Can I re-enter the US?

[Meanis 7]

18 minutes ago, geowrian said:

I wouldn't go so far as to say it won't affect it...the I-601 is certainly not a guarantee to be approved. It's discretionary. The odds are pretty good with a decent-but-well-laid-out case, but it's not a certainty by any means.

 

Wouldn't matter as it would come out at the interview or when they attempt to try to enter again.

 

Yes (if it's 180 days or more). No paperwork or notice is provided.

So I-601 is the waiver program? I am not familiar with it, bit i have seen the pdf and there were things like “crime, drugs, etc etc etc” i think (but i am not lawyer or familiar with this) that a few days overstay is nothing compare to crimes above. But i think it very much depends on the lawyer and also how he excuse the overstay.

hopefully better than he had to come back because of financial situation.... 

 

what i understand he is not banned since he overstayed a few days, so only his wwp is denied and thats it?

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

28 minutes ago, Meanis said:

 

I heard that if people overstay, the one opt is drivig to Mexico and take flight home from there. Nobody check borders on the way out of the country so there is no stamp.

 

 

 

Hmmmmm, I love these “I heard” things on the internet.

first, just because there is no stamp doesn’t mean no one checks anything. I have no stamps from any of my exits from the US, true, yet they are all listed properly on my I94 record.

 

second, and here’s the big problem with this method, if that there really is no record of when you leave the US driving to Mexico, how can you possibly prove that you left in time to avoid a ban? Let’s say you leave after 160 days overstay (no ban) but there’s no record. You enter the US again 2 years later. For all they know you left the US a week before that re-entry and now have a ban for such a long overstay. How do you prove you didn’t? The only way to do this is by finding and providing records of what you were trying to hide in the first place by driving via Mexico. In other words, I really don’t see the benefit of doing this. The only way it could possibly work is if you outright lie to an immigration official on your re-entry and claim you left before the ESTA period was up. I believe lying to an immigration official like that could get you a very long if not permanent ban? Am I missing something in the “driving to Mexico” logic?

[Springrain22 427]

20 minutes ago, Meanis said:

So I-601 is the waiver program? I am not familiar with it, bit i have seen the pdf and there were things like “crime, drugs, etc etc etc” i think (but i am not lawyer or familiar with this) that a few days overstay is nothing compare to crimes above. But i think it very much depends on the lawyer and also how he excuse the overstay.

hopefully better than he had to come back because of financial situation.... 

 

what i understand he is not banned since he overstayed a few days, so only his wwp is denied and thats it?

Yes, I can tell that you're not a lawyer and not even close at all. Do not say what you're not familiar with. It does not matter if he overstayed 1 day or 100, it's still considered an overstay. Law is law. Rules are rules. No lawyer can override laws only because somebody wants something.

 

If he overstayed 180 days or more (even 181) he's banned for 3 years automatically. Plus, he's no longer eligible for ESTA ever.

[martin bk 19]

You’re going to have to speak to a lawyer, if you were in the middle of AOS, when you left the country to go back to the UK you abandoned the process, however while the AOS is pending you do have a status in the USA so you might not need the waiver, but you won’t be able to use ESTA to gain entry into the USA, that’s know longer an option and you may not get a tourist visa now because you have immigration intent. 

Depending where you where in regards to your process a lawyer may be able to salvage some part and you might not have to wait (I-130 if it hasn’t been approved may be able to be changed to a CR1/IR1 limiting your wait outside the US) but I’m not a lawyer. 

Good luck. 

[Meanis 7]

7 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

Hmmmmm, I love these “I heard” things on the internet.

first, just because there is no stamp doesn’t mean no one checks anything. I have no stamps from any of my exits from the US, true, yet they are all listed properly on my I94 record.

 

second, and here’s the big problem with this method, if that there really is no record of when you leave the US driving to Mexico, how can you possibly prove that you left in time to avoid a ban? Let’s say you leave after 160 days overstay (no ban) but there’s no record. You enter the US again 2 years later. For all they know you left the US a week before that re-entry and now have a ban for such a long overstay. How do you prove you didn’t? The only way to do this is by finding and providing records of what you were trying to hide in the first place by driving via Mexico. In other words, I really don’t see the benefit of doing this. The only way it could possibly work is if you outright lie to an immigration official on your re-entry and claim you left before the ESTA period was up. I believe lying to an immigration official like that could get you a very long if not permanent ban? Am I missing something in the “driving to Mexico” logic?

I agree. I am great example of “i heard” haha.  

Please dont misunderstand me, i dont want people try that. Everyone should decide what to do themselves. I just stated what “i heard”.

and you ask good questions- how to prove you have left if there is no stamp/record. 

I do not know how exactly they check that after i only know they dont check people on the way out from US. 

Now i would like to know how they handle this

 

[Meanis 7]

2 minutes ago, Springrain22 said:

Yes, I can tell that you're not a lawyer and not even close at all. Do not say what you're not familiar with. It does not matter if he overstayed 1 day or 100, it's still considered an overstay. Law is law. Rules are rules. No lawyer can override laws only because somebody wants something.

 

If he overstayed 180 days or more (even 181) he's banned for 3 years automatically. Plus, he's no longer eligible for ESTA ever.

I am on this forum to learn, not to be a lawyer. 

You are knowledgable and i asked you a questions regarding an overstay. 

I understand that law is law, rules are rules etc. But i was curious if he overstayed under 180 days, does he still need a waiver?

[geowrian 22,337]

2 minutes ago, Meanis said:

So I-601 is the waiver program? I am not familiar with it, bit i have seen the pdf and there were things like “crime, drugs, etc etc etc” i think (but i am not lawyer or familiar with this) that a few days overstay is nothing compare to crimes above. But i think it very much depends on the lawyer and also how he excuse the overstay.

hopefully better than he had to come back because of financial situation.... 

