Overstay and sponsorship

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eadwoes

Registered Users (C)
I was talking to this guy yesterday and he mentioned that he entered the US legally but overstayed his (tourist) Visa expiration. He has a job and he thinks the employer might be willing to sponsor him. But he was not sure if it is possible for him to get legal status.

I did not know what to tell him. Anyone who knows about this stuff wants to share their knowledge with me?
 
JoeF said:
Sponsor him for what?
If he is illegal, he would have to go to a consulate abroad to get a visa. And depending on how long he overstayed, leaving the US would trigger a 3 or 10-year ban.
His employer also faces penalties for employing somebody without work authorization.
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eadwoes, Under the circumstances, speak with a good attorney. Don't go with what you hear on bulletin boards by posters like JoeF. An attorney should be able to explain your options.
 
Ah, okay. Thank you. I was just curious. I would tell him to contact some attorney.
Thanks once again.
 
Joe is as a general matter correct. He would need to leave the US to assume a legal status but there are some exceptions. Asylum. cancellation of removal, and depending how long he has been here and whether anything had ever been filed for him in the past, filing for a green card through employment may be a possiblity.

Of course, never rely on any posts here, even mine or Joe F's. Joe is correct in nearly everything that I have seen him say (and I've seen him say quite a bit). Any advice you see here is of a general nature and may not be applicable to any given case. Some of it is even flat out wrong (not much since there are enough people on this board that are knowledgeable that bad information nornally get quickly corrected).
 
Thanks. Yes, I take information gleaned from these boards with the usual disclaimer. It is like asking your friends who have been through some of this stuff. I have made it clear to him that any action he takes would be based on an attorney's advice.

But even for employment based or marriage based green card applications, wouldn't he have to explain his overstay first. BTW, he has not completed one year yet. And I told him about the 10 year ban on completing one year of overstay. As I understand it, any application he submits would have to be under some sort of amnesty scheme for illegal aliens. Because for anything else, he would need to explain his overstay first.
 
> But even for employment based or marriage based green card
> applications, wouldn't he have to explain his overstay first.

You are correct. If he hopes to work illegally here on his visitors visa, have the employer file for a green card and wait the necessary times out, he is making a grave mistake.
Just yesterday, I talked to someone who had all the ingredients for a sucessful immigration (mother is US citizen I130 pending for many years, highly trained professional) until 1 year ago when she decided to overstay a student visa for >365 days and f__ up her life beyond repair.

> BTW, he has not completed one year yet.

THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE: If he managages to weasel out of the country without surrendering his I94 and to have a continuous CV in his homecountry, he might be be able to get away with this idiotic act. END OF ILLEGAL ADVICE.

> And I told him about the 10 year ban on completing one
> year of overstay.

Well, at this point he already might have a 3 year ban. But it is surely easier to wait out 3 years than 10 years.

> As I understand it, any application he submits would have to be
> under some sort of amnesty scheme for illegal aliens.

Under some FUTURE amnesty scheme. All the previous 'amnesty' schemes have pretty much expired, as he came into the country after december 21st 2000 he doesn't even qualify for the last one (245i). Currently, there is no way to adjust status with significant overstay except for the ones already mentioned by Jim Mills (mainly asylum).


Btw. employers will say 'we will get you a green-card' in a heartbeat. They usually have no idea what it entails today, (maybe they remember the 70s when getting a GC for an employee was a matter of months, not years like today.)
 
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If a green card process (LC, I-130, or I-140) was filed prior to April 30, 2001 245i is triggered and the person will be able to adjust in the US notwithstanding an overstay or even illegal entry. On September 10, 2001, President Bush met with Mexican President Vincente Fox to discuss extending the expiration of 245i. Everyone considered this pretty much a done deal. The next morning, some people flew some big airplanes into some tall buildings and the entire government focus on immigration changed to enforcement. 245i became a back burner issue. It still seems to me that it may well come back but there is no way to say when. This means that filing an employment based case now is not necessarily a bad thing. There is a possibility that it could lead to an enforcement action to pick up the employee, or to punish the employer for illegal employment but so far, I have not personally seen that happen. I've heard of it though. Don't file an I-485 until it is clear that some type of amnesty will permit adjustment since that will certainly bring an enforcement action against the alien.
 
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