parents overstayed, what happens at port of exit?

[CyrusD]

i am posting this on a friend's behalf:

my friend is, who is in the u.s. in an H1B status, is from pakistan, and, as such, is subject to special registration (SR), which he has had done in within the prescribed time window.

my friend's parents, who entered on a visit visa, have overstayed for over a year now. this was not the intention they had started out with, but my friend's father had a stroke, was taken to a hospital emergency ward, was treated, and - to cut a long story short - his medical expenses were picked up by state medicaid.

rightly or wrongly, my friend decided that he was not willing to let his parents return immediately afterwards. they applied for extension of stay which was granted. they ended up staying beyond allowable extensions. when SR was announced for pakistani nationals, the parents had already overstayed, so my friend's father did not go for SR. BTW, he is 65 - 70 years old. i don't know if there was an upper age limit for SR.

now my friend's parents want to return home. and my friend wants to travel with them to see them settled in pakistan before he returns (his visa etc. is in order).

his main concerns are, what happens at the port of exit? are his parents going to be in some trouble while exiting the u.s.? is he in any trouble? when they go through their exit interviews together, is the parent's out-of-status situation going to affect my friend in any way?

the parents understand that they will, in all probabiltity, never be able to return to the u.s., and are ok with that. the friend's concern is to be able to return to the u.s. to his family and job.

do you know someone who has been in a similar situation? are their any words of advice for my friend?

 

[saigc]

your friend could have applied extension again as this is due to health reason.

your friends parents have overstayed and not go for registration. Depending on the number of days they overstayed they might not be able to reenter again to usa in the next 3-10 years.

apart from this i dont see any problem while exiting usa as the government itself would deport them if they came to know about their status. as they have missed to go for special registration they might be questioned further or check their entire records.

his parents overstay issue would not affect your friends status. its better to approach good immigration attorney for guidance.

 

[CyrusD]

thank you, saigc, for your response. you have confirmed what i had thought also. i had also advised my friend to consult an attorney, but he was worried sick that he might not get good advice, and he had heard some rather negative stories about ports of exit which did not help his state of mind any. his main worry was that, since he would be accompanying his parents through the exit procedures, would it reflect negatively on him if they had their exit interviews together. his parents are quite old (and of the "old school") as to be unable to go through the whole exit process without assistance.

thanks again!