It is safe to stay here in the US while F visa application is pending?

[jcroot88]

Hello guys!

I posted this message in the F-Visas forum but I never received a reply so I though perhaps posting it here will help. This is the situation:

I have a friend of mine who entered the US with a tourist visa with her mother, she is about to be 18 years old soon and she plans to study here in the U.S. Somehow she managed to be acccepted by a college here and she already sent all her paperwork to the USCIS (for a change of status I believe) 90 days after been here.

The problem is that her I 94 permit (which was for only 6 months) expires at the end of this month and I was just wonodering if it is safe for her to stay here while she waits for her " student visa's decision.

I don't know if it is true or not but I read that it will be kind of difficult for her application to be accepted, however I also read that if she leaves the country now, her application for the F-1 Visa will be considered abandoned.

Any ideas or suggestions?

 

[Jackolantern]

Change of status from tourist to student is almost always denied. She should leave before the I-94 expires, in order to avoid problems with the student visa if the change is denied (which is very likely).

I don't know if it is true or not but I read that it will be kind of difficult for her application to be accepted, however I also read that if she leaves the country now, her application for the F-1 Visa will be considered abandoned.

The change of status would be considered abandoned, but she can easily return to the US to study by going to a US consulate to obtain the F1 visa in her passport.

 

[jcroot88]

Nice and clear!

Thanks for confirming this information!

What could happen if for some reason she decides to stay and wait for her student visa's application here? and her application is accepted? I mean, if she stays here even if her I-94 is already expired and for some reason her student visa is accepted, will she be legally here or not anymore since her I-94 already expired?

Also, same as the above question but with a different scenario, in this case let's pretend she decides to stay here even if her I-94 is expired but her student visa is denied? Will she now be considered an illegal alien here? Her visa will not be valid anymore to entered the United States? What are her chances of getting another visa?

 

[Jackolantern]

What could happen if for some reason she decides to stay and wait for her student visa's application here? and her application is accepted? I mean, if she stays here even if her I-94 is already expired and for some reason her student visa is accepted, will she be legally here or not anymore since her I-94 already expired?

If they approve it, and the school term starts 30 days or less after her I-94 expires, she can stay until school starts. Otherwise she will have to leave the US before school starts and reenter with an F1 visa, no earlier than 30 days before school starts. For that reason, they probably won't approve the change of status in the first place if the gap between I-94 expiration and the start of the school term is more than 30 days.

Also, same as the above question but with a different scenario, in this case let's pretend she decides to stay here even if her I-94 is expired but her student visa is denied? Will she now be considered an illegal alien here? Her visa will not be valid anymore to entered the United States? What are her chances of getting another visa?

If it's denied when she's still in the US after I-94 expiration, yes she would become an illegal alien and if she doesn't leave the US very quickly she can expect big problems with getting a tourist or student visa in the future. She may even be unable to use her existing tourist visa again; attempting to use it again may result in refusal of entry and canceling the visa.

 

[jcroot88]

If they approve it, and the school term starts 30 days or less after her I-94 expires, she can stay until school starts. Otherwise she will have to leave the US before school starts and reenter with an F1 visa, no earlier than 30 days before school starts. For that reason, they probably won't approve the change of status in the first place if the gap between I-94 expiration and the start of the school term is more than 30 days.


If it's denied when she's still in the US after I-94 expiration, yes she would become an illegal alien and if she doesn't leave the US very quickly she can expect big problems with getting a tourist or student visa in the future. She may even be unable to use her existing tourist visa again; attempting to use it again may result in refusal of entry and canceling the visa.

Hello There!

Thank you for your quick reply and sorry for taking a little long to bring this up but I just want to keep this thread up to date. Here is the new situation now:

She received a letter from USCIS few days ago asking for more evidence so I guess her application will take a little bit more of time (she is in the process of collecting those evidence to send it back to USCIS).

Her I-94 actually expires this Feb 28, so she only has a few more days to make a decision to either wait for her F-1 visa to get approved or to return to her home country.

First Question:

After this Feb 28, if she is still here... will she be considered an illegal alien or not until she knows the result of her F-1's application?

Second Question:

If she overstays her I-94 for a week or a month, her visa will not be valid anymore to re-entry the US correct? If so, could this be a problem if she try to apply for another visa in her home country (even if she only overstayed for less than a month)?

What do you guys recommend at this point?

 

[Jackolantern]

Her I-94 actually expires this Feb 28, so she only has a few more days to make a decision to either wait for her F-1 visa to get approved or to return to her home country.

When is the first day of classes of the next term? If it's after March 30, that's more than a 30-day gap so she will have to leave the US and get an F1 visa at a consulate.

