Repost: Advice needed

[Satisfaction 1]

"loopholes in the time bar law

Not everyone who has ever lived in the U.S. unlawfully will have a time bar problem. The law contains a few loopholes, as follows:

- since the law took effect on April 1, 1997, no unlawful time before that date counts

- none of your unlawfull time when you were under the age of 18 counts

- the law punishes continuous time, so a few months here and there don't count, as long as no single stay lasted 180 days or more"

Source :"Fiance & Marriage Visas" by Attorney Ilona bray (available at "www.nolo.com")

[Cassie 8]

A family member whose job involves issues of national security told me this: be up front and honest about everything. They can deal with the truth, but not deception, 'cause if they find out you're lying, you're in big big trouble.

To the OP >> I kinda knew from the first post you were on the road to making the decision you did. Best of luck to you.

[dmartmar 1]

In 1992, I was stupid enough to overstay on a B2-visa.

[Anastassia 0]

Be honest.

This will not affect your visa. I overstayed 4 yrs on J-1 1991-1995. I told the truth and nobody even mentioned it once or asked any questions.

I even remember somebody here on VJ telling me that even though I didn't have any problems getting K-1, I might have problems with AOS. Nothing like this happened, matter of fact I received green card without an interview in 3 months after filing.

Good luck

Ana

[samantha2699 0]

If the situation calls for you to declare you over stayed then be Honest about it. Because lying will result to another problem in the future. I believe when your intentions are pure good things will come your way.

Keep the faith alive...

Good luck..

Sam

[yogib37 3]

I posted this yesterday, but it got deleted in the second crash. Here we go again:

I'm about to send my DS-230 but I hesitate because I'm not sure what to do. In 1992, I was stupid enough to overstay on a B2-visa. I did have good reasons at the time to do so. I lived with my aunt and her family and I did not work. I overstayed for approximately 5 months at the time and I left voluntarily. I regret having done so, but I was not aware there could be consequences later in my life. It was a stupid teenage thing to do.

Since then, I have visited the US several times, always on a B2. I have also lived in several location and went to school; I have applied for several student visas and never had any problems receiving them. Finally, last year I applied for a J1-waiver and obtained it. I have never overstayed my visa again, and I've been careful to obey SEVIS-regulations. All this leads me to believe that either USCIS and DOS are not aware of my overstay or they don't care, which would surprise me. Also, I was never asked on any forms I filled out to obtain visas etc if I had ever overstayed, so I have not lied about it either.

Now, my question is should I or should I not mention it on DS-230, part 1, where it asks to specify any stays and their lenghts in the US. I'm very torn because I don't like to lie about anything. Given the fact that the overstay was a long time ago and that even under current law (post 1996) it would not necessarily trigger a ban, I'm thinking of mentioning it on the form. However, I cannot afford to spend any more time in Germany than absolutely necessary. I do have professional obligations in the US that I need to attend to asap. I already looked at DS 230, part 2, and if I omit the overstay in part 1, it would not interfere with any info in part 2, where it specifically asked if you ever overstayed in the last 10/3 years. But I hate to be dishonest.

Any constructive advice is welcome. I just don't want to mess this up.

HI

I will advice you as a non lawyer... to list everything.. STRIGHT UP.. Totaly be honest cause if they found out, then you may wind up in a ban. Just be honest and if it comes up later you can at least tell them that you listed it and were fully honest.

Just be honest dont try to pull the wool over the eyes cause it will come back and get you in the behind