Regarding being out of status and accruing unlawful presence

[yuithu 0]

Hello everyone, 

 

I was out of status in the U.S from February, 2022 to January 2023 as a F-1 student. At this point I am trying to go to the U.S and complete my degree. However I am concerned if I have been accrued any unlawful presence and am inadmissible for 3 years to enter.  I have D/S written in my passport and in the I-94 form. I have hard it somewhere if your I-94 form mentions D/S then you don't accrue any unlawful presence even if you are out of status. My question is is this true? 

[NorthByNorthwest 359]

1 hour ago, yuithu said:

Hello everyone, 

 

I was out of status in the U.S from February, 2022 to January 2023 as a F-1 student. At this point I am trying to go to the U.S and complete my degree. However I am concerned if I have been accrued any unlawful presence and am inadmissible for 3 years to enter.  I have D/S written in my passport and in the I-94 form. I have hard it somewhere if your I-94 form mentions D/S then you don't accrue any unlawful presence even if you are out of status. My question is is this true? 

 

D/S means Duration of Status, and it just means that you were in lawful status as long as your I-20 was valid. If your I-20 was expired you did indeed accrue unlawful presence and find it very difficult to get a new visa.

[OldUser 7,029]

1 hour ago, yuithu said:

Hello everyone, 

 

I was out of status in the U.S from February, 2022 to January 2023 as a F-1 student.

Based on what? Was your SEVIS record terminated? Did you abandon school?

Often, visa is expired but you're in valid status.

 

If you were indeed out of status, you would be in trouble and likely won't get another visa.

Edited September 10 by OldUser

[yuithu 0]

3 minutes ago, OldUser said:

Based on what? Was your SEVIS record terminated? Did you abandon school?

Often, visa is expired but you're in valid status.

 

If you were indeed out of status, you would be in trouble and likely won't get another visa.

I have dropped out the School. The school emailed me saying your SEVIS is terminated and after that I have stayed in the U.S. for about 10 months. My question is that did I legally accrued any unlawful presence. Here this article says, I didn't. Could you please go through the article and let me know the truth. Thank you so much for your help. 

13 minutes ago, NorthByNorthwest said:

 

D/S means Duration of Status, and it just means that you were in lawful status as long as your I-20 was valid. If your I-20 was expired you did indeed accrue unlawful presence and find it very difficult to get a new visa.

I have dropped out the School. The school emailed me saying your SEVIS is terminated and after that I have stayed in the U.S. for about 10 months. My question is that did I legally accrued any unlawful presence. Here this article says, I didn't. Could you please go through the article and let me know the truth. Thank you so much for your help. 

[OldUser 7,029]

3 minutes ago, yuithu said:

I have dropped out the School. The school emailed me saying your SEVIS is terminated and after that I have stayed in the U.S. for about 10 months. My question is that did I legally accrued any unlawful presence. Here this article says, I didn't. Could you please go through the article and let me know the truth. Thank you so much for your help. 

 

You did. The moment SEVIS is terminated you're out of status.

[yuithu 0]

2 minutes ago, OldUser said:

You did. The moment SEVIS is terminated you're out of status.

I don't have any question about being out of status. My question is if I have accrued any unlawful presence. The article said foreign students do not accrue unlawful presence even if they remain in the U.S.A after dropping out. I just wanted to know if that is true or not. 

[OldUser 7,029]

5 minutes ago, yuithu said:

I don't have any question about being out of status. My question is if I have accrued any unlawful presence. The article said foreign students do not accrue unlawful presence even if they remain in the U.S.A after dropping out. I just wanted to know if that is true or not. 

Can you please copy / paste quote from the article? All I read was some students may be out of status for years without being immediately caught. Of course when you're out of status you're accruing unlawful presence.

Edited September 10 by OldUser

[yuithu 0]

6 minutes ago, yuithu said:

I don't have any question about being out of status. My question is if I have accrued any unlawful presence. The article said foreign students do not accrue unlawful presence even if they remain in the U.S.A after dropping out. I just wanted to know if that is true or not. 

