Overstayed a Student Visa

[nordisk]

Subject: overstaying student visa
Date: Sun, 18 Nov 2007 23:44:14 +0100


I entered the united states legally in 1996 with a student visa.
In 2000 his visa expired, but I decided to overstay my visa for 5 years.
During his time in the U.S., I worked illegally,paid taxes and didnt commit any crimes (other than overstaying visa of course).
After 9/11 occurred, the government made an announcement saying that all people born in iran, syria, iraq etc....(I was born in iran, but I'm a swedish citizen) should come forward to register themselves.(NSEERS registration) I didnt go due to the fact that everyone responding to this, was being deported or detained (naturally he was scared).
We met in 2005, moved to Sweden and got married in 2006.
Now we have a beautiful child and we are trying to move back to the states.
We went to the U.S. embassy and reported our daughter's birth (since my wife is a american citizen) and at the same time tried to apply for I-130. we got denied and I now banned for 10 years (8 year now since 2 have past since I left the states).
what are our options? I know that we can fill out the I-601 waiver, but will that really help? how much of a chance do we have? the people at the embassy told us that our chances were as low as 20%

here is what I found:

"...You should show your evidence of the I-94 where it says D/S to an attorney. The point with this is that if you have D/S on entry, the overstay only begins when the DHS or IJ declares one to be out of status. It does not start when you stop school, or etc. Since I left before anyone declared me to be out of status, there should be no overstay. Now the problem is proving that to the embassy.

I am sure the DOS officer at the embassy just said, well if you are saying you overstayed, no sense in me contradicting you. One more person I can deny.
I was told that because I wasn't found inadmissible by a judge, it wasn't necessary for me to file a waiver at all. is this true?

Thank You,

[Mr. Knowitall]

You keep switching back and forth between first and third person, which makes your post confusing.

As you know, you have a ten year bar due to your overstay. As you know, you can petition for a waiver, with a modest chance of success. That said...

If you were in fact D/S, as I expect you were as a F visa holder, and you were never declared to be unlawfully present, you and your spouse have a plausible case for filing an I-130 and attempting to adjust your status based upon marriage to a U.S. citizen.

I do have concern over your failure to comply with NSEERS registration requirements, and there's potential for problems due to your false representation on your I-9 form (although it may not come up if you don't bring it up yourself - you need to answer questions truthfully, but you don't need to volunteer information harmful to yourself).

In my opinion, due to the many facets of your case and the NSEERS issue, you should form a strategy in consultation with a good immigration lawyer.

[nordisk]

Thank you for your reply.
This is what I found about the NSEERS issue:
http://www.visalaw.com/04nov5/14nov504.html
Is this concern to my case?
Thank you for your attention.

[nordisk]

Hello.
I did everything on the check list, medical exam.....sponser....
I have a interview on the 25Th of Aug in American embassy in Stockholm.
I will post more info after my interview.
Thank you

[nordisk]

Hello Everyone!
I am going to re-post my first thread and fix some errors (from what I understood from the replies, it was a bit unlcear)...........
...I entered the united states legally in 1996 with a student visa.
In 2000, my visa expired and I overstayed for 5 years.
During my time in the states I worked illegally, but I paid taxes and didnt commit any crimes (other than overstaying visa of course).
After 9/11 occurred, the government made an announcement saying that all people born in iran, syria, iraq etc....(I was born in iran, but I'm a swedish citizen) should come forward to register themselves (NSEERS registration). I didnt go due to the fact that everyone responding to this, was being deported or detained (naturally I was scared).
I met my wife (an american citizen) in 2005, moved to Sweden and got married in 2006.
Now we have a beautiful child and we are trying to move back to the states.

We decided to go to the U.S. embassy here in Stockholm and report our daughter's birth.
At the same time I applied for a I-130.
I was denied and I am now banned for 10 years (8 year now since 2 have past since I left the states).
The minute the conversation reached to the point where I overstayed, the officer told me i have a ten year ban and called for the next couple applying for there I-130.

I just had my interview with the consulate in Stockholm a few days ago and to my suprise I got my immigrant visa!!!!
My family and I are very excited about the result and very happy to be able to move back to the states!

I have to admit, I was very nervous the day of the interview, but to my suprise it went a lot smoother than I expected.
I arrived there, proceeded to the window and handed the lady my papers.
I sat down in the waiting area as she got the papers in order (because the interview was in Sweden, we were the ONLY ones waiting there that morning).
I could hear her discuss my case with the consulate officer as I sat in the waiting area.
Then, to my suprise, the officer calls me to the window and the interview begins......
He was very friendly and he didnt seem to be at all displeased with the fact that I overstyayed.
He asked me the basic questions......
How long did I stay, Which visa I was given, What did I study, Where I worked (this segment of the conversation was very lengthy. He seemed to be amused with the jobs I had in Los Angeles).
2 very important things I must say.......
1. He asked me REPEATEDLY if, I told ANYONE in the states (law official) about my status (overstaying). To this, I replied NO (because I didnt).
2. It seemed to help a great deal that I had proof of education (my I-20).

After that, he asked me to sign the DS-230 part II, sworn statement (the area in which you are to wait until you are in the presence of an officer).

.....He informed me that I was no longer banned from the U.S.
I was given my immigrant visa and I am now able to work and reside in the states ASAP!

I have to say, I give most of my thanks to our lawyer.
If it wasnt for her, I would have been denied (the officer even said so himself).
I took a look at our lawyers brief and it was easily 100 pages.

Good luck to all of you in this process!!!!!!

God Bless!