 

what i understand he is not banned since he overstayed a few days, so only his wwp is denied and thats it?

I-601 is a hardship waiver....in this case to waive the (potential) 3 year bar due to unlawful presence of 180+ days. Yeah, unlawful presence is much more likely to be waived than criminal activity, misrepresentation, drug use, etc. But it's still not a guarantee and is very discretionary. The circumstances surrounding the ineligability do matter, but what really matters most is the hardship to the petitioner.

 

The OP needs to figure out how long he has overstayed exactly. If he stayed only 180 days, then that's only 90 days of unlawful presence...more than enough to make his ESTA days only a memory, but not enough for the 3 year bar.

 

2 minutes ago, Meanis said:

But i was curious if he overstayed under 180 days, does he still need a waiver?

Under 180 days does not need a waiver. He almost certainly won't get a tourist visa (and no more VWP travel), but the CR-1/IR-1 visa process shouldn't be an issue.

[Meanis 7]

6 minutes ago, geowrian said:

I-601 is a hardship waiver....in this case to waive the (potential) 3 year bar due to unlawful presence of 180+ days. Yeah, unlawful presence is much more likely to be waived than criminal activity, misrepresentation, drug use, etc. But it's still not a guarantee and is very discretionary. The circumstances surrounding the ineligability do matter, but what really matters most is the hardship to the petitioner.

 

The OP needs to figure out how long he has overstayed exactly. If he stayed only 180 days, then that's only 90 days of unlawful presence...more than enough to make his ESTA days only a memory, but not enough for the 3 year bar.

 

Under 180 days does not need a waiver. He almost certainly won't get a tourist visa (and no more VWP travel), but the CR-1/IR-1 visa process shouldn't be an issue.

Thank you for great info & education!;-) 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

28 minutes ago, Meanis said:

I

I do not know how exactly they check that after i only know they dont check people on the way out from US. 

 

 

How do you know this? Did you drive to Mexico with no one checking you at all, just waving the car through without even a glance at you?

 

as I said before it is certainly not true that no one checks you on the way out of the US at all. Like I said I have no passport exit stamps but DoS has the accurate record of all my exits clearly available online.

Edited October 30, 2017 by SusieQQQ

[SAJourney 16]

@SusieQQQ

 

Just curious, did you drive across the Mexican or Canadian border?

[NikLR 13,227]

Keep on topic please

[NikLR 13,227]

6 hours ago, Tristan1978 said:

Hi guys,

 

My wife is a US citizen and we married while I was in the states last September 2016 I overstayed my ESTA I think the total of days stayed was around 180 days. I had to return to the U.K. for personal and financial reasons and have recently found out my lawyer has incorrectly filed my I -130 (approved) as an adjustment of status and not for consular processing, with this in mind can I return to the US to be with my wife?

Did you lawyer file the I-485?  Was there an approved I-131 before you left?  If not then no, you cannot return.  If yes, then you can.  Please be absolutely sure you left AFTER the I-131 was approved if it was filed for.

 

It sounds like you stayed for a total of 180 days, so a 90 day overstay.   That means you cannot use ESTA regardless.

 

If you did not have an I-131 advance parole approved before you left the USA, you will have to have your I-130 forwarded to the NVC so you can continue with consular processing.  You would then have a medical and interview in London to get the CR1 visa that will allow you to move back to the USA with your wife.

 

Not following the rules has some serious consequences regardless of any person or financial reasons. 

[JFH 12,190]

2 hours ago, martin bk said:

 

Depending where you where in regards to your process a lawyer may be able to salvage some part and you might not have to wait (I-130 if it hasn’t been approved may be able to be changed to a CR1/IR1 limiting your wait outside the US) but I’m not a lawyer. 

Good luck. 

He has already stated that the I-130 is approved. I don't understand what you said. What can be changed to an IR-1/CR-1? Those are already his only options. I don't see how these "limit" his waiting time outside the USA? It takes as long as it takes. And why should someone with an overstay have a faster route than someone who has always followed the rules? He has to face a long time apart from his wife now. Should have thought about that before he decided to overstay. 

 

We don't know that he abandoned an AOS process. All we know is he overstayed. It's possible he never commented the AOS process. 

[martin bk 19]

1 minute ago, JFH said:

He has already stated that the I-130 is approved. I don't understand what you said. What can be changed to an IR-1/CR-1? Those are already his only options. I don't see how these "limit" his waiting time outside the USA? It takes as long as it takes. And why should someone with an overstay have a faster route than someone who has always followed the rules? He has to face a long time apart from his wife now. Should have thought about that before he decided to overstay. 

 

We don't know that he abandoned an AOS process. All we know is he overstayed. It's possible he never commented the AOS process. 

He started AOS, I missed the approve bit my bad. 

But if his I-130 is approved that’s the longest wait, he may be able to apply to have his interview in the uk, leaving only the medical and interview to be done. 

Thus saving time. I think NikLR explained it a bit better. 

If he has to start again it could take another 10 months just to get his new I-130 approved, depending which service centre his petition is sent.

which is why I said he should speak to a lawyer who can give him the best advice. 

 

[JFH 12,190]

2 hours ago, Meanis said:

So I-601 is the waiver program? 

The waiver is for the ban and this couple must demonstrate that his ban is causing significant hardship to the USC. Note that USCIS is not concerned with the impact of the ban on the foreigner, only how it affects the USC. Now, it's possible that they may decide that since the U.K. is an English-speaking country with a stable economy, excellent healthcare and infrastructure, a high standard of living and no religious or poltical oppression that the USC could live in the U.K. without any hardship. For this reason the waiver *could* be denied. It's up to the wife to come up with compelling reasons how the ban would negatively impact her.