OVERSTAY? B-1 work visa into Tourist?

[NATANNE 0]

Hello I have a question about possible overstaying.

Here is the situation:

I entered the US on a B-1 visa from Canada in may 2009 by plane with a return ticket back to Canada 6 months later in November. I was in the US under a grant from the Canadian government for art related work and travel. My US boyfriend accompanied me during this time and to which unpremeditated, he proposed to me and we decided to get married. We were married in the US while I was on my B-1 visa in September 2009. I have currently stayed past my B-1 visa and am just now almost finished with the A0S papers this time in March. I haven't worked during this time, my now husband has supported me.

My question is.... since I overstayed my B-1 visa, does it automatically turn into a tourist visa after the date of intended departure is up?

I know that technically you cannot overstay 180 concecutive days without being penalized.

Does anyone know how this works, will I be forgiven because I was married to a US citizen during my visa?

Thanks so much in advance!

[Laura & Kyle 16]

You are now just considered an Overstay on B-1 Visa. If your AOS is approved, the overstay will then be forgiven. It all depends on your situation.

[HeatDeath 430]

I don't think your visa can "automatically turn into" any other kind of entry status upon expiry without you personally reporting to a CBP point of entry and technically reentering the country under the new status.

When you entered the US on your visa, you would have been given an I-94 with an expiry date on it. If you are still in the country after that expiry date, you are out of status, even if you might theoretically be entitled to another type of status (Canadian tourist, in this case).

You have been accumulating out of status days since the day your I-94 expired, and will continue to accumulate them until your get your AOS NOA1, the filing date on which will be the date you stopped being out of status and began being an "adjustment applicant."

Standard warning [this comes up so often I should probably sig it ]: If you have anything even close to 180 out-of-status days, DO NOT leave the US, FOR ANY REASON, EVEN IF you have an AP document (it won't help you).

[Darnell 8,478]

My question is.... since I overstayed my B-1 visa, does it automatically turn into a tourist visa after the date of intended departure is up?

No. Vehemently NO. [expletive deleted] NO.