advance parole

[amaranthseeds 0]

hey everyone i'm hoping you can help me out.

my mom has als (lou gherig's disease) and is basically dying. i am in the states, and was here when i got married, and now can't leave until the process is finished- or possibly get an advance parole document. well, there were a lot of screw ups getting my birth certificate here, and it actually took three months- after being returned to ontario, lost, etc. i finally have it. but now i've been here over 180 days -- just by a few days, and am able to mail my package in monday.

so, i got this from my lawyer:

But you should never travel -- even with advance parole -- before getting the green card if you have any period of time -- even a day -- out of status.. This includes working without permission. If you have any time out of status in the US, I would recommend you to wait until you get the green card, which only takes about 4 months now. If you travel with advance parole and you have any unlawful presence in the US, you may be disqualified from getting your green card by travelling.

of course, i'm devastated. i've heard other opinions but not in enough detail-- because as a canadian entering by land i have NEVER been stamped or told when to leave, so i'm not technically out of status in the same way. my lawyer is unfortunately less experienced with canadians, being in california he mostly gets folks from mexico-- so there have already been some mistakes so far that you all on vj have helped me sort out!

thanks so much for your help

amara

[Udella&Wiz 325]

hey everyone i'm hoping you can help me out.

my mom has als (lou gherig's disease) and is basically dying. i am in the states, and was here when i got married, and now can't leave until the process is finished- or possibly get an advance parole document. well, there were a lot of screw ups getting my birth certificate here, and it actually took three months- after being returned to ontario, lost, etc. i finally have it. but now i've been here over 180 days -- just by a few days, and am able to mail my package in monday.

so, i got this from my lawyer:

But you should never travel -- even with advance parole -- before getting the green card if you have any period of time -- even a day -- out of status.. This includes working without permission. If you have any time out of status in the US, I would recommend you to wait until you get the green card, which only takes about 4 months now. If you travel with advance parole and you have any unlawful presence in the US, you may be disqualified from getting your green card by travelling.

of course, i'm devastated. i've heard other opinions but not in enough detail-- because as a canadian entering by land i have NEVER been stamped or told when to leave, so i'm not technically out of status in the same way. my lawyer is unfortunately less experienced with canadians, being in california he mostly gets folks from mexico-- so there have already been some mistakes so far that you all on vj have helped me sort out!

thanks so much for your help

amara

Just because you weren't stamped doesn't mean they don't know how long you've been here. They scan your id when you come in - be that your drivers license or passport. Generally speaking Canadians are allowed to visit in the US up to 6 months . You've overstayed your 6 months. Could you give us a little more information? I assume you came in as a visitor and ended up staying and getting married? What was the original intent? Have you already applied for your AOS (Adjustment of status) or is the package you speak of the AOS long with your Advance Parole and EAD?

The lawyer is taking a cautious, but accurate approach by assuming that if you got your AP and left, the US borderguard 'might' not let you back in since you overstayed last time. You can see why they might have a problem.

Please provide us with a few more details...thanks

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

How many days have you overstayed? You said you have been here over 180 days.... did you enter as a Canadian tourist and have been here a bit over 6 months? Or have you overstayed over 180 days?

[amaranthseeds 0]

Just because you weren't stamped doesn't mean they don't know how long you've been here. They scan your id when you come in - be that your drivers license or passport. Generally speaking Canadians are allowed to visit in the US up to 6 months . You've overstayed your 6 months. Could you give us a little more information? I assume you came in as a visitor and ended up staying and getting married? What was the original intent? Have you already applied for your AOS (Adjustment of status) or is the package you speak of the AOS long with your Advance Parole and EAD?

The lawyer is taking a cautious, but accurate approach by assuming that if you got your AP and left, the US borderguard 'might' not let you back in since you overstayed last time. You can see why they might have a problem.

Please provide us with a few more details...thanks

I came as a visitor on december 17th, and ended up staying and getting married. the original intent was to be here for a few weeks, then go back to canada... but things changed, partner asked me to marry him, and was feeling increasing anxiety about crossing already, then found out that if i were to come back now that we'd announced our engagement that could cause problems. i have just submitted my entire package - 131 (AP),130,485, g325, 765, 864.

[pocheros 101]

I'm sorry you're in such a tough position, amaranthseeds. Though I do not have personal experience with this your lawyer is technically correct- even if you have advance parole, if you are out of status and exit and then try to re-enter the US it is possible you will run into trouble, namely a 2 year ban.

[Udella&Wiz 325]

Glad you've started your AOS - here's hoping timing works in your favour.

[SF2007 48]

- because as a canadian entering by land i have NEVER been stamped or told when to leave, so i'm not technically out of status in the same way.

Being Canadian does not offer you privileges when it comes to immigration. Unless you sneaked through the border, your entry was recorded. You can stay for how long you told CBP you would when your were inspected at customs. And even in the unlikely scenario where they didn't register for how long you had panned to visit, the longer you were authorized to was 6 months. So your lawyer is unfortunately right, if you were to leave the U.S before you get your GC, you will most likely trigger a 2 year ban. I am not sure what you mean by being concerned with problems caused by getting engaged to a U.S. citizen. You can still visit the U.S. during your visa process but because immigration has not been authorized yet, you do have to prove that your residence remains abroad.

That being said, the irony is of course, you can leave the U.S. whenever you want, but you will then abandon your current petition and will need to star over if you do leave prior to getting your GC. I doubt USCIS would be sympathetic as you ignored the law when you decided to stay and file in U.S. as opposed to going back to Canada and file from there.

Believe me, if there was a legal way to simply visit and overstay without being concerned of being stuck during the process or running into issues because that's not the proper way to do it, many of us would not have spent a year apart from their fiancé(e)/spouse while waiting for their visa.

I hope everything goes smoothly for your AOS. Good luck to you!

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

I came as a visitor on december 17th, and ended up staying and getting married. the original intent was to be here for a few weeks, then go back to canada... but things changed, partner asked me to marry him, and was feeling increasing anxiety about crossing already, then found out that if i were to come back now that we'd announced our engagement that could cause problems. i have just submitted my entire package - 131 (AP),130,485, g325, 765, 864.

Okay, so you came Dec 17, 2011? That means your 6 months ran out sometime in June. Now it is July. You have less than one month of overstay. The ban only kicks in at 180 days of overstay, so you can use AP to visit your mom with no ban worries. Once your AOS package was accepted for initial review, your overstay clock stopped.

[SF2007 48]

Technically true IF CBP granted her a 6 months stay. But she told CBP she was going to stay for a few weeks and that is what they recorded, so I wouldn't assume she was automatically granted the maximum visiting time allowed for a Canadian (6 months). I don't know whether USCIS would consider her overstay from the moment she went beyond what she told customs or starting from the 6 months mark.