Homeland Securtiy knocked on the door.

[jomegared 0]

Long story short, my gal overstayed her F1 by a couple of months.

Homeland Security AND immigration showed up at my door and took her to jail.

She told the DHS agent the truth, that she stayed to graduate and walk across the stage, and he pulled some strings and

extended her legal stay until after graduation. She then left on her own accord.

The question....

Will this now affect our K1 that is currently in NVC?

It has us both worried.

When does the overstay clock start ticking?

She finished school on Dec 15th 2007

The F1 has as a 60 day grace period meaning she should have left by Feb. 15th, 2008.

DHS showed up on April 19th, 2008. They let her out of jail on April 21st 2008.

Graduation was May 10th 2008.

She left on May 12th 2008 (With DHS watching at the airport, lol.)

Talking to our lawyer, he seemed to think that it wouldnt affect us, but the Moroccan consulate in

Casablanca is a stickler and LOVES to deny people.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

THanks a bunch.

Josh

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

She overstayed by less than 180 days, so the overstay itself should not be an issue.

However, as Homeland Security was involved, I am not sure if that counts as a "deportation", which would be more serious. Is there anything stamped in her passport?

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Long story short, my gal overstayed her F1 by a couple of months.

Homeland Security AND immigration showed up at my door and took her to jail.

She told the DHS agent the truth, that she stayed to graduate and walk across the stage, and he pulled some strings and

extended her legal stay until after graduation. She then left on her own accord.

The question....

Will this now affect our K1 that is currently in NVC?

It has us both worried.

When does the overstay clock start ticking?

She finished school on Dec 15th 2007

The F1 has as a 60 day grace period meaning she should have left by Feb. 15th, 2008.

DHS showed up on April 19th, 2008. They let her out of jail on April 21st 2008.

Graduation was May 10th 2008.

She left on May 12th 2008 (With DHS watching at the airport, lol.)

Talking to our lawyer, he seemed to think that it wouldnt affect us, but the Moroccan consulate in

Casablanca is a stickler and LOVES to deny people.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

THanks a bunch.

Josh

The clock starts ticking immediately after the grace period, however you say they "extended her legal stay" and if that is the case she had no overstay. 180 days overstay seems to be the "do not pass" line.

That said...Casa Blanca is a sitckler and loves to deny people. Good luck

She overstayed by less than 180 days, so the overstay itself should not be an issue.

However, as Homeland Security was involved, I am not sure if that counts as a "deportation", which would be more serious. Is there anything stamped in her passport?

Sounds like no. Depotation is a legal procedure involving a court and a deportation order, there is no question what is and what is not a "deportation" and this sound like it not.

[L179 1]

best of luck...hope things work out for you guys!!

[jomegared 0]

She overstayed by less than 180 days, so the overstay itself should not be an issue.

However, as Homeland Security was involved, I am not sure if that counts as a "deportation", which would be more serious. Is there anything stamped in her passport?

No....

See that's the thing, we have been in contact with the guy that originally arrested her ever since. He seems to think that we wont have a problem at all.

However, nothing was stamped in her passport, but she was given a piece of paper in a sealed envelope that she gave an immigration officer when she left.

The guy at DHS has been a godsend. We have talked with him ever since, and he always responds to us the next day with any questions.

We asked him about form DS 156 and there are two questions she has to answer yes on.

1. Have you been arrested.

2. Have you ever violated the terms of a visa.

The consulate in Casa scares the living daylights out of me, and it seems they make up their mind before the beneficiary even gets to speak.

So we are SOOOO nervous about them looking at those two questions and being like.....ooOOOPPPsssidaisy.

NOOO

ARGH!!!

Anyway thanks for the responses everyone.

I appreciate your thoughts.

[jomegared 0]

Long story short, my gal overstayed her F1 by a couple of months.

Homeland Security AND immigration showed up at my door and took her to jail.

She told the DHS agent the truth, that she stayed to graduate and walk across the stage, and he pulled some strings and

extended her legal stay until after graduation. She then left on her own accord.

The question....

Will this now affect our K1 that is currently in NVC?

It has us both worried.

When does the overstay clock start ticking?

She finished school on Dec 15th 2007

The F1 has as a 60 day grace period meaning she should have left by Feb. 15th, 2008.

DHS showed up on April 19th, 2008. They let her out of jail on April 21st 2008.

Graduation was May 10th 2008.

She left on May 12th 2008 (With DHS watching at the airport, lol.)

Talking to our lawyer, he seemed to think that it wouldnt affect us, but the Moroccan consulate in

Casablanca is a stickler and LOVES to deny people.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

THanks a bunch.

Josh

The clock starts ticking immediately after the grace period, however you say they "extended her legal stay" and if that is the case she had no overstay. 180 days overstay seems to be the "do not pass" line.

That said...Casa Blanca is a sitckler and loves to deny people. Good luck

She overstayed by less than 180 days, so the overstay itself should not be an issue.

However, as Homeland Security was involved, I am not sure if that counts as a "deportation", which would be more serious. Is there anything stamped in her passport?

Sounds like no. Depotation is a legal procedure involving a court and a deportation order, there is no question what is and what is not a "deportation" and this sound like it not.

