Can an "Overstayed (?)" J2 visa lead to denial?

[sandraannie 63]

Hi! Me and my fiance will be applying for a K1 visa in January. We have started filling out the I-129F, which has raised some concerns. We met while I was an exchange student at his high school in 2014. When I came back home to Sweden after my exchange year, my mom just landed a job at Vanderbilt in Nashville so me and my whole family moved back to the US. My mom held the J1 visa, and the rest of us were j2's. After two months of living in TN my youngest sister got very sick, so my family had to return to Sweden. I, however, stayed and moved in with my boyfriend. I never stayed overstayed the visa, I actually left several months before it ran out, but I have since learned that I should have left along with the J1-holder. Since this I have travelled back to the US many times without any issues and I have been issued an ESTA. We are however worried that me staying, after my mother left (even though I didn't overstay) might get our K1 denied. Has anyone been in a similiar situation? On one hand we believe that if my stay in the US would have been unlawful, I wouldn't have been given an ESTA and on the other hand we believe that this can get us denied,

[payxibka 10,044]

24 minutes ago, sandraannie said:

Hi! Me and my fiance will be applying for a K1 visa in January. We have started filling out the I-129F, which has raised some concerns. We met while I was an exchange student at his high school in 2014. When I came back home to Sweden after my exchange year, my mom just landed a job at Vanderbilt in Nashville so me and my whole family moved back to the US. My mom held the J1 visa, and the rest of us were j2's. After two months of living in TN my youngest sister got very sick, so my family had to return to Sweden. I, however, stayed and moved in with my boyfriend. I never stayed overstayed the visa, I actually left several months before it ran out, but I have since learned that I should have left along with the J1-holder. Since this I have travelled back to the US many times without any issues and I have been issued an ESTA. We are however worried that me staying, after my mother left (even though I didn't overstay) might get our K1 denied. Has anyone been in a similiar situation? On one hand we believe that if my stay in the US would have been unlawful, I wouldn't have been given an ESTA and on the other hand we believe that this can get us denied,

Did the j-1 report an early departure?

[jakejon 1,196]

38 minutes ago, sandraannie said:

Hi! Me and my fiance will be applying for a K1 visa in January. We have started filling out the I-129F, which has raised some concerns. We met while I was an exchange student at his high school in 2014. When I came back home to Sweden after my exchange year, my mom just landed a job at Vanderbilt in Nashville so me and my whole family moved back to the US. My mom held the J1 visa, and the rest of us were j2's. After two months of living in TN my youngest sister got very sick, so my family had to return to Sweden. I, however, stayed and moved in with my boyfriend. I never stayed overstayed the visa, I actually left several months before it ran out, but I have since learned that I should have left along with the J1-holder. Since this I have travelled back to the US many times without any issues and I have been issued an ESTA. We are however worried that me staying, after my mother left (even though I didn't overstay) might get our K1 denied. Has anyone been in a similiar situation? On one hand we believe that if my stay in the US would have been unlawful, I wouldn't have been given an ESTA and on the other hand we believe that this can get us denied,

I don't know too much about J1's. Maybe, I'm being niave here but how does a J2 visa holder hold status if the accompanying J1 holder leaves the US? How long did you stay after your parents left the US? I'm going to hazard a guess based on your situation that you won't necessarily get denied on this but you can't hide from it. It must be declared on your I-129F and also DS-160. I expect you may be asked about it at your interview where you will need to be completely honest. It may be of interest to a CO why you stayed after your family and youngest sister (who was sick) left. I don't know that much about J1, so wouldn't rely on my comments 

[Boiler 43,430]

Overstaying a visa precludes further use of the VWP.

[jakejon 1,196]

2 minutes ago, Boiler said:

Overstaying a visa precludes further use of the VWP.

I'm strangely interested to learn more. Would this not have been picked up at POE? The OP has been several times to the US since? 

[sandraannie 63]

Hi! Thank you for all the fast responses! I stayed in the US for six months after my mother left and I don't believe she reported her early departure. There was never any intent of doing anything shady, it's just that my youngest sister was so sick that that became the absolute main focus. We are thinking that if this was an actual violation of the immigration laws, I wouldn't have been issued an ESTA? I have been to the US about six or seven times since that, to visit my fiance and there was never any problems. I was once brought in for further questioning, but that was quickly cleared up as a misunderstanding.

[debbiedoo 2,339]

just be honest.

 

if you havent had any problems entering since, i dont think it will be an issue

[Boiler 43,430]

1 hour ago, jakejon said:

I'm strangely interested to learn more. Would this not have been picked up at POE? The OP has been several times to the US since? 

All sort of things get missed at the PoE, they come up later when somebody examines the case when for example applying for a Visa.

[sandraannie 63]

It's probably relevant to mention that when I was attending High School in the US I received a scholarship to a local university. I called USCIS and the said it would be okay to stay in the US while I adjusted my visa. I ended up attending University back in Sweden instead, but I was in the process of changing my status. The reason I stayed in the US is that because I was an exchange student the previous year that didn't count toward my High School credit back home. So when we moved back to the states I resumed american High School and had only six months left to graduate when my sister got sick. If I would've gone back to Sweden I would have had to complete two more years of high school to get my diploma. So i ended up graduating in the states. Sorry if it's messy haha it's just a complicated situation

[Boiler 43,430]

J2 is a dependent of a J1, no J1 and no J2.

 

You can exchange status to FI but you would need to keep in status whilst doing so.

[MacUK 983]

12 hours ago, sandraannie said:

Hi! Thank you for all the fast responses! I stayed in the US for six months after my mother left and I don't believe she reported her early departure. There was never any intent of doing anything shady, it's just that my youngest sister was so sick that that became the absolute main focus. We are thinking that if this was an actual violation of the immigration laws, I wouldn't have been issued an ESTA? I have been to the US about six or seven times since that, to visit my fiance and there was never any problems. I was once brought in for further questioning, but that was quickly cleared up as a misunderstanding.

The ESTA is dependent on the answers you give in the application.

The U.S. doesn't accurately keep track of when people leave the country so when you declare on your ESTA application that you've never overstayed or violated immigration rules they take your word for it, as far as I know.

They will look a lot closer at your travel history when it comes to immigration compared to tourism.

 

When I lost my VWP privileges due to my own overstay I briefly considered lying on my next VWP entry and just ticking "No" on the question about overstaying (this was before the ESTA process came in when you just had to fill in a little form while on the plane).

I might have gotten away with it, I'll never know because I decided the risks to the plans I had then to eventually immigrate were too great.

[carmel34 3,529]

All you can do is go through the K1 process and hope for the best, and always be honest, or it could lead to a denial of the K1.  Tell them everything and don't hide your J2 situation.  You don't want to risk a ban for misrepresentation.