Sponsoring parents who overstayed F1 Status

S

sbkim

Registered Users (C)
Greetings!

I am a USC, in process of sponsoring my parents for their greencard. The big issues here is that their F1 Student visa expired about 10years ago. They attempted to renew couple times in Canada but was denied due to lack of proper documentation.

HOWEVER, my parents have been renewing their I 20 and been in classes all during the past 10 yrs and continues to attend classes to date. My parents have never worked in US and have always paid taxes during their stay in US.

So my question is do they still qualify for filing 485 or do I need to hire an attorney to prepare a different case. Any recommendation for a good lawer in the Chicago area?

Thank you!
 
I don't understand why they tried to renew their visas while here. Did they ever leave the country? If yes, I don't understand how they managed to come back with expired visas. But if they didn't, why did they try to renew them? They don't need valid visas while here. As long as they go to school, renew I-20 successfully and don't leave the U.S., they can be in F-1 status forever.

I think your parents are fine - it's heroic to maintain valid F-1 status for 10 years, I applaud them :)

You may wanna talk to an attorney, if it makes you feel better. You'll be fine :)
 
sbkim said:
Greetings!
HOWEVER, my parents have been renewing their I 20 and been in classes all during the past 10 yrs and continues to attend classes to date. My parents have never worked in US and have always paid taxes during their stay in US.
QUOTE]
If they did not work how did they file taxes :confused:
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Your parents got visa denied in Canada, and then reentered the US.
I can think of 2 scenarios.

1. Automatic revalidation
If they used automatic revalidation, when was that ? DOS changed the rule in 2002 that one who got visa denied in Canada/Mexico can not use automatic revalidation to reenter. If they did it after 2002, you should talk to lawyer.

2. They are canadian citizens.
The issue in this case is they entered the US as tourist and went to school as F1. Again, you may want to talk to lawyer, but I think this won't be a serous issue in your case.
 
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Jewel12 said:
I don't understand why they tried to renew their visas while here. Did they ever leave the country? If yes, I don't understand how they managed to come back with expired visas. But if they didn't, why did they try to renew them? They don't need valid visas while here. As long as they go to school, renew I-20 successfully and don't leave the U.S., they can be in F-1 status forever.

I think your parents are fine - it's heroic to maintain valid F-1 status for 10 years, I applaud them :)

You may wanna talk to an attorney, if it makes you feel better. You'll be fine :)
Click to expand...

jewel12 - thanks for your response and kind words. When they went to Canada to extend the F1, they still had NONE expired F1. They wanted to renew so they can travel abroad. Since they couldn't get the F1 renewed, they haven't left US since coming back from Canada. Things were quite easy back then since you didn't need a visa to travel to Canada.
 
ahunyu said:
sbkim said:
Greetings!
HOWEVER, my parents have been renewing their I 20 and been in classes all during the past 10 yrs and continues to attend classes to date. My parents have never worked in US and have always paid taxes during their stay in US.
QUOTE]
If they did not work how did they file taxes :confused:
Click to expand...

Great question. They are retired and have investment income which has been funding cost of living and studies.
Click to expand...
 
GotPR - thanks for your reply. Again, I believe they had a valid none expired visa when they went to Canada to renew. This was back in 1997 when things were a bit laxed in terms of visiting Canada and Mexico from US. What does revalidation mean? I presume this is different from re-newing F1??

The key point here is no where in I 130 or I 485 application does it ask for application for other visa status so I presume I leave this up to them for questioning when the time comes.


GotPR? said:
Your parents got visa denied in Canada, and then reentered the US.
I can think of 2 scenarios.

1. Automatic revalidation
If they used automatic revalidation, when was that ? DOS changed the rule in 2002 that one who got visa denied in Canada/Mexico can not use automatic revalidation to reenter. If they did it after 2002, you should talk to lawyer.

2. They are canadian citizens.
The issue in this case is they entered the US as tourist and went to school as F1. Again, you may want to talk to lawyer, but I think this won't be a serous issue in your case.
Click to expand...
 
sbkim said:
jewel12 - thanks for your response and kind words. When they went to Canada to extend the F1, they still had NONE expired F1. They wanted to renew so they can travel abroad. Since they couldn't get the F1 renewed, they haven't left US since coming back from Canada. Things were quite easy back then since you didn't need a visa to travel to Canada.
Click to expand...
You're welcome! :)

If their visas were still valid back then, then they're more than fine. They didn't do anything wrong at all. Don't worry about anything :)
 
sbkim said:
So my question is do they still qualify for filing 485 or do I need to hire an attorney to prepare a different case. Any recommendation for a good lawer in the Chicago area?

Thank you!
Click to expand...
They do qualify for adjusting their status. You don't need a lawyer for filing the papers.
Good luck! :)
 
Anahit said:
They do qualify for adjusting their status. You don't need a lawyer for filing the papers.
Good luck! :)
Click to expand...

As always, thank you! I will keep you guys posted with our progress.
 
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