My friend has lived in the US for 11 years, went to Mexico for a trip & can't return!

[Jason_99ozGS]

I have a friend who is a 20 year old Filipino citizen that moved to the US when she was 9 with her family. Her Dad came over here for work related reasons and now owns his own business in Los Angeles so I believe she came over on an H-4 Visa. A few weeks ago she went to Mexico (Tijuana area) and all she brought with her was her driver's license. This is all she thought she needed since she's traveled by land to Mexico before and they've only looked at her driver's license. Well this time they asked if she was a US citizen, which she replied no to. They then asked for her passport, which she said she left at home. So the only two options were to have someone from Los Angeles to deliver the passport or for her to go through immigration and get a wavier for $560. We decided it was easier to go through immigration and pay the fine for the waiver, but after she was finger printed and photographed a big problem arose. Apparently they had no record of her visa/passport being renewed the last time it expired (in 1999 I believe). She said it was renewed and I'm not exactly sure why it wasn't showing up as being current. She said her only option was to fly back to the Philippines and start all over again. So she flew from Tijuana --> Mexico City --> Amsterdam --> Manila where she is now. Apparently she couldn't get any connecting flights through the US or Canada with no Visa on her passport so her only option was to go through Europe.

So how can she get back to the US? I really don't know immigration law at all, but I just bought a book about the subject to read because I had no idea so many different Visas and ways to get into the US existed. It seems to me that there has to be a way for her to get back since her parents live here, and her whole life has basically been here in the US. I mean she had a job here, graduated highschool here, and was already half way through college. I know her family has been speaking with an immigration lawyer, but he advised her to pursue a life elsewhere outside of the US.

 

[ginnu]

I have a friend who is a 20 year old Filipino citizen that moved to the US when she was 9 with her family. Her Dad came over here for work related reasons and now owns his own business in Los Angeles so I believe she came over on an H-4 Visa. A few weeks ago she went to Mexico (Tijuana area) and all she brought with her was her driver's license. This is all she thought she needed since she's traveled by land to Mexico before and they've only looked at her driver's license. Well this time they asked if she was a US citizen, which she replied no to. They then asked for her passport, which she said she left at home. So the only two options were to have someone from Los Angeles to deliver the passport or for her to go through immigration and get a wavier for $560. We decided it was easier to go through immigration and pay the fine for the waiver, but after she was finger printed and photographed a big problem arose. Apparently they had no record of her visa/passport being renewed the last time it expired (in 1999 I believe).

She said it was renewed and I'm not exactly sure why it wasn't showing up as being current.

---------------------they can only have record of her US Visa, I-94 and the US passport they cant get info about her Philippines passport if renewed or not

She said her only option was to fly back to the Philippines and start all over again. So she flew from Tijuana --> Mexico City --> Amsterdam --> Manila where she is now. Apparently she couldn't get any connecting flights through the US or Canada with no Visa on her passport so her only option was to go through Europe.

So how can she get back to the US?
--------------------we dont know her full case details


I really don't know immigration law at all, but I just bought a book about the subject to read because I had no idea so many different Visas and ways to get into the US existed. It seems to me that there has to be a way for her to get back since her parents live here, and her whole life has basically been here in the US.
----------------------- you dont know the status of her father ,mother if they are US citizen or Green card holder or staying in US illegaly. you dont know her legal status in US before she went out, If she was staying legally in US then what was her status in US???
I mean she had a job here, graduated highschool here, and was already half way through college. I know her family has been speaking with an immigration lawyer, but he advised her to pursue a life elsewhere outside of the US.
----------------------------------may be she was staying illegaly in US and I dont know how much time she stayed illegaly in US if stayed more than year then 10 bar and she will not get any kind of visa for US

If she did not have passport with her then how she took a flight from Mexico to Manila?
if she was on H4 status then she need to have H4 based I-94

 

[GotPR?]

Talk to their parents and find out what status she had. I really don't think she is on H4 assuming their family has business and she has been here for 9 years.
I guess she is a permanent resident, or E visa.

Anyway, I don't understand how she could enter Mexico without Passport.

 

[Jason_99ozGS]

I talked to her today and she said both her parents are US Citizens through naturalization. I clarified and asked if she was sure they were citizens and not just greencard holders and that they went through the whole process of applying for citizenship and taking the citizenship exam. She said yes to this. So that means her Mom and Dad are citizens along with her two younger brothers ages 2 & 7 who were born in the US.