This is the paragraph, could you please read it and let me know - - On the other hand, foreign students who receive F-1 nonimmigrant visas and a few other nonimmigrant categories (such as J and I visas) are admitted to the U.S. for an indefinite time, a concept known as “duration of status.” The significance of duration of status admission is that the alien’s behavior, in this case, a student pursuing a course of study, controls how long the alien may remain in the U.S. This undefined period of authorization in the U.S. and lack of periodic follow-up vetting is problematic for several reasons. For example, foreign students engaging in espionage or who otherwise pose a national security threat could do so undetected for many years, causing great harm to the U.S. Foreign students who become radicalized after admission to the U.S. or lied on their visa applications could avoid immigration consequences entirely. Similarly, students who drop out of school may remain in the U.S. for years before their visa violation is discovered. And unlike aliens admitted with a “date certain” visa, foreign students do not start accruing unlawful presence toward the three- and 10-year bars until after the government catches them violating their status.

[OldUser 7,029]

11 minutes ago, yuithu said:

This is the paragraph, could you please read it and let me know - - On the other hand, foreign students who receive F-1 nonimmigrant visas and a few other nonimmigrant categories (such as J and I visas) are admitted to the U.S. for an indefinite time, a concept known as “duration of status.” The significance of duration of status admission is that the alien’s behavior, in this case, a student pursuing a course of study, controls how long the alien may remain in the U.S. This undefined period of authorization in the U.S. and lack of periodic follow-up vetting is problematic for several reasons. For example, foreign students engaging in espionage or who otherwise pose a national security threat could do so undetected for many years, causing great harm to the U.S. Foreign students who become radicalized after admission to the U.S. or lied on their visa applications could avoid immigration consequences entirely. Similarly, students who drop out of school may remain in the U.S. for years before their visa violation is discovered. And unlike aliens admitted with a “date certain” visa, foreign students do not start accruing unlawful presence toward the three- and 10-year bars until after the government catches them violating their status.

I don't believe this is going to fly as your are outside the US. The chance of getting another student visa is 1% in my opinion. Others may have a different view.

[NorthByNorthwest 359]

29 minutes ago, OldUser said:

I don't believe this is going to fly as your are outside the US. The chance of getting another student visa is 1% in my opinion. Others may have a different view.

 

I agree, but I'll revise my earlier comment - OP most certainly did overstay but probably did not accrue unlawful presence unless so determined by an immigration judge. Regardless, since he's outside the US, the chances of getting a new F-1 visa would be slim.

[Sm1smom 254]

OP - yes it is true for a student on F1 with a D/S admission to fall OOO without accruing an illegal presence for as long as they remain in the US. However, the conversation as to if you accrued an illegal presence or not is moot at this point since you already departed from the US. 

[Crazy Cat 41,985]

33 minutes ago, Sm1smom said:

However, the conversation as to if you accrued an illegal presence or not is moot at this point since you already departed from the US. 

How so?  When a person accrues more than 180 days of unlawful presence, they are barred for 3 years once they leave the US. 

Edited September 10 by Crazy Cat

[Sm1smom 254]

8 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

How so?  When a person accrues more than 180 days of unlawful presence, they are barred for 3 years once they leave the US. 

Do re-read my response in the context of which it was posted. OPs argument about not having accrued an illegal presence because they had a D/S duration is moot since the OP already departed from the US, I’m basically saying his argument holds no water. My post was not about the bar triggered by the OP following their departure. 

[Crazy Cat 41,985]

7 minutes ago, Sm1smom said:

Do re-read my response in the context of which it was posted. OPs argument about not having accrued an illegal presence because they had a D/S duration is moot since the OP already departed from the US, I’m basically saying his argument holds no water. My post was not about the bar triggered by the OP following their departure. 

I think the OP is asking if he/she really did accrue illegal presence.  The OP said "At this point I am trying to go to the U.S and complete my degree."  Even without a bar, IP might have a tough time getting another F-1.  So, I think the question of unlawful presence  is valid.

Edited September 10 by Crazy Cat

[Sm1smom 254]

2 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

But, the OP said "At this point I am trying to go to the U.S and complete my degree."  Even without a bar, IP might have a tough time getting another F-1.

Agreed. Again, OP’s argument about not having accrued an illegal presence is irrelevant “to his defense/claim” at this point since they already departed from the US. Adding the quoted section for clarification.