DOES BEING BLACKLISTED IN A COUNTRY FOR OVERSTAY AFFECT MY CHANCES OF GETTING US STUDENT VISAS (F1 & F2)

[Dr. P. G. 2]

I am a Nigerian citizen, who studied Doctor of Medicine in the Philippines with my wife. Upon our graduation, we secured a hospital in the country for our postgraduate internship. However, the immigration liason officer at the hospital that supposed to extend my visa traveled out of the country. Eventually, my visa had already expired by the time she filed it for extension.

As a result, the immigration fined me huge amount of money for overstaying. However, the hospital refused to take responsibility for my expired visa. Instead, they laid me off in order to secure their operational license. The whole thing lingered until the pandemic started. My wife's visa also expired during the pandemic.

Now, we want to exit the country on our own, to return to our home country. In processing for our exit from the Philippines, the immigration is charging both of us around  $2,500 as penalties for overstay. We appealed to them that we had no such money. Instead, they advised us to secure CERTIFICATE OF INDIGENCY from Nigerian embassy in the Philippines, stating that we are unable to pay the penalties. Having secured the CERTIFICATE OF INDIGENCY from our embassy, the immigration said that our names will be blacklisted for 10years for overstay, or we pay the penalties.

But my major concern now is that I just secured admission for masters in a US university for Fall 2021. With this, I will be applying for F1 visa and F2 for my wife next month. We plan to take USMLE while in the US, and match into the US medical residency program. But with our names being blacklisted in the Philippines, will it affect our chances of getting student visas at the US embassy? Will it also affect our future plans to practice medicine in the US as medical doctors?

In filling out the online DS-160 forms, what do we answer to the question that says, "Have you ever been removed or deported from any country?" Is blacklisting a form removal or deportation?

Please, use your professional experience to advise us on what to do.

Thank you

[SalishSea 18,237]

44 minutes ago, Dr. P. G. said:

I am a Nigerian citizen, who studied Doctor of Medicine in the Philippines with my wife. Upon our graduation, we secured a hospital in the country for our postgraduate internship. However, the immigration liason officer at the hospital that supposed to extend my visa traveled out of the country. Eventually, my visa had already expired by the time she filed it for extension.

As a result, the immigration fined me huge amount of money for overstaying. However, the hospital refused to take responsibility for my expired visa. Instead, they laid me off in order to secure their operational license. The whole thing lingered until the pandemic started. My wife's visa also expired during the pandemic.

Now, we want to exit the country on our own, to return to our home country. In processing for our exit from the Philippines, the immigration is charging both of us around  $2,500 as penalties for overstay. We appealed to them that we had no such money. Instead, they advised us to secure CERTIFICATE OF INDIGENCY from Nigerian embassy in the Philippines, stating that we are unable to pay the penalties. Having secured the CERTIFICATE OF INDIGENCY from our embassy, the immigration said that our names will be blacklisted for 10years for overstay, or we pay the penalties.

But my major concern now is that I just secured admission for masters in a US university for Fall 2021. With this, I will be applying for F1 visa and F2 for my wife next month. We plan to take USMLE while in the US, and match into the US medical residency program. But with our names being blacklisted in the Philippines, will it affect our chances of getting student visas at the US embassy? Will it also affect our future plans to practice medicine in the US as medical doctors?

In filling out the online DS-160 forms, what do we answer to the question that says, "Have you ever been removed or deported from any country?" Is blacklisting a form removal or deportation?

Please, use your professional experience to advise us on what to do.

Thank you

Just curious.....if you cannot pay the fines for the overstay, how do you plan to afford to go to medical school in the US?  

[Dr. P. G. 2]

4 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

Just curious.....if you cannot pay the fines for the overstay, how do you plan to afford to go to medical school in the US?  

I understand your curiosity. However, I have a sponsor for my postgraduate training in the US.

 

May I please correct you: I am not going back to a medical school in the US. I am already a medical graduate. 

 

Thank you 

[SalishSea 18,237]

1 minute ago, Dr. P. G. said:

I understand your curiosity. However, I have a sponsor for my postgraduate training in the US.

 

May I please correct you: I am not going back to a medical school in the US. I am already a medical graduate. 

 

Thank you 

Okay.  I'm sure you realize that it is not typical for a qualified physician to seek a master's degree here in the United States.

Edited April 23, 2021 by Jorgedig

[Dr. P. G. 2]

1 minute ago, Jorgedig said:

Okay.  I'm sure you realize that it is not typical for a qualified physician to seek a master's degree here in the United States.

 

[Dr. P. G. 2]

Just now, Dr. P. G. said:

 

Yes. It may not typical. But it all depends on the career interests of an individual doctor. I will like to become a physician scientist in the US, which master's degree will help me become. 

 

Again, I don't think you thoroughly read my submission. I also plan to undertake USMLE while running my master's degree program to enable me to become licensed in the US.

 

Please, kindly do not forget to attend to my main questions and concerns in my submission. I think we're a bit deviating from the questions. 

 

Thank you 

[SalishSea 18,237]

5 minutes ago, Dr. P. G. said:

Yes. It may not typical. But it all depends on the career interests of an individual doctor. I will like to become a physician scientist in the US, which master's degree will help me become. 

 

Again, I don't think you thoroughly read my submission. I also plan to undertake USMLE while running my master's degree program to enable me to become licensed in the US.

 

Please, kindly do not forget to attend to my main questions and concerns in my submission. I think we're a bit deviating from the questions. 

 

Thank you 

I would say you'll need a PhD for that, not a master's degree.

 

Countries do share info with one another when it comes to immigration fraud.  The specificity of that shared data is not something they share with the public.

 

If the terms of you leaving with unpaid fines would impact your ability to return to the Philippines, then yes I'd consider that to be a removal/deportation for the purposes of US immigration.

