Will this candidate have a chance at a legal status?

[VanessaTony 3,567]

What happens if the Immigration Reform passes and/or Dream Act?

You MIGHT have stood a chance... as long as you never claimed to be a USC (which carries a LIFETIME BAN!).. but you did so NO chance. Zip. Zero. None.

[VJ User 0]

11 years old when arrived.

Well you still have to feed yourself right and drive.

Initial application for DL did not state as a USC though, only on renewal forms.

That can mean X person will never see his family again also!

You are not getting mixed responses. You were getting responses based on the snippets of information you posted. Given everything you hae posted, given that you are 33 and have been in the US for at least 15 years that means you were 17-ish when you arrived. You have spent your entire adult life KNOWING you weren't a USC (which would have been your only "out".. thinking you were when you weren't but you were old enough to know you weren't a USC (also due to entering on a visitor visa you knew you entered as a "visitor" not a USC).

There is aboslutely no way to get a GC or US citizenship. Try and you will be denied, locked up in immigration jail, and deported with a lifetime ban. You can try lying and telling them you werent' a USC, that's a 10 year ban and they WILL find out because your drivers licence info (which they look at when doing background checks for one) states you said you were a USC... MULTIPLE times... not just the once. Nope. Absolutely nothing you can do.

[Little_My 464]

A person has the choice of returning to his/hers home country, and working and making a living there - legally. Until you turned 18, your actions were attributed to your parents, not you, because it is assumed that a minor might be in a situation where the choice of where to live is not up to him/her, and that the minor might not be entirely aware of the circumstances of their immigration status.

Once you turn 18, it changes. The responsibility is on you to find out what your options are, what is legal and what is illegal, and then act accordingly. It's the same logic that applies with criminal liability - under a certain age, a person is assumed to be incapable for criminal acts. Once a person reaches that age, they become criminally liable and can be held accountable for their actions.

In your case, all you actually had to do was simply not to claim to be a US citizen. If you only had the overstay in your bag of violations, that could be overcome. I do understand that at age 18 you probably were not aware of what kind of consequences your decision to claim citizenship came with - but, immigration law does not care about that. You've committed a fraud that carries a life time ban to the United States, and there is absolutely nothing you can do to change that at this point.

You can try to adjust status - but as everyone here has told you, with the number of forms you have filled out claiming to be a USC, the chances of that not coming up during the process are zero to none. You can continue doing what you are doing now - and hope that USCIS never catches up on you, but knowing that if they do, they will detain you and deport you.

If that happens, your family will have to visit you in whatever country you originally are from, or would relocate to - but you would not be able to come to the US again.

Edited May 6, 2011 by Little_My

[VanessaTony 3,567]

11 years old when arrived.

Well you still have to feed yourself right and drive.

Initial application for DL did not state as a USC though, only on renewal forms.

That can mean X person will never see his family again also!

I understand that you feel justified but the simple truth is your family should have done the right thing regarding your status and not put you in an out-of-status situation. You should have returned to your home country and lived there. You should have NEVER claimed to be a USC. These are all things that you've done to yourself.

You said you still have to feed yourself and drive and yes you do.. in YOUR country. You have NO rights in the US. The US doesn't care that you did it to keep yourself alive when you should have simply returned to your home country. They didn't stop you from returning to your home country. They didn't make you break the law, you chose to break the law and now this is where you are. You will never gain legal status (even from a spouse).

In fact, to be completely honest, you should never get into a relationship with anyone and have children with anyone. When you are caught by immigration (and you will be) you'll be forcing your situation onto your family... to either live apart from their spouse/parent or move to a country they don't know. Ticking USC wasn't as though you ticked "female" as opposed to male. You claimed rights and privileges that you weren't entitled to... like making a false passport and using it. It's a serious issue.

Edited May 6, 2011 by Vanessa&Tony

[VJ User 0]

Return to my home country at the age of 11?

I understand that you feel justified but the simple truth is your family should have done the right thing regarding your status and not put you in an out-of-status situation. You should have returned to your home country and lived there. You should have NEVER claimed to be a USC. These are all things that you've done to yourself.

