will out of status effect citizenship

S

suprase

New Member
Hi All,

I am planning to file my N-400 and before getting my green card I was out of status for 3 months. will it have any effect on my current green card and future citizenship?

Here is my Situation.

I am came to US in 97 on F1 and completed my Master in Dec-99 and Apr 2000 secured my H1B. After completing my masters I did not leave immediately and after getting my H1b approval notice i went out of the country to get my stamping as my H1B did not come with I-94. Time between 99 and 2000 was about 5 months. On H1B I was never out of status. I secured my Green card through consular Processing and no questions were asked at that time.

Thanking All in advance
 
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If it was for only 3 months then you don't come under any bar and should be OK for your current green card as well as N-400.
 
suprase said:
Hi All,

I am planning to file my N-400 and before getting my green card I was out of status for 3 months. will it have any effect on my current green card and future citizenship?

thaking all in advance
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No. You received green card despite out of status. If it were to be an issue for citizenship, you wouldn't have been granted LPR
 
suprase said:
I am planning to file my N-400 and before getting my green card I was out of status for 3 months. will it have any effect on my current green card and future citizenship?
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Your entire immigration history will be re-examined at the citizenship process. The out-of-status issue is certainly a red flag to the IO processing your application. The IO will determine if any evidence was ignored in approving your LPR and if the laws were applied accurately at that time, which means there is a risk to your LPR status when applying citizenship.

If your issue has been thoroughly examined in the green card process, then you should be fine.
 
Here is my Situation.

I am came to US in 97 on F1 and completed my Master in Dec-99 and Apr 2000 secured my H1B. After completing my masters I did not leave immediately and after getting my H1b approval notice i went out of the country to get my stamping as my H1B did not come with I-94. Time between 99 and 2000 was about 5 months. On H1B I was never out of status. I secured my Green card through consular Processing and no questions were asked at that time.

Thanking All in advance
 
calvillager said:
Your entire immigration history will be re-examined at the citizenship process. The out-of-status issue is certainly a red flag to the IO processing your application. The IO will determine if any evidence was ignored in approving your LPR and if the laws were applied accurately at that time, which means there is a risk to your LPR status when applying citizenship.

If your issue has been thoroughly examined in the green card process, then you should be fine.
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I think what you are saying is a bit "idealistic".. There are situations where a person with no SS number, Drivers License, out of status for 15 years got citizenship without any issues,,, and there is also situations where an American Citizen was given a Green Card. Hence, I don't believe that the IO's are really that granular and 'investigative' that they are looking for anomalies all the time in each of the applications. They go with more procedular work and don't really dig deep,, atleast that's what it seems to date. Havent heard of anyone being denied citizenship through N400 because something was wrong during their LPR process.
 
SunnyJ said:
Havent heard of anyone being denied citizenship through N400 because something was wrong during their LPR process.
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There was a well-publicized case of a couple from the Philippines who had their green cards revoked when they applied for citizenship, because it was found that they obtained their green cards without truly being eligible for them. They each came to the US under the unmarried children category, but at naturalization it was discovered that they got married before obtaining their green cards.

But I figure that the out of status issue is less likely to be a problem, because figuring out whether being out of status would disqualify somebody from the green card requires more diving into the details of the specific case and provisions of the law, given there are many scenarios where out of status is not a disqualifying factor.

In this case, the OP will be OK even if the interviewer sees the out of status, because the time out of status was less than 180 days and the green card was obtained via consular processing. Out of status can disqualify you from I-485 eligibility in some cases, but is not an issue for consular processing unless the 3-year or 10-year bars have been triggered.
 
calvillager said:
Your entire immigration history will be re-examined at the citizenship process. The out-of-status issue is certainly a red flag to the IO processing your application. The IO will determine if any evidence was ignored in approving your LPR and if the laws were applied accurately at that time, which means there is a risk to your LPR status when applying citizenship.
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The IO would also probably look to connect the dots and see if there was any misinformation presented on the green card application paperwork (fraud) as compared to the N-400 vetting process. If accurate/truthful information was presented for the green card, then one would hope that the individual would not be hit with a 'double jeopardy' type situation denying citizenship. Would certainly be worthy of taking USCIS to court for inconsistent judgement of the same facts.
 
suprase said:
Here is my Situation.

I am came to US in 97 on F1 and completed my Master in Dec-99 and Apr 2000 secured my H1B. After completing my masters I did not leave immediately and after getting my H1b approval notice i went out of the country to get my stamping as my H1B did not come with I-94. Time between 99 and 2000 was about 5 months. On H1B I was never out of status. I secured my Green card through consular Processing and no questions were asked at that time.

Thanking All in advance
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I think you are in total control, and should be just fine.
Your immigration clock restarted fresh at the time you re-entered the US on H1B. As long as you've stayed in status since the reentry, I don't see any signs of trouble.

The IO does need to study the entire immigration history of the applicant, and, consequently, many cases about green cards being revoked have been documented, including the one brought up by Jack.
 
Hi All,

Do you think I need an attorney. I read a recent policy memorandum which say person with D/S do not accrue unlawful presence and are eligible for Adjustment of status also in spite of prior unlawful status. does this apply to my case?

Thanking all for help
 
suprase said:
Do you think I need an attorney. I read a recent policy memorandum which say person with D/S do not accrue unlawful presence and are eligible for Adjustment of status also in spite of prior unlawful status. does this apply to my case?
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You should be fine. Worry not.
 
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