What's happening with individuals on authorized stay getting detained/arrested at USCIS during their AOS interview? [merged threads]

[speedster 45]

1 hour ago, yuna628 said:

He said in his original thread where he feared this would happen that she overstayed before filing AOS, then in his new thread he says they filed on time but that the ''five day overstay'' came after filing. Understandable that he's upset, but he needs to be clear about this. I know things happen but I cannot emphasize enough... this is an issue that may ruin your lives, don't delay, don't hope or cope or assume, don't cut it so close to the wire.

 

Here is one person that got detained.. and really it's just so needless because they still gave them a green card in the end. I believe that lady's case was in the news.

 

(Deleted the reddit post off the quote, since it takes so much space)

They've posted a comment: https://www.reddit.com/r/USCIS/comments/1pjd7ce/uscis_aos_interview_san_diego_ice/ntcntzw/

"

She wasn’t “picked up” for an overstay in the way people usually mean it. Her I-94 was still valid when we got married, and we filed the I-130/I-485 while she was in a lawful period of stay.

What happened is that the officer at the interview treated it as an overstay situation even though the dates were valid, and ICE acted on that assumption. We’re now addressing it through an attorney because the timeline shows she was still in status when we submitted everything.

I can’t get into more details publicly, but that’s the core of it."

--

 

2 hours ago, yuna628 said:

The larger issue is I fear not that we shouldn't have sympathy for these individuals.. but that in cases we used to think would be fine (overstays that are forgiven, K1s that don't file in time, VWP adjusters etc) is no longer the case despite no changes to the law/policy. We could all hopefully say it's a giant waste of time, lacks empathy and common sense, or discretion. But up is down and down is up. People in these complicated situations need to not assume they will be okay, and their lawyers should stop advising them of this.

And what sense does it make to detain them, when there is no legal premise to deport them?
What sense does it make to rip families apart and sending a person TO JAIL when USCIS has the jurisdiction?
We shouldn't have sympathy for these non-criminals to suffer the deplorable conditions at ICE facilities? When there's report and proof of physical and sexual abuse, medical neglect? But we'll deny that fact?

[Boiler 48,318]

I know it isn’t going to happen but I would be fascinated to know the full story

[speedster 45]

3 hours ago, Boiler said:

I know it isn’t going to happen but I would be fascinated to know the full story

Same here. Just found a person from SD FO that did get approved, and the officer did make mention about overstays. "She made it very clear to us that each day after the end date written on the I-94 is considered by law an overstay. Doesn’t matter if you file before expiration"

and a later comment

"Even if you do it with the K-1 visa, which is meant for this purpose, you end up overstaying cause there’s no way you can go through the wedding and the whole process in less than 3 months. That’s why it’s usually forgiven, as it should. Under this administration tho…"

 

This brings the fact up that this particular FO is going off the chain.

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/USCIS/s/0g3ShyZYmp

[Dashinka 26,332]

7 hours ago, speedster said:

Same here. Just found a person from SD FO that did get approved, and the officer did make mention about overstays. "She made it very clear to us that each day after the end date written on the I-94 is considered by law an overstay. Doesn’t matter if you file before expiration"

and a later comment

"Even if you do it with the K-1 visa, which is meant for this purpose, you end up overstaying cause there’s no way you can go through the wedding and the whole process in less than 3 months. That’s why it’s usually forgiven, as it should. Under this administration tho…"

 

This brings the fact up that this particular FO is going off the chain.

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/USCIS/s/0g3ShyZYmp

You can't (per the bolded portion)?  I know that was a quote from someone else, but there are quite a few VJ members here that will say different as they are getting the I485 packages in within the 90 days.  Heck, my wife and I did it ourselves back when we were at that stage.  I have heard there are some states where it is almost impossible to get a marriage certificate in 3 months, but that is a state bureaucracy issue, so people in those states should look at an alternative such as Vegas, the Utah online option, or go to a different state.

 

As I said, it would be nice to get complete stories when these items are reported.  As you mentioned, the SD field office is approving cases, so it is not a simple case of every AOS being rejected.  I am not really sure SD is off the chain as you opined, but rather that FO could be more in the spotlight simply due to the proximity to the Southern border.

[speedster 45]

4 hours ago, Dashinka said:

You can't (per the bolded portion)?  I know that was a quote from someone else, but there are quite a few VJ members here that will say different as they are getting the I485 packages in within the 90 days.  Heck, my wife and I did it ourselves back when we were at that stage.  I have heard there are some states where it is almost impossible to get a marriage certificate in 3 months, but that is a state bureaucracy issue, so people in those states should look at an alternative such as Vegas, the Utah online option, or go to a different state.

 

As I said, it would be nice to get complete stories when these items are reported.  As you mentioned, the SD field office is approving cases, so it is not a simple case of every AOS being rejected.  I am not really sure SD is off the chain as you opined, but rather that FO could be more in the spotlight simply due to the proximity to the Southern border.

Has there been any VJ members at the San Diego FO in the past 2 weeks that attended an interview there? K1 or AOS?

 

You did this K1 process in 2014, you can't tell me it's the same government nor the same USCIS in how policy is done. You're implying nothing has changed, when policy changed right before our eyes. Groups of AILA lawyers have gathered and said this is happening at the SD FO, and pop ups happening at other places, are we really dismissing what lawyers have said about this?

[Dashinka 26,332]

4 hours ago, speedster said:

Has there been any VJ members at the San Diego FO in the past 2 weeks that attended an interview there? K1 or AOS?

 

You did this K1 process in 2014, you can't tell me it's the same government nor the same USCIS in how policy is done. You're implying nothing has changed, when policy changed right before our eyes. Groups of AILA lawyers have gathered and said this is happening at the SD FO, and pop ups happening at other places, are we really dismissing what lawyers have said about this?

I implied or stated that people can enter on a K1, get married and get an AOS package submitted within 3 months.  That part, with the exception of the forms  which other than revisions are not controlled by USCIS and, have not changed since 2014.  There is ample evidence here on VJ of people doing it (you can search yourself), as I have seen several recent posts of people getting their packages together before the I94 expires. 

 

As to the San Diego FO specifically, no, I am not aware of any specific VJ case.  Also, I am not dismissing what some lawyers are saying, but I do like to stay open minded and reserve judgement until we get the entire story.  I expect there is a reason SD seems to be the forefront of this, and I would like to understand this more rather than make a conclusion on what some lawyers say.  Time will tell, but I do agree, policies have changed, maybe this will get Congress to actually do something rather than using "Immigration Reform" as a political football.

Edited 13 hours ago by Dashinka