How do you know if you received a 10 year ban?

Vicky M.

New Member
Hi all,

My mother left the U.S. 3 years ago after living in the U.S. for 20 years undocumented . She left willingly and was never asked to leave or had any encounters with USCIS officials. She never received any notification about being banned upon leaving.

My sister and I are both US citizens and hoping that she would be able to come in for a visit but dont want to risk it if she is in fact banned. Is there anyway to find out for certain if there is in fact a ban?
 
Hi all,

My mother left the U.S. 3 years ago after living in the U.S. for 20 years undocumented . She left willingly and was never asked to leave or had any encounters with USCIS officials. She never received any notification about being banned upon leaving.

My sister and I are both US citizens and hoping that she would be able to come in for a visit but dont want to risk it if she is in fact banned. Is there anyway to find out for certain if there is in fact a ban?

There is not a list available of banned people. So if she is from a country with the visa waiver program, she could apply for an ESTA and see what happens. I don't know if the ESTA will be denied because of a ban, but if the ESTA is denied that would be an answer. If it is not denied, that would not be conclusive. In the latter case she would only find out at the POE.

She could also apply for a visitors visa at the US embassy. That would get a certain answer.

Just a point about the system. The system for tracking arrivals and departures was beefed up in October 2002. So her original entry would not have been reliably captured. The exit would have been though. Whether they put 2 and 2 together based on the departure record, I don't know.

One last thing she could try is a check on the I94 record. It would show the departure and it might show more information - again - I don't know. Try this link and please let us know if the record shows anything conclusive.
https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov
 
The ban is a matter of law; it applies automatically to those people who meet the conditions set in the law. It does not depend on notification.

If you give more information, we can determine whether she has an unlawful presence ban. How did she enter the US? With what visa? How old was she during this period of time?
 
I have a very similar situation, came to US in 1992, left on my own will 2013 because of my mothers illness in Europe. My passport expired while in the States so I had to get a temporary one from the Embassy to leave the country. Since I applied for an Esta but didn't admit that I overstayed before got it and been since 3x back and forth, now I meet a US Citizen and we want to get married, but my Esta is about to expire, don't want to lie again on my Esta. Did the I94 record and it just shows my last visits. Here my question: If I apply for an other esta but admit I overstayed before but it doesn't show on my record, what happens?
 
I have a very similar situation, came to US in 1992, left on my own will 2013 because of my mothers illness in Europe. My passport expired while in the States so I had to get a temporary one from the Embassy to leave the country. Since I applied for an Esta but didn't admit that I overstayed before got it and been since 3x back and forth, now I meet a US Citizen and we want to get married, but my Esta is about to expire, don't want to lie again on my Esta. Did the I94 record and it just shows my last visits. Here my question: If I apply for an other esta but admit I overstayed before but it doesn't show on my record, what happens?

You might be inadmissible for an immigrant visa (since you wish to get married to a US citizen, I assume you plan to move back to the USA as an immigrant) for your previous overstay of more than 20 years (?). Not only that, you lied on your ESTA by declaring that you never violated the terms of your previous visas. I suggest you hire an immigration lawyer as you have inadmissibilities from overstay and misrepresentation.

Regarding your question, if you tell the truth now, immigration will probably investigate your entire immigration history, see all the inconsistencies in your ESTA application answers, and deny your ESTA.
 
I overstayed my au pair visa in 2001 for 10 yrs then left on my own,had to renew my passport there to leave the country then went back 2 times back and forth with ESTA,(didn't have to lie cause it didn't ask if you stayed illegally) but the 3 rd time I wanted to get in,they got suspicious because I kept coming for 3 months in less than a yrs so they looked me up and saw that the day I left and asked me about it!I had no choice but to tell them truth!
I asked them if I was banned and they said no but I have to come back with a visa,no more ESTA!
Then my friend who has a friend working at the immigration looked me up and told him I was actually banned for 3 to 5 yrs which was a little confusing because I applied for a tourist visa at the US consulate in Paris,I was denied but they asked me to reapply and they never mentionned I was banned!
 
