Overstay question (long story)

M

midnight5

Registered Users (C)
The details:

Entered the country on an R-1 visa in 2001. Visa was good through 2004.
Changed employers in 2002, did not petition for change of employment (would still have qualified for R-1).
Passport of home country expired in 2003. Visa expired in 2004.
Changed employer again in 2006, still working at this place, did not petition for change, fearing the previous non-petition for a change along with an expired visa and passport would have jeopardized my status.

Misplaced original Social Security Card in process of moving.

Inquired with embassy about renewing passport, was told that work documentation was required. Dropped the matter after that.

Got married in 2006, now have a family of 4 children.

I feel like I am in deep trouble, but I don't know what to do. It's also probably too late to be worried about ramifications for my current employer, but I am concerned about that as well. Is there any way possible to work out my situation without having to leave the country and without being barred from re-entry?
 
Married to American citizen? If not you have no options. If yes, you do.

midnight5 said:
The details:

Entered the country on an R-1 visa in 2001. Visa was good through 2004.
Changed employers in 2002, did not petition for change of employment (would still have qualified for R-1).
Passport of home country expired in 2003. Visa expired in 2004.
Changed employer again in 2006, still working at this place, did not petition for change, fearing the previous non-petition for a change along with an expired visa and passport would have jeopardized my status.

Misplaced original Social Security Card in process of moving.

Inquired with embassy about renewing passport, was told that work documentation was required. Dropped the matter after that.

Got married in 2006, now have a family of 4 children.

I feel like I am in deep trouble, but I don't know what to do. It's also probably too late to be worried about ramifications for my current employer, but I am concerned about that as well. Is there any way possible to work out my situation without having to leave the country and without being barred from re-entry?
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Will I be able to continue at my current employer, or is that up to them?

And my wife is only employed part-time, while I'm the primary breadwinner. How will that affect anything?
 
Your income can't be counted for the purpose of the Affidavit of Support (I-864), because it's not legally authorized employment. So if your wife's income isn't enough, and the two of you don't have enough assets to make up the shortfall, you'll need a joint sponsor ... unless you have 40 quarters of Social Security credits, which you might have accumulated by now if you were using your own SSN all along. In that case you would be exempt from the I-864 and can file I-864W instead without proof of income.

Do you still have the I-94 you got when entering the US years ago? Or do you have the passport which has the visa that you used for your last entry to the US?
 
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Jackolantern said:
Your income can't be counted for the purpose of the Affidavit of Support (I-864), because it's not legally authorized employment. So if your wife's income isn't enough, and the two of you don't have enough assets to make up the shortfall, you'll need a joint sponsor ... unless you have 40 quarters of Social Security credits, which you might have accumulated by now if you were using your own SSN all along. In that case you would be exempt from the I-864 and can file I-864W instead without proof of income.
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I've been using the same SSN and filing joint returns ever since we got married.

Do you still have the I-94 you got when entering the US years ago? Or do you have the passport which has the visa that you used for your last entry to the US?
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Yes, but it's expired. My home embassy wouldn't renew it without documentation of eligibility for work.
 
Thanks for the quick and informative replies, by the way. Earlier today, I was starting to crap a collective brick at facing the long flight home and a bar from re-entry and then looking at my oldest who just started school this week. I know I'm in this position because of my own irresponsibility, and I own that. I've just been trying to provide and provide and backed myself into this. No excuses, really. :(

The reason this is coming up now after all this time is because my employer is moving to a direct-deposit system, and we have to fill out all our employment forms, so naturally my I-9 is hitting a snag. I somehow got away with not having my original SS card before when I first started out here in '06.
 
midnight5 said:
I've been using the same SSN and filing joint returns ever since we got married.
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Check your latest Social Security statement and count how many years show more than $4500 (approx.) of taxable earnings. If all your employers were consistently withholding the Social Security taxes from your paycheck and submitting the money to the government, by now you should have 10 years or more, which would mean you qualify for the I-864W.

Yes, but it's expired. My home embassy wouldn't renew it without documentation of eligibility for work.
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That's OK. The importance of your old passport is that it has the visa you used for your last entry to the US, and hopefully also the I-94.
 
Jackolantern said:
Check your latest Social Security statement and count how many years show more than $4500 (approx.) of taxable earnings. If all your employers were consistently withholding the Social Security taxes from your paycheck and submitting the money to the government, by now you should have 10 years or more, which would mean you qualify for the I-864W.
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Yes, I've got 10 years over that amount of taxable earnings.
 
midnight5 said:
Yes, I've got 10 years over that amount of taxable earnings.
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If that is based on looking at the Social Security statement, and not on memory, you should be good to go with the I-864W.

Some employers who don't have all their accounting and other paperwork organized (your employer could be one of them, as they weren't organized enough to reject you) don't always report or submit Social Security withholdings, so you can't be sure that you consistently got credited for Social Security unless you see the figures on your SS statement.
 
Going to locate my passport with the original I-94 today.

I have downloaded the following forms:

I-130
G-325A
I-864W
I-485
I-765
I-693

Working to obtain the following today:

SocSec earnings statement
Birth certificates
Marriage bonafide evidence

What else do I need at this point? My employer wants me to provide documentation of work eligibility by Sept. 15th or I will be put on unpaid leave.
 
You will not receive your worth authorization by then even if you filed today so there is no point in agonizing about that. Your work authorization will come about one month from when you submit your application.

midnight5 said:
My employer wants me to provide documentation of work eligibility by Sept. 15th or I will be put on unpaid leave.
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ananga73 said:
You will not receive your worth authorization by then even if you filed today so there is no point in agonizing about that. Your work authorization will come about one month from when you submit your application.
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Will I at least receive a NOA by then?
 
ananga73 said:
You will not receive your worth authorization by then even if you filed today so there is no point in agonizing about that. Your work authorization will come about one month from when you submit your application.
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Employment authorization typically takes longer than a month. 1 month is very lucky, 2-3 months is more realistic.
 
midnight5 said:
My employer wants me to provide documentation of work eligibility by Sept. 15th or I will be put on unpaid leave.
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Be prepared for some unpaid leave. It will take a couple weeks to go to the 2 medical appointments for the I-693 and receive the results. Then you have another 2-3 months after that to receive the employment authorization card.
 
Jackolantern said:
Be prepared for some unpaid leave. It will take a couple weeks to go to the 2 medical appointments for the I-693 and receive the results. Then you have another 2-3 months after that to receive the employment authorization card.
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Alright.

Did I get all the right forms and am I now looking for the right documentary evidence?
 
And because I needed to make matters worse.............I cannot locate my original birth certificate from home. Will they accept the date of birth on my passport?

EDIT: NVM, found it.
 
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