So even if the consulate views it differently, then the overstay starts after the grace period. Thats even better for us cause that only means she overstayed by about 60 some odd days.

Thanks!

[SuperDuper! 230]

Any theory on why they picked your girl or what attracted attention to her? ICE has so many bigger fish to fry!

[jomegared 0]

Any theory on why they picked your girl or what attracted attention to her? ICE has so many bigger fish to fry!

NO. In fact the agent told us that when her status was up, the computer alarm went off, but when he showed up at my house,

which was a really nice place on a golf course for a couple of college kids, HE was even shocked. He said, "Why are you on my list, I go after drug dealers and thugs."

So he had no idea either. But he did go on to explain that it was a computer generated list and when her visa was up, and she wasn't registered full time......

Here they came.

Plus it was in a small state, so not too many peeps im sure.

[Chris Me lil D 17]

Any theory on why they picked your girl or what attracted attention to her? ICE has so many bigger fish to fry!

NO. In fact the agent told us that when her status was up, the computer alarm went off, but when he showed up at my house,

which was a really nice place on a golf course for a couple of college kids, HE was even shocked. He said, "Why are you on my list, I go after drug dealers and thugs."

So he had no idea either. But he did go on to explain that it was a computer generated list and when her visa was up, and she wasn't registered full time......

Here they came.

Plus it was in a small state, so not too many peeps im sure.

I agree with all the above said, other posters explained things pretty clear. I just wander why didn't you get married in Morocco? I think it would have been better to apply for a CR-1 than K-1 visa. And ............. really weird they showed up at ur door

[Old Dominion 26]

Safest thing is to do what the previous poster suggested...marry & petition for a CR-1 visa for her.

[jomegared 0]

Any theory on why they picked your girl or what attracted attention to her? ICE has so many bigger fish to fry!

NO. In fact the agent told us that when her status was up, the computer alarm went off, but when he showed up at my house,

which was a really nice place on a golf course for a couple of college kids, HE was even shocked. He said, "Why are you on my list, I go after drug dealers and thugs."

So he had no idea either. But he did go on to explain that it was a computer generated list and when her visa was up, and she wasn't registered full time......

Here they came.

Plus it was in a small state, so not too many peeps im sure.

I agree with all the above said, other posters explained things pretty clear. I just wander why didn't you get married in Morocco? I think it would have been better to apply for a CR-1 than K-1 visa. And ............. really weird they showed up at ur door

We didnt know which process to do. We struggled on deciding. Based on my research, it seemed best, and the quickest route to do the K1 process. Plus, the DHS agent and the immigration agent both told us that in the end if the government allowed her to leave on her own accord it wouldn't matter. She could come back. But now, after reviewing all the evidence and the consulate forms asking if she has ever violated the terms of a visa, she has to check yes. The consulate in Casablanca will make up there mind even before the interview. We are freaking out here.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

She overstayed by less than 180 days, so the overstay itself should not be an issue.

However, as Homeland Security was involved, I am not sure if that counts as a "deportation", which would be more serious. Is there anything stamped in her passport?

No....

See that's the thing, we have been in contact with the guy that originally arrested her ever since. He seems to think that we wont have a problem at all.

However, nothing was stamped in her passport, but she was given a piece of paper in a sealed envelope that she gave an immigration officer when she left.

The guy at DHS has been a godsend. We have talked with him ever since, and he always responds to us the next day with any questions.

We asked him about form DS 156 and there are two questions she has to answer yes on.

1. Have you been arrested.

2. Have you ever violated the terms of a visa.

The consulate in Casa scares the living daylights out of me, and it seems they make up their mind before the beneficiary even gets to speak.

So we are SOOOO nervous about them looking at those two questions and being like.....ooOOOPPPsssidaisy.

NOOO

ARGH!!!

Anyway thanks for the responses everyone.

I appreciate your thoughts.

If it makes you feel any better...ALL consulates make up their mind before the interview. I think the interview is a means to "change" their mind, or confirm what they decided. We had absolutely NO questions at our interview. NONE. It is pretty obvious they had already made up their mind and didn't need to confirm. This is why what you present to them is crucial as the decision will be made on documents presented. Do not be shy about adding explanations as attachments or with the petition. Anything attached to the petition cannot be ignored by the consulate (well, it CAN be ignored, but it would be stupid for them to do so)

Just paper yourselves very well witrh difficult consulates

[SimoAndYvette 0]

I would have to go with the CR1 advice.....the K1 is such a hit and miss in Casa. It does not matter if you get the woman or the man now...either one is horrible.

Definitely have her try to concentrate on the positive aspects during the interview, and only give short definitive answers pertaining to the visa violation. My daughter's attorney told her, we tend to try to give TOO much information thinking if we do, they will have all the facts....however, they see it as a "prepared answer".

Good Luck to you both!!!

[Troy W 0]

Safest thing is to do what the previous poster suggested...marry & petition for a CR-1 visa for her.

Why didn’t you just marry her while she was here instead of filing the K1 and just file for an AOS for her?

[Peace be still 6]

Safest thing is to do what the previous poster suggested...marry & petition for a CR-1 visa for her.

Why didn’t you just marry her while she was here instead of filing the K1 and just file for an AOS for her?