based visa) in late may 2004.

Thankyou Jackolantern for your response! I registered for selective services when i came to the country in May 2004 on CR1 visa and have been updating my address even though i am over the age of 26! So i think this won't be a problem for me! Thanks anyways!

One more question: I have one speeding ticket that i got in 2001 and paid the fine! Do i have to report this on my N-400? I don't have any other traffic violation!

Once again thanks for your help guys!!

Regards,
JP
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Did the O/S issue ever come up when you refiled F-1 and then for fiance visa?
 
choppy said:
If he was within his I-94 period (which for F-1 is typically D/S), then he may still have been in status. There is an old memo on this from the general counsel of the Selective Service that says that they define status for SS purposes as being within your I-94 period. It makes sense, as I don't think anyone would (know to) register if they had one day of unlawful employment.
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But D/S for F-1 doesn't have a specific end date ... it ends when something is done to violate or end it, which includes unauthorized employment, or failure to maintain full-time studies (apart from the summer break and final term and 60-day grace period, of course). So once the F-1 status was violated, the duration of status ended.
 
Good point. I guess the point would be that he'd have an expired I-94. On the other hand, the weird result is that the SS seemed like it wanted to exclude such folks from coverage unless you overstayed and this would mean that a tourist would not have to register but a student would - a weird result. Note that for ex. for purposes of "unlawful presence" (3/10 year ban), you may be fine even if you had violations of status. I guess, I would disclose it but am not sure that he absolutely had to register - I guess he could ask the SS.
 
Thankyou Choppy and Jackolantern!

Choppy: You asked: Did the O/S issue ever come up when you refiled F-1 and then for fiance visa?
Over stay was not an issue when i reapplied for my F-1 visa inspite of me including all the paperwork in the packet explaning me side of the story! I had also included good moral character support letters from International Student Services at University and my boss on campus! All the letters explained that it was a miscommunication and i was truely not aware that i could continue to work on campus while my OPT permit is getting processed! On my re-application for F-1 the Over Stay of 9 days issue did not even come up, they asked me no questions, however they denied my F-1 application because i was unable to establish that i was going to return to my homeland after completing my education here in the U.S.

When i filed for the CR1 marriage based file...they only asked me if i had been to the states and if i had a social security card and i answerd yes to both and that was it!

Choppy and Jackolantern: I don't understand your discussion on Selective Services! I know that selective services is only for Permanent residents or citizen males and not for non-immigrants!! therefore while i was on F-1 visa i did not have to register for Selective Services however when i returned on CR1 marriage based file i registered because i was 25 and updated my addresses when i moved!
 
wrot9089 said:
All the letters explained that it was a miscommunication and i was truely not aware that i could continue to work on campus while my OPT permit is getting processed!
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Did you mean could NOT continue to work?
wrot9089 said:
Choppy and Jackolantern: I don't understand your discussion on Selective Services! I know that selective services is only for Permanent residents or citizen males and not for non-immigrants!! therefore while i was on F-1 visa i did not have to register for Selective Services however when i returned on CR1 marriage based file i registered because i was 25 and updated my addresses when i moved!
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Out-of-status noncitizen males between 18 and 26 are also required to register. Not just green card holders and citizens. But you registered so you are fine whether or not you were required to do so.
 
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oops! yes i meant to say: Could NOT continue to work! My bad there, just got ahead of my thought while typing!

Also, i was out of status for 9 days before i left the country! I needed those 9 days to make travel arrangements and wrap up my stuff that i had gathered over 6 years while on F-1 visa! I had too get rid of it all cause i was unsure if i was going to be able to come back soon!! It absolutely sucked!!

I had no idea out of status non-citizens were required to register for selective service!! Where does it say that? Please if you don't mind provide me a link to the source!! Thanks!
 
Please refer to my post #1 and #4 on this thread and help me answer this question!

Is violation of my F-1 status due to unauthorized employment considered a crime or an offense??

Thankyou!
 
wrot9089 said:
Is violation of my F-1 status due to unauthorized employment considered a crime or an offense??
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No, not in your case, unless USCIS detained or notified you for unlawful presence (and even then I doubt that would be considered an "offense"). You just had a technical status issue and you left promptly.
 
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wrot9089 said:
oops! yes i meant to say: Could NOT continue to work! My bad there, just got ahead of my thought while typing!

Also, i was out of status for 9 days before i left the country! I needed those 9 days to make travel arrangements and wrap up my stuff that i had gathered over 6 years while on F-1 visa! I had too get rid of it all cause i was unsure if i was going to be able to come back soon!! It absolutely sucked!!

I had no idea out of status non-citizens were required to register for selective service!! Where does it say that? Please if you don't mind provide me a link to the source!! Thanks!
Click to expand...

Some non-citizens are required to register. Others are not. Noncitizens who are not required to register with Selective Service include men who are in the U.S. on student or visitor visas, and men who are part of a diplomatic or trade mission and their families. Almost all other male noncitizens are required to register, including illegal aliens, legal permanent residents, and refugees. The general rule is that if a male noncitizen takes up residency in the U.S. before his 26th birthday, he must register with Selective Service. So out of the status non-citizens can be defined as illegal aliens. http://www.sss.gov/FSwho.htm

Terminology of illegal alien:

* illegal immigrant
* undocumented immigrant
* clandestine workers[1]
* sans papiers/"sin papeles"[2]
* Irregular immigrant/immigration
* illegal alien - technical term from U.S. immigration law[5][6]
* undocumented immigrant/migrant/alien/worker/resident
* unauthorized immigrant/migrant/alien/worker/resident
* paperless immigrant/migrant/alien/worker/resident
* immigrant "without immigration status"
* out of status
* unnaturalized immigrant
* boat people

Illegal alienTerminology can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_immigration.
 
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