I told her that I thought the fact that her parents are citzens would make it easier for her to get back to the US, especially while she's still under 21 (she turns 21 in April). She said it doesn't make it easier because she's already over the age of 18 and that her Dad was petitioned to come over to the US. I thought though that as long as you're a citizen, no matter what route you took to citizenship, you would have equal rights as the next citizen. So the path her father took to citizenship doesn't play a role in this situation. And I don't know where she got the age of 18 from.

Also, to clarify what happened to her. Her passport expires in November 2007, but her Visa actually expired 3 months ago. So I would assume one thing that will make it more difficult for her to return is that she was in the US for 3 months on an expired Visa, but isn't there some sort of wavier she can get possibly through a lawyer to get around this? Anyways, yes it was dumb of her to not know everything about her immigration status. I guess people make mistakes and just don't really take for granted what they have until it's gone.

 

[Jason_99ozGS]

If she did not have passport with her then how she took a flight from Mexico to Manila?
if she was on H4 status then she need to have H4 based I-94

She used her passport from the Philippines from what I understand.

Talk to their parents and find out what status she had. I really don't think she is on H4 assuming their family has business and she has been here for 9 years.
I guess she is a permanent resident, or E visa.

Anyway, I don't understand how she could enter Mexico without Passport.

She was on an H4 because I remember the people in immigration stating so. Why she wasn't a permanent resident by then? I have no idea... Also, she thought no passport was needed to travel into Mexico by land and that only by air it was necessary to have one. She missed the fact that this only applied to US Citizens, which was definitely a huge thing to overlook!

 

[ginnu]

She used her passport from the Philippines from what I understand.



She was on an H4 because I remember the people in immigration stating so.
--------how she can be on H4? only spouse of H1 can be on H4

Why she wasn't a permanent resident by then? I have no idea... Also, she thought no passport was needed to travel into Mexico by land and that only by air it was necessary to have one. She missed the fact that this only applied to US Citizens, which was definitely a huge thing to overlook!

----------------------------------

 

[Triple Citizen]

Jason,
Assuming for a minute that your friend's parents are indeed US citizens, ask her when they became US citizens and was she ever holding GC status?

 

[chloekyle]

I think there's a problem w/ their status, it's possible that she came as H4 9 years ago but maybe her parents did'nt tell her that they were already out-of-status because there are a lot of cases where parents don't tell anything about their kids and in the end it's their kids who suffers, remember the other Filipino family in San Francisco? all of them were deported because of the same thing, the father came here (1986?) first and his 3 kids and wife followed after, they were able to finish college and all have valid SSN but this children does'nt know that they were here illegally until INS found-out, they were deported despite calls/help from senators..

..all dependent's can be H4..

Jason,
Assuming for a minute that your friend's parents are indeed US citizens, ask her when they became US citizens and was she ever holding GC status?

 

[GotPR?]

She used her passport from the Philippines from what I understand.



She was on an H4 because I remember the people in immigration stating so. Why she wasn't a permanent resident by then? I have no idea... Also, she thought no passport was needed to travel into Mexico by land and that only by air it was necessary to have one. She missed the fact that this only applied to US Citizens, which was definitely a huge thing to overlook!

if the parents are not H1, she can not be on H4 unless she is married to H1.

To me, whole story does not make sense.
1. How did she not become permanent resident when their parents becomes LPR ?
2. HOw is it possible that her visa got expired only 3 months ago ? If parents became US citizen recently, the last time they applied for H1 visa was at least 5 years ago. Assuming they were on H1 just 5 years ago and applied for extension/visa at that time(right before being LPR), her visa/status should have been expired 3 years after that, as longest extension allowed to H1 is 3 years and H1 stamp won't be granted longer than petition.

Ask them these questions to sort out the issue.
1. How did the parents come to the US ? H1 or permanent resident.
2. Who sponsored their permanent residency ? Employer, or relatives, or other route ?
3. When did the parents become permanent residents ?
4. When did the parents become US citizen ?
5. Why does she not become a permanent resident ?
6. What was her most recent status in the US ?

Don't ask her. She does not seem to understand how the immigration process works and her answer just makes us confused. Ask their parents with these questions.