You said you still have to feed yourself and drive and yes you do.. in YOUR country. You have NO rights in the US. The US doesn't care that you did it to keep yourself alive when you should have simply returned to your home country. They didn't stop you from returning to your home country. They didn't make you break the law, you chose to break the law and now this is where you are. You will never gain legal status (even from a spouse).

In fact, to be completely honest, you should never get into a relationship with anyone and have children with anyone. When you are caught by immigration (and you will be) you'll be forcing your situation onto your family... to either live apart from their spouse/parent or move to a country they don't know. Ticking USC wasn't as though you ticked "female" as opposed to male. You claimed rights and privileges that you weren't entitled to... like making a false passport and using it. It's a serious issue.

[Inky 1,111]

11 years old when arrived.

Well you still have to feed yourself right and drive.

Initial application for DL did not state as a USC though, only on renewal forms.

That can mean X person will never see his family again also!

ICE/USCIS/DOS does not care if you will never see your family again. They deport people with life time bans every day to countrys they have never even lived in. Thos people are stuck somewhere that they do not speak the language, do not eat the native food and do not know anyone.

[Little_My 464]

Return to your home country once you turned 18. Many have already said that until you were 18, your immigration status was more of a responsibility of your parents than you. But you are 33 now - you have continued to be here illegally, claiming citizenship, for 15 years since you became a legal adult. Fifteen years.

Edited May 6, 2011 by Little_My

[mjaskiew 8]

Mother is a USC and would petition.

Children of USC over 21 years of age are not eligible to adjust status. You would have to do consular processing from yur home country. So by leaving the US to receive a GC you are earning a 10-years ban for overstay. On the top of that you can earn a lifetime ban for a false claim of citizenship. Priority date in your category (F1 family based unmarried children of USC over 21 years of age) is May 2004 according to the visa bulletin. So you would have to wait good few years. If you're from Mexico then it's more than that.

[VJ User 0]

ICE/USCIS/DOS does not care if you will never see your family again. They deport people with life time bans every day to countrys they have never even lived in. Thos people are stuck somewhere that they do not speak the language, do not eat the native food and do not know anyone.

Right, that has to be hell for them.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Return to my home country at the age of 11?

No, that should have been your parents job.. maintaining your status.

When you turned 18 any decision you made could be held against you. Including whether or not you remain in a country out of status. You made the decision to stay so now it's YOUR fault where before 18 you would have been forgiven (no ban for overstay, could have been petitioned by a parent/family member).

Edited May 6, 2011 by Vanessa&Tony

[VJ User 0]

True but putting USC on applications is not the parents fault.

Who has the power to give amnesty based on the case.

No, that should have been your parents job.. maintaining your status.

When you turned 18 any decision you made could be held against you. Including whether or not you remain in a country out of status. You made the decision to stay so now it's YOUR fault where before 18 you would have been forgiven (no ban for overstay, could have been petitioned by a parent/family member).

[Little_My 464]

Always remain mindful that, not only is making a false representation of citizenship strictly prohibited by the Act, if you do falsely claim United States citizenship, you will be permanently barred from the United States. There are no waivers to this bar (Kraft&Associates Immigration Law firm)

[VJ User 0]

If the Immigration Reform passes then the law can be changed right?

[VanessaTony 3,567]

True but putting USC on applications is not the parents fault.

Who has the power to give amnesty based on the case.

No-one. There IS no amnesty. As soon as they find out that's it. There is no question that you did it. It isn't a case of once and it being a "whoops!" you actually consciously did it multiple times. It seriously WILL be as simple as ICE rocking up one day, putting you in immigration jail and you being deported. No chance of appeal. No chance of amnesty. No chance of overturning it. It's permanent.. hence the words "lifetime ban". There is no way to take back what you've done.

And yes, putting USC on the forms is your fault and not your parents but had they not put you in the situation of overstaying you never would have written USC. But writing USC was your conscious decision as an adult and entirely your own doing... but your parents certainly did wrong by you and it was incredibly selfish of them.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

If the Immigration Reform passes then the law can be changed right?

This USC law is unlikely to ever change. There is a very good reason behind such a strong penalty.. to dissuade people from doing it. There is no chance for you now. Unlikely to be so in the future. Up to you to decide whether you want to spend the rest of your life wondering when you'll get kicked out and never allowed back. Every life decision you make.. in the back of your mind you need to consider the effect your sudden deportation will have on those involved.