I-131 question

[Denver422 10]

If you marry within the 90 days of arriving on a K-1, then you are eligible to adjust status. If you have not filed for AOS and your I-94 expires, you begin to accrue overstay. Being married to a USC grants no legal status in the US. There is no deadline to file for AOS, but you are out of status(unlawful presence) after the I-94 is expired. Filing for AOS puts you a period of authorized stay and stops overstay from accruing.

For example, if you wait a year to file for AOS and get AP, you will be subject to the automatic ban when leaving the US. It states this on the USCIS website and in the I-131 form instructions. USCIS will give the AP, but if you were subject to a ban, you may not be able to get back in the US using it. It would have made much more sense for the USCIS to deny AP for those subject to a ban, but no. They leave that up to you to know if you are able to use AP to re-enter the US or not. They just warn you that you may not be able to successfully do so. If you have less than 180 days of overstay, then you can leave and re-enter using AP. This only applies to those with over 180 days of overstay that will trigger the 3/10 year ban if they leave.

http://www.uscis.gov...000082ca60aRCRD

Unlawful Presence

If you depart the United States after accruing certain periods of unlawful presence in the United States (time spent in the United States illegally) you may be barred from admission for either three years or ten years, depending on the amount of unlawful presence an individual has accrued. Any departure from the United States may trigger this ground of inadmissibility, even if you have obtained an advance parole document.

Read on Page 3 of the I-131 instructions: http://www.uscis.gov.../i-131instr.pdf

#3. A. Travel Warning Regarding Unlawful Presence

One more question if I may, If an EAD has been received does that make the situation different or is there still the risk of all that?

[KayDeeCee 4,896]

One more question if I may, If an EAD has been received does that make the situation different or is there still the risk of all that?

An EAD is completely separate and has no bearing on AP. If you receive an EAD, you can legally work. You would still have the issue with using AP if you have more than 180 days of overstay. Just do not travel outside the US until you have your green card.

[KayDeeCee 4,896]

Has there been any reported cases of this happening to any VJ members ??

Not that I am personally aware of, but maybe other members might know. There are a couple secondhand reports on here from a few years ago about bans happening using AP with overstay, but not sure if anyone ever came here and posted about their own personal ban.