If she overstays her I-94 for a week or a month, her visa will not be valid anymore to re-entry the US correct? If so, could this be a problem if she try to apply for another visa in her home country (even if she only overstayed for less than a month)?

An overstay even for a day would invalidate the existing visa and make it difficult (although not impossible) to get another nonimmigrant visa in the near future.

 

[jcroot88]

When is the first day of classes of the next term? If it's after March 30, that's more than a 30-day gap so she will have to leave the US and get an F1 visa at a consulate.


An overstay even for a day would invalidate the existing visa and make it difficult (although not impossible) to get another nonimmigrant visa in the near future.

One more time thank you for your reply.

So pretty much your recommendation is for her to go back to her home country to avoid problems with her tourist visa and to try to apply for a F visa at her country.

I already recommended this to her and her mother but they have decided to just follow the "lawyer's instructions" since he recommended her to stay here and wait. Pretty dumb...

Last question... If she decides to stay here and let's say her F visa application is denied, will she be forced to leave the country? Or could she just stay illegal here as many other illegal immigrants?

 

[Jackolantern]

So it's true that the school term starts more than 30 days after expiration of her I-94? Since she doesn't believe you, show her these links. The college she wants to attend may have a similar page or document on their web site; show that also (if they have it).

http://iss.washington.edu/procedures/change-status/b-1-b-2-to-f-1

F-1 status cannot begin earlier than 30 days before the start date on your I-20. You should submit your application several months in advance, and you must be able to maintain your current B-1/B-2 status until 30 days before the I-20 start date. If your tourist status will expire prior to 30 days before your I-20 start date, your application will most likely be denied. Even though you are allowed to stay in the U.S. while the application is pending, if your application is likely to be denied, it will be better for you to travel, obtain an F-1 visa abroad, and reenter the U.S. in F-1 status.

https://www.iusb.edu/oiss/docs/Change to F1.pdf

To be eligible to change status in the U.S., your current status must not expire any earlier than 30 days prior to start date of classes for the semester you will begin your studies.

Last question... If she decides to stay here and let's say her F visa application is denied, will she be forced to leave the country? Or could she just stay illegal here as many other illegal immigrants?

Legally she will be forced to leave the country, but they probably won't physically show up to deport her the next day after she becomes an illegal alien. But she will be deportable, they know her name and her face and where she stays, and they are deporting more than 400,000 per year, so she might be deported on any random day in the future, whether it is 1 month or 1 year or 5 years after her status expires. Especially if she gets arrested for anything, like driving without a license.

 

[jcroot88]

So it's true that the school term starts more than 30 days after expiration of her I-94? Since she doesn't believe you, show her these links. The college she wants to attend may have a similar page or document on their web site; show that also (if they have it).

http://iss.washington.edu/procedures/change-status/b-1-b-2-to-f-1


https://www.iusb.edu/oiss/docs/Change to F1.pdf



Legally she will be forced to leave the country, but they probably won't physically show up to deport her the next day after she becomes an illegal alien. But she will be deportable, they know her name and her face and where she stays, and they are deporting more than 400,000 per year, so she might be deported on any random day in the future, whether it is 1 month or 1 year or 5 years after her status expires. Especially if she gets arrested for anything, like driving without a license.

Thank you for the valuable information!

Today I spoke to her mother and she says that school term starts at the end of May 2013 and I as said before, her I-94 expires this Feb 28, does this make any difference? I guess no?

 

[Jackolantern]

Thank you for the valuable information!

Today I spoke to her mother and she says that school term starts at the end of May 2013 and I as said before, her I-94 expires this Feb 28, does this make any difference? I guess no?

That's a gap of more than 30 days, so she needs to leave the US by Feb 28 and return in May with an F1 visa in her passport.

If USCIS makes a mistake and approves the change of status, and she stays in the US until May, they may discover the mistake later when she enrolls at the start of the semester and the school registers her with USCIS via the SEVIS system, resulting in USCIS revoking her F1 status.

 

[jcroot88]

That's a gap of more than 30 days, so she needs to leave the US by Feb 28 and return in May with an F1 visa in her passport.

If USCIS makes a mistake and approves the change of status, and she stays in the US until May, they may discover the mistake later when she enrolls at the start of the semester and the school registers her with USCIS via the SEVIS system, resulting in USCIS revoking her F1 status.

Hello There!

I just received a call from my friend and she said that she received a call from the school saying that her F-1 visa was approved and that she needs to pick up her visa by this Wednesday.

What do you think happened? she was lucky or her visa was approved by mistake?

Anyway she is so happy and I am also happy for her!