Impact of F-1 issues during Naturalization -- Please Help!

S

srini123

Registered Users (C)
Hi All,

I was just wondering if you could give your opinion on this...

While I was on F-1 visa, back in 1993-94, I had to drop courses during a couple of semesters...added to this, I had problems with maintaining a 3.0 GPA (for Graduate level courses) as well...getting nowhere with
my graduate degree, I decided to switch univ's...which I did, and successfully graduated from a different Univ. I was never asked to apply for any kind of reinstatement by both Univ's.

After my graduation, I started working, got my H-1 visa (had to go out of the country for the visa...which is the norm) and applied for Permanent Residency...got my Permanent Residency as well (Employment based)...

Now, if I apply for Naturalization, do you think my failing to maintain GPA and dropping 2 courses (during my F-1 days) would come up and harm my chances of getting Naturalized? will this be an issue?

Any help would be highly appreciated!!

Regards,
PG
 
q1234 said:
Hi All,

I was just wondering if you could give your opinion on this...

While I was on F-1 visa, back in 1993-94, I had to drop courses during a couple of semesters...added to this, I had problems with maintaining a 3.0 GPA (for Graduate level courses) as well...getting nowhere with
my graduate degree, I decided to switch univ's...which I did, and successfully graduated from a different Univ. I was never asked to apply for any kind of reinstatement by both Univ's.

After my graduation, I started working, got my H-1 visa (had to go out of the country for the visa...which is the norm) and applied for Permanent Residency...got my Permanent Residency as well (Employment based)...

Now, if I apply for Naturalization, do you think my failing to maintain GPA and dropping 2 courses (during my F-1 days) would come up and harm my chances of getting Naturalized? will this be an issue?

Any help would be highly appreciated!!

Regards,
PG
Click to expand...

It should not. Maybe you got out of status when you dropped your classes and ceased to be a full time student, but you were eligible for AOS by section 245(k). So your basis of PR was supported by law. You just need to make sure that you don't lie if asked about it.
 
you entered the country again with a valid H1 and then
switched to PR. I did not see any problem with it!

so relax and just prepare for the 96 questions!
 
Hi jllag1 & Rob Waiter,

Thanks much for your replies...this was always nagging at me...during
the I-485 stage, I thought that if ever INS raised this issue, I would
be able to file either by 245(k) or 245(i) {taking advantage of the LIFE-2000
act}...but, INS didn't. Could be because as Rob suggested...I went out of the country after graduation, and came back on a H-1 visa, they (INS) thought that the out-of-status issues(due to dropping a couple of courses and failing to maintain a consistent 3.0 [or greater] GPA) were irrelevant...I don't know...

Regards,
PG
 
I believe that the fact you entered
the country with a valid H1 overwrote
the fact you were out of status before.

to ease your mind, you may want to consult with a lawyer. maybe a one-hour session will do it.
 
rob waiter said:
yes, that might be an issue. q1234, can you prove you
were on status before the 26th birthday?
Click to expand...

Thing is....no one has told me specifically that I was out of status...it's just my thinking -- based on my dropping of courses and failure to maintain the 3.0 GPA in my old school....

After looking at JoeF's post, I scoured thru the web, and found this link...

http://www.murthy.com/arc_news/a_efrfss.html

which probably helps my case...
 
When I was an F1 student I was told by my international student advisor that failure to maintain full course load or dropping below required GPA does not automatically make you out of status. The school might recomend you at times to reduce your work load or give you special permission.

It is the school's responsiblity to determine that the a particular student was out of status and inform the student and INS (now USCIS) that a particular student is out of status, and the school will not let you enroll back in school unless your F1 status has been reinstated.

So when you dropped your 2 courses most school policies require international office to approve dropping of courses. If the international office approved your dropping of courses then you were never out of status.

The other question you may have to ask yourself, were you eligible to enroll at the same school when to transfered to other school. If you were not eligible to enroll at your old school because the school determined that you were out of status ... then you were out of status.
 
The other question you may have to ask yourself, were you eligible to enroll at the same school when to transfered to other school. If you were not eligible to enroll at your old school because the school determined that you were out of status ... then you were out of status.
Click to expand...

Hi Harvey,
Assuming that I was out of status, do you think that leaving the country and coming back on a H-1 visa, would have set the status issue to rest? meaning that the status slate was wiped clean?
 
q1234 said:
Hi Harvey,
Assuming that I was out of status, do you think that leaving the country and coming back on a H-1 visa, would have set the status issue to rest? meaning that the status slate was wiped clean?
Click to expand...
No Idea
 
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