[Dr. P. G. 2]

4 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

I would say you'll need a PhD for that, not a master's degree.

 

Countries do share info with one another when it comes to immigration fraud.  The specificity of that shared data is not something they share with the public.

 

If the terms of you leaving with unpaid fines would impact your ability to return to the Philippines, then yes I'd consider that to be a removal/deportation for the purposes of US immigration.

Yes. You're correct. PhD is the ultimate, but that will be after the master's program. However, as a medical doctor, you can also become a physician scientist, especially if you have research experience.

 

Thank you for your answer. 

Apart from paying the fines, is there any other way to avoid being blacklisted in the Philippines affecting my chances of US visa and my future medical career in the US?

 

Thank you. 

[SalishSea 18,237]

2 minutes ago, Dr. P. G. said:

Apart from paying the fines, is there any other way to avoid being blacklisted in the Philippines affecting my chances of US visa and my future medical career in the US?

Again, that is a 'chance' no one can readily evaluate.

 

And as to options other than paying the fines, that would be a question for the Philippines ministry of immigration.

[Dr. P. G. 2]

5 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

Again, that is a 'chance' no one can readily evaluate.

 

And as to options other than paying the fines, that would be a question for the Philippines ministry of immigration.

Once again, thank you. 

 

A friend of mine in UK advised me to answer NO to the DS-160 question of "Have you ever been removed or deported from any country?". He gave the reason that since I was the one who opted to exit the country on my own to return to my home country that I should answer NO. 

 

If I answer NO to the DS-160 question, do you think it will backfire? I am just confused.

 

Thank you. 

[SalishSea 18,237]

2 hours ago, Dr. P. G. said:

Once again, thank you. 

 

A friend of mine in UK advised me to answer NO to the DS-160 question of "Have you ever been removed or deported from any country?". He gave the reason that since I was the one who opted to exit the country on my own to return to my home country that I should answer NO. 

 

If I answer NO to the DS-160 question, do you think it will backfire? I am just confused.

 

Thank you. 

If you answer NO, receive the visa, and at any point in the process it is determined that it was in fact a deportation, you risk a material misrepresentation bar.

 

This is my opinion only.  I am not a lawyer.  I believe you would benefit from the advice of an immigration lawyer.  Best of luck.

 

And just to clarify:  without seeing the actual language in the documentation from Philippines immigration, there is no way to know whether Philippines has classified it as a deportation or removal.

Edited April 23, 2021 by Jorgedig
Clarification

[piano 25]

19 hours ago, Dr. P. G. said:

We plan to take USMLE while in the US, and match into the US medical residency program. Will it also affect our future plans to practice medicine in the US as medical doctors?

Apart from what's already been stated, are you sure the F1 is the correct visa for you? F1 is a non-immigrant visa and as part of the application you will need to demonstrate that you intent to return to your home country after completion of your studies. Based on your desire to remain and practice medicine in the US, I expect that you would have a hard time demonstrating this. You may want to look into the J1 visiting-scholar program instead.

 

[flicks1998 1,044]

I’ve spent a number of years moving expats into the Philippines which also involved doing Philippine immigration. You are being deported. You have overstayed your visa and you continued working for a period, whether it’s your employer at fault or not. You’re being blacklisted because you can’t pay the fine but to eventually come off the black list your going to have to pay. Anywhere between $20-25k is a starting point.  I would do anything you can to pay the fine that the BI has given you. In all honesty they are being lenient with you. Did you ever spend any time at the immigration detention center in taguig?  From the little information here it appears they are giving you the benefit of the doubt and May in fact realize your employer was somewhat at fault.  Most in your situation are required to pay the fine and are blacklisted. If you can’t pay then you sit in Taguig until someone does. Out of curiosity what type of visa did you have?

 

Going to the US government form, I would mark  Yes and then on an extra sheet explain the situation.  

[Dr. P. G. 2]

11 minutes ago, flicks1998 said:

I’ve spent a number of years moving expats into the Philippines which also involved doing Philippine immigration. You are being deported. You have overstayed your visa and you continued working for a period, whether it’s your employer at fault or not. You’re being blacklisted because you can’t pay the fine but to eventually come off the black list your going to have to pay. Anywhere between $20-25k is a starting point.  I would do anything you can to pay the fine that the BI has given you. In all honesty they are being lenient with you. Did you ever spend any time at the immigration detention center in taguig?  From the little information here it appears they are giving you the benefit of the doubt and May in fact realize your employer was somewhat at fault.  Most in your situation are required to pay the fine and are blacklisted. If you can’t pay then you sit in Taguig until someone does. Out of curiosity what type of visa did you have?

 

Going to the US government form, I would mark  Yes and then on an extra sheet explain the situation.  

Thank you for your input.

 

No, I have never been detained by the immigration nor police since I have been in the country. I have no records of crime of any kind in the country. 

 

My visa is 9f because I studied here in the Philippines. And for medical internship and residency in the country, foreign medical doctors are placed on the same 9f visa. 

 

Once again, thank you. 

[Dr. P. G. 2]

3 hours ago, piano said:

Apart from what's already been stated, are you sure the F1 is the correct visa for you? F1 is a non-immigrant visa and as part of the application you will need to demonstrate that you intent to return to your home country after completion of your studies. Based on your desire to remain and practice medicine in the US, I expect that you would have a hard time demonstrating this. You may want to look into the J1 visiting-scholar program instead.

 

I understand your point very well.

 

I explained my intentions to the DSO of my US university, and she maintained that F1 was the best for me. According to her, upon graduation, I can switch to H-visa on getting a hospital willing to accommodate me after I must have passed the required USMLE steps. 

 

Thank you.