Should I apply for a tourist visa? F2B Pending

[neeuq 12]

PD: July 2, 2015
DQ: Feb 11, 2021
Consulate: Montreal

I am currently awaiting an interview at the Montreal consulate for an F2B Visa.

I have lived in the U.S. for 20 years of my life, but voluntarily left when I accidentally overstayed my TD visa while in the process of F2A visa. They had accepted all my documents and then told me much later that I don't qualify because of this misunderstanding. They never issued a ban, and I voluntarily left to Canada 4 years ago and transferred my case to consular processing. My entire immediate family is there and most of them are citizens. I have no one here with me in Canada - I have been alone for the last several years.

Now with the backlog, I am getting quite stressed with this family separation. I haven't been able to go see my family, friends, and community in 4 years. I never attempted to visit as I did not want to risk this case, and I want to do everything honestly and legally. But now,  my health is really bad and I need to see my family.

I am considering applying for a B2 tourist visa so I can at least go visit and come back. I have a job, apartment, everything here in Canada as proof that I will return. The thing is the next tourist visa interview isn't until next year (all across consulates in Canada), and I want to know if it's worth paying for. Will my F2B happen before then? Or should I try for the visitor visa because F2B might not happen for maybe 2 years? Not sure what to do 😕 

 

Edited July 23, 2021 by queensl

[EmilyW 1,222]

It might be easier for them to visit you, I suspect.

[arken 4,197]

33 minutes ago, queensl said:

My entire immediate family is there and most of them are citizens. I have no one here with me in Canada - I have been alone for the last several years.

Now with the backlog, I am getting quite stressed with this family separation. I haven't been able to go see my family, friends, and community in 4 years.

These will probably affect negatively for your B2 visa. 
If you overstayed last time, B2 visa approval is unlikely.Even if your B2 is denied, it won't affect your F2B if that's what you are concerned about.

 

For how long did you overstay? That will affect whether you can be granted the F2B visa or if there will be a bar for some years.

Edited July 23, 2021 by arken

[neeuq 12]

46 minutes ago, arken said:

These will probably affect negatively for your B2 visa. 
If you overstayed last time, B2 visa approval is unlikely.Even if your B2 is denied, it won't affect your F2B if that's what you are concerned about.

 

For how long did you overstay? That will affect whether you can be granted the F2B visa or if there will be a bar for some years.

June 2016: Sent my I-485 for F2A. They returned it and told me to stay put and do nothing until my PD becomes current.
July 19, 2016: TD Visa expired.
October 2016: PD becomes current, sent my documents. Get approval + biometrics date.
November 2016: Complete biometrics.
January 2017: Get an RFE to show legal status.
March 2017: File RFE to claim that overstay was on accident and I have always legally resided in the U.S.
April 2017: I-485 denied because I was out of status. No ban was issued. No removal proceedings.
July 7, 2017: Left U.S. never came back. 

March 2018: Filed I-601 Waiver to overcome 3-year ban.
February 2019: RFE for I-601 Waiver asking for formal finding of inadmissibility

May 2019: filed the response to RFE for the I-601 waiver 

August 2019: Denial of 1-601 Waiver because I was never formally removed.

March 2020: Filed I-824 to transfer case to the consular processing. Moved to F2B category.

September 11, 2020: NVC Welcome Letter - Received steps to submit documents and applications.

Feb 11, 2021: Documentarily qualified. 

 

Edited July 23, 2021 by queensl

[neeuq 12]

43 minutes ago, EmilyW said:

It might be easier for them to visit you, I suspect.

Yes, I know. I just really want to go back to the place I grew up and was raised.. I need to recharge my batteries from this trauma of separation and immigration issues.  

[arken 4,197]

27 minutes ago, queensl said:

June 2016: Sent my I-485 for F2A. They returned it and told me to stay put and do nothing until my PD becomes current.
July 19, 2016: TD Visa expired.
October 2016: PD becomes current, sent my documents. Get approval + biometrics date.
November 2016: Complete biometrics.
January 2017: Get an RFE to show legal status.
March 2017: File RFE to claim that overstay was on accident and I have always legally resided in the U.S.
April 2017: I-485 denied because I was out of status. No ban was issued. No removal proceedings.
July 7, 2017: Left U.S. never came back. 

March 2018: Filed I-601 Waiver to overcome 3-year ban.
February 2019: RFE for I-601 Waiver asking for formal finding of inadmissibility

May 2019: filed the response to RFE for the I-601 waiver 

August 2019: Denial of 1-601 Waiver because I was never formally removed.

March 2020: Filed I-824 to transfer case to the consular processing. Moved to F2B category.

September 11, 2020: NVC Welcome Letter - Received steps to submit documents and applications.

Feb 11, 2021: Documentarily qualified. 

 

So you overstayed for 11.5 months. Remember, you are using "accidental overstay" wording. 11.5 months of overstay cannot be accidental in immigration world.

