Please Help!! Sticky situation !

J

jasdeep

New Member
Hi,

I married a US Citizen, couple of years ago, came to US, the marriage never worked out, so I went back to India, remarried in India, and returned back to US before the G Card expired. At the airport, I told immigr I am still married, & they let me thru'. Therafter, I joined Residency in Medicine, but 6 mo into it, 9/11 happened & about that time, I received a notice for Immigr interview. I never went for the interview, lost my residency seat as I was unable to provide the hospital with immigr status, and after an overstay of 1 1/2 years, returned back to my home country.

I applied therafter for Canadian immigr, and received it, & came to Canada last year with my family. Now as I gaze at the USA beyond the Niagara falls, so near, yet so far, the desire to accomplish my academic goals burns deeply inside me. I just want to know if I can dare to dream. Can I somehow return back to the USA , as my ECFMG certificate is permanantly valid, & I shall be able to join some residency program somewhere, if I can be able to enter US legally. If not now, will it be possible after I get my Canadian Citizenship, 3-4 years later.

Any feedback shall be highly appreciated.
 
From what you are divulging here, you might have a 10 year re-entry ban due to your overstay/unlawful presence (there is some technical difference here, an overtay doesn't trigger the ban, unlawful presence does). Once the 10 years are over (2012 ?) you should be able to apply for admission as non-immigrant or immigrant.

The question is whether they consider you as having committed immigration fraud (lied about being still married at the border). If that is the case, you would have a lifetime ban. From what you are telling us here, you never had a date with the administrative judge, so this is less likely.

Once you have canadian citizenship, you are able to cross the border for visits without a visa and often without a in-depth check of your credentials at the border. This doesn't help you if you want to work here, but for visits it might be sufficient.

How about doing an FP residency in canada and come back to the US once the air is clear.
 
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entry from canada

I totally agree with the above post.
But while you are waiting for canadian citizenship, try for a canadian residency, especially in a less preferred state. also you can do Public health, work in that field while you wait.

And, do consult a good immigration attorney, maybe more than one.

Good Luck.
 
> And, do consult a good immigration attorney, maybe more than one.

This is probably the best starting point. Physicians are probably the least valuable source for legal advice. (I allways say that I don't ask my attorney for a surgical consult, so nobody should ask me for legal advice.)

You might or might not even be in real trouble. If you have the 'temporary permanent residency' that comes with marriage, there are even ways to get it converted to permanent without the spouse coming to the interview ('good faith petition', e.g. if your spouse leaves you just before the interview).

Did they send you an explicit notice stating that your permanent resident status had been revoked ? Did you get a 'notice to appear' or a 'notice to show cause' (or whatever their inventive name is) ?

You won't know whether they slapped you with any of the bans until you apply for something and get it denied. 'Overstay' is more of a concept in regards to non-immigrant visas. From what you are telling us you were either 'paroled' into the country or you entered on a (then) valid temporary permanent residency card. Things are a bit different in that case.
 
Dear Hadron & DocSingh,

Thanks a swell for your replies. 10 year ban was also what I thought. The reentry I made in US in 1999, was on a valid Temp Green Card. I also got only 1 notice to appear for interview for permanance of temp status, back in 2001, & no communication from the immigration therafter. I never received any notice that my status was being revoked. After that, I tried, half heartedly, I must confess, for a J/H residency spot, somewhere, "over"-staying upto mid-2003, before returning to India, where I returned my G Card in the US Embassy, New Delhi, to prevent any removal proceedings against me.

Yes, you are absolutely right. I need a good immigr. lawyer, besides a ton of good luck!

Meanwhile, I shall try to give the MCC exams, here in Canada.
 
Talk to an attorney. So far, you seem to be in pretty good shape. Depending on the specifics of the case, you might not even have a period of 'unlawful status' in the sense of USCIS. While overstaying the validity of a temporary GC CAN trigger unlawful status, it doesn't have to (e.g. if you didn't work unlawfully and if the service never determined that your status had become unlawful).

All you received was a standard interview notice, the kind everyone gets who acquired a GC through marriage after two years. A 'notice to appear' on the other hand is a sort of summons to appear before an immigration judge so it can be determined whether one will be subjected to removal proceedings (voluntary departure, deportation etc.). Unless the service issued such a notice and you just didn't receive it, it doesn't seem like they ever put you into removal proceedings (Possible reason: Many of the local offices are so backed up with interview dates for family cases that they would end up deporting the majority of marriage based GC holders if they mailed out the NTA the day after you don't show up for your interview.)

So, until you file for something and they deny it, you won't know whether you have a ban. One issue you might run into now is that you had 'immigration intent' when you married in the US. Although that marriage is long past, it might still give you trouble to get a J1 or B1/B2 visa. With an H1 you wouldn't face that issue.
 
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