I have been working under a H1-B1 visa, and applied for an extension in August 2006. The extension was granted, but my employer failed to notify me of this, or of the arrival of my I-94. The documents were placed in my personnel file, and were discovered only when I made inquiries as to the delay of my extension in October 2007. I also discovered that then that my I-94 had expired in May 2007, and I had been working without authorisation. I was, obviously, terminated, and attempted to have the situation rectified. (The extension applied for had been for one year instead of three.) However, while the paperwork was filed, the job for which is was filed was given to someone else, and my personnel files archived. I was told that I would have to apply as if I was a new hire to the county. In the meantime, the extension application was returned as there was a page missing. With no job to file for, I obviously did no refile, but by this point I had overstayed by almost a year. My mother (a LPR) decided to submit a family petition at that time, but there is apparently a 6 year processing delay with this particular level of application. In the mean time, I have not been working, and have been trying to find someone to clear up this mess. I recently spoke to someone at immigration who said I may be subject to deportation.
Is there anything I can do about this, since the overstay was due to my papers being withheld and was not intentional. I have been in the USA (legally) for 10 years.

