God is your helper
Hi MJ,
I dont like to be the bearer of not-so-good tidings, but to be frank with u, there is not guarantee even for CP with or without 180days illegal status.
Remember that the CP is less objective than INS! If you happen to come from the kind of country I come, the Us embassy guys dont go by law. They strictly go by emotion and the law supports them on that! All the power to reject or accept an application is granted to them and them only except in cases like spouse visa for H-1 and stuff like that.
I will advice you to PRAY PRAY AND PRAY AGAIN!i dont mean to scare you at all but is the truth. Actaully, the Us embasssy in some countries now have a database linked to the INS so they can tell if you've been here before and all that stuff. They also have all previous application recorded with your picture so for E.G in my country, they pull up all records for any matching names and dates of birth. In short, I dont think lieing is a good option for you cause even if only your middle name or DOB matches a previous application, they will pull it up!
I know someone: her twin sister won the lottery about 3 years ago and they both used the same passport to come here. one after the other. fortunately or unfortunately, she won the next year! she thot all she ahd to do was to go back home and pick up her visa. but alas, she was shocked that the embassy had records indicating her 'twin sister' worked at the same time in 2 different locations and states...they also had some other stuff on her where she was supposedly out of US but working in US, e.t.c. needless to say, despite all the name change and all that, they refused her the green card.
When i called KCC, one thing they said was not to worry about late numbers because several people end up getting refused especially these days for various reasons! Also imagine that they notify at least 90000 principal applicants and only issue a total of 50000 visas. Each principal applicant can represent a family - husband wife and kids. each of them will count for one visa each. making it possible that something like 150000 people are competing for 50000 visas and yet, look at the visa bulletin archives, in september of each year, almost all regions have current visa numbers i.e they serve all numbers! that simply means thousands and thousands got disqualified!
So my advice to you again, PRAY AS HARD AS U CAN!
dont bank on CP as a point of deliverance. just pray that on your interview date, u wil meet the right consul. i have seen such miracles happen even for unqualified people! someone whose borther applied for him. brother in US, applicant out of US, brother used personal passport picture and signed applciation! out of US applciant won DV, went for interview, consul told him, hey, this doesnt absolutely look like u, also signature differs from your form...the guy confesses, very fearfully! consul approves Green card nonetheless!!!
So again, pray. Prayers work!
in my case, my parents won several years ago and during processing, i became 21. we didnt knwo all that stuff then and even though they alerted us to it and said dont bother to apply for her, we still apllied and paid the visa fees. on day of interview, the consul jsut said, i am sorry u cant go with them...but i will refund your money! that alone was a miracle cos at least a portion is supposed to be non-refundable.
in summary, iwi ll still advice CP as against AOS though i had that AOS allows u to pay extra $1000 if you were otu of status but i am not sure. if u want, go CP and be truthful with them and pray for favor all the way.
God's blessings!
Omo Jesu