I overstayed my au pair visa in 2001 for 10 yrs then left on my own,had to renew my passport there to leave the country then went back 2 times back and forth with ESTA,(didn't have to lie cause it didn't ask if you stayed illegally) but the 3 rd time I wanted to get in,they got suspicious because I kept coming for 3 months in less than a yrs so they looked me up and saw that the day I left and asked me about it!I had no choice but to tell them truth!
I asked them if I was banned and they said no but I have to come back with a visa,no more ESTA!
Then my friend who has a friend working at the immigration looked me up and told him I was actually banned for 3 to 5 yrs which was a little confusing because I applied for a tourist visa at the US consulate in Paris,I was denied but they asked me to reapply and they never mentionned I was banned!
It's probably because you entered on a J visa and you were admitted for "D/S" (Duration of Status) on your I-94, not a specific date, and thus there was no date that you staying past would cause you to start accruing "unlawful presence". No unlawful presence = no unlawful presence ban.
 
It's probably because you entered on a J visa and you were admitted for "D/S" (Duration of Status) on your I-94, not a specific date, and thus there was no date that you staying past would cause you to start accruing "unlawful presence". No unlawful presence = no unlawful presence ban.
Yes I came with a J1 visa and yes there was this D/S on my I-94.I want to go there with a visa for some charities events I got involved with while I was living in NYC.I actually left the USA in 2011 because I got tired of living that way although I trued my best to be legal there.I paid taxes,had valid driving licence and earned good money teaching french!I just love NYC so bad,I miss it so much!
I am ready to pay a fine if they want and hire a trustworthy lawyer who will help me move back there legally!
 
Yes I came with a J1 visa and yes there was this D/S on my I-94.I want to go there with a visa for some charities events I got involved with while I was living in NYC.I actually left the USA in 2011 because I got tired of living that way although I trued my best to be legal there.I paid taxes,had valid driving licence and earned good money teaching french!I just love NYC so bad,I miss it so much!
I am ready to pay a fine if they want and hire a trustworthy lawyer who will help me move back there legally!
So there, that explains why you don't have a ban -- never had a ban. But not having a ban doesn't mean they will give you a visa.
 
So there, that explains why you don't have a ban -- never had a ban. But not having a ban doesn't mean they will give you a visa.

Yeah I know,they denied me the B2 tourist visa so Iam trying to figure out which visa I should apply for then!!
Thanks for your imput!
 
I was applied for f1 visa on this August but unfortunately visa officer has refused and said that because of trust issues you will never ever get visa so how do i know they banned me from only student visa or all categories??
 
I was applied for f1 visa on this August but unfortunately visa officer has refused and said that because of trust issues you will never ever get visa so how do i know they banned me from only student visa or all categories??

What made the CO say say you’ll never be issued with a visa due to trust issue?
 
He asked me question that in which language you would like to face interview ?then i said it will be more easy for me in my native language then suddenly he said sorry we have trust issues with you and you will never ever get visa.
 
He asked me question that in which language you would like to face interview ?then i said it will be more easy for me in my native language then suddenly he said sorry we have trust issues with you and you will never ever get visa.

I’m sorry this doesn’t make any sense. Anyway whatever the reason was, based on what you said you were told, it doesn’t look like you’ll ever get a NIV to the US.

However, with a waiver, you may be eligible for an immigrant visa. The 212(i) waiver of inadmissibility for fraud or willful misrepresentation of a material fact is only available where an applicant demonstrates that a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident spouse or parent would face “extreme hardship” if he or she is removed from or denied a visa to enter the United States.
 
Oky thanks but i didn't done any fraud and fake documents so m i still eligible for immigration??

What do you mean by 'eligible for immigration'? Immigration is family/employer sponsorship to live permanently in the US. You may be eligible for an F1 non-immigrant visa. Which section was checkmarked (ticked) on the sheet the officer handed you after the F1 interview; eg 214b, 212?

Also, if you had a hard time with spoken english during the interview, it would be very challenging for you to be a US student.
 
My english is average but because of it how he can say you won't get visa in future also . English is just a luggage i can improve it
 
My english is average but because of it how he can say you won't get visa in future also . English is just a luggage i can improve it
 
Hm, I’m having a hard time seeing why language issues would lead to a denial and moreover warnings about future visas, unless either we are not getting the whole story, or indeed the English is bad enough that the officer suspected the student visa was a pretext to intend to stay. @Ankit4193 , the CO would have given you a piece of paper with a section for denial reason. Did it say 214b, or what?
 
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