 

So you will have 3 yrs ban, good thing it's already past 3 years since when you left. So i believe you should have no issues for F2B but B2 visa chance is zero.

 

 

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

38 minutes ago, queensl said:

 

The fact of an overstay will probably make a B visa difficult.

(By accidental I guess you mean you didn’t understand you were in overstay, unfortunately that’s not how immigration works. You are expected to know the terms of your visa.)

 

Why do you think it might take two years to interview for F2B? You are already current and in the queue for scheduling as I understand.

 

 

Edited July 23, 2021 by SusieQQQ

[arken 4,197]

8 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

 

What am I missing? It looked to me like the overstay is between July and October 2016?

OP was out of status since July 19, 2016. He wan't eligible to file for AOS on Oct 2016 because he wasn't maintaining a legal status. So filing for AOS wouldn't put him back to status from out of status especially after AOS denial which was guaranteed. His entire stay between Jul 19, 2016 and Jul 7, 2017 is overstay.

 

Edited July 23, 2021 by arken

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

1 minute ago, arken said:

OP was out of status since July 19, 2016. He wan't eligible to file for AOS on Oct 2016 because he wasn't maintaining a legal status. So filing for AOS wouldn't put him back to status from out of status. His entire stay between Jul 19, 2016 and Jul 7, 2017 is overstay.

 

Ya I figured it out when I looked again and edited my post, but thanks!

[neeuq 12]

10 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

The fact of an overstay will probably make a B visa difficult.

(By accidental I guess you mean you didn’t understand you were in overstay, unfortunately that’s not how immigration works. You are expected to know the terms of your visa.)

 

Why do you think it might take two years to interview for F2B? You are already current and in the queue for scheduling as I understand.

 

 

because montreal is slow, and they are only on july 2019 DQ’s for   family preference visas 

[neeuq 12]

23 minutes ago, arken said:

So you overstayed for 11.5 months. Remember, you are using "accidental overstay" wording. 11.5 months of overstay cannot be accidental in immigration world.

 

So you will have 3 yrs ban, good thing it's already past 3 years since when you left. So i believe you should have no issues for F2B but B2 visa chance is zero.

 

 

some attorneys have said it’s still not clear what are my actual months considering my documents were accepted and i was sent for my biometrics. but any way, that was over  4 years ago. but im guessing it will hurt my chances of a visitor visa 

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

13 minutes ago, queensl said:

some attorneys have said it’s still not clear what are my actual months considering my documents were accepted and i was sent for my biometrics. but any way, that was over  4 years ago. but im guessing it will hurt my chances of a visitor visa 

arken is correct, you sent your docs in after your stay expired so you were already out of status (hence the denial) and that counts from the day your authorized stay ended till the day you left. (surprised you have lawyers saying that, lockbox afaik does not check to see if you are in authorized stay, that is a determination for the IO to make. In any case it is only the length and not the fact of overstay that is in question here)

 

Both the overstay and the obvious immigrant intent strongly motivate against you getting a b visa.

Edited July 23, 2021 by SusieQQQ

[neeuq 12]

14 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

arken is correct, you sent your docs in after your stay expired so you were already out of status (hence the denial) and that counts from the day your authorized stay ended till the day you left. (surprised you have lawyers saying that, lockbox afaik does not check to see if you are in authorized stay, that is a determination for the IO to make. In any case it is only the length and not the fact of overstay that is in question here)

 

Both the overstay and the obvious immigrant intent strongly motivate against you getting a b visa.

thats a bummer 😞

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

25 minutes ago, queensl said:

thats a bummer 😞

Yes, it’s unfortunate that someone (a parent I have to presume) dropped the ball during your process that led to all these issues. (I’m also not entirely clear why/how you had a parent that was a green card holder not a TN  yet you were still on TD, but I guess none of that matters now.) Hopefully Montreal makes better progress at clearing its backlog and your wait time ends up being significantly less than what it currently looks like - good luck.

[neeuq 12]

9 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

Yes, it’s unfortunate that someone (a parent I have to presume) dropped the ball during your process that led to all these issues. (I’m also not entirely clear why/how you had a parent that was a green card holder not a TN  yet you were still on TD, but I guess none of that matters now.) Hopefully Montreal makes better progress at clearing its backlog and your wait time ends up being significantly less than what it currently looks like - good luck.

i am not blaming anyone - immigration laws aren’t clear and they shouldn’t have sent me to get my pictures and biometrics done only to find out later what the issue was. i know it’s on me but still, should’ve been flagged right away. 
 

my dad had a TN before he got his green card and once he became LPR, he sponsored me right away in july 2015. i was still able to live in the US with my TD expiring in july 2016 (it was a 3 year long visa). it was dumb of me to assume i was “in between” status, but obviously lesson learned. i haven’t tried to go back as i want to do everything the right and honest way. but as years go by, you lose energy and batteries and also the will to live and keep going. it’s really tough, i really hope they figure it out soon as quebec has basically been open for a while now and  vaccination rates are high.