chill4xdude

After documenting with multiple lawyers and online that you're looking for any possible way to stay in the United States and adjust status/get a green card?

I'll put money on "difficult to impossible."

impossible? ouch.. well okay.

I read briefly about your parent's situation,

and putting all the questionable things aside for the moment...

If you and your (future) spouse truly get into a real marriage,

and can prove that it was not just to gain you the green card,

then like all other applicants in this situation,

you guys have the burden to prove that your marriage is real,

and USCIS will want strong evidences to support that.

USCIS folks are trained to sniff out fraudulent applicants,

so just expect a lot scrutiny...

Also, your US citizen sponsor (or joint-sponsor) will have to earn 125% of the poverty guideline.

yes true, i was reading online about it and it was all about how to prove it was a bona fide marriage, etc. Then there's the interview aspect of it as well.

And of course, I'm happy to corrected by those more educated than me, even if you do succeed it won't help your parents with their situation.

They'll still have to go home.

Yeah, I am aware they have to go home Mac, I was just thinking of ways to stay here so i can finish my education and get my BA. I can't get an off campus job on an F1 and it will be very costly for them to send money for me all the time. Thanks for your time though, really appreciate it.

If you travel to the US with the intentions of getting married it's considered fraud. I know some people that have done it, but I personally wouldn't risk it.

I've lived here for almost 7 years, I know this girl.. we met when I first moved here - I am 20 now, we went to the same Middle School, High School, & we just finished the same Community College together. We text literally everyday, I go to her job at times, she buys me lunch etc..

But we don't live together and we don't have joint bank accounts. So would it be hard to prove if I got married to her?

get married to a citizen and apply for AOS?

Those are two different things. According to USCIS, your parents could have been petitioned immediately, but some companies have clauses of how long employees have to have worked with them to be sponsored.

Yup, I think that's what it is.

Anyways, thanks for the help guys! Really appreciate you guys taking the time to help.

It sucks that this is what's happening to be honest, just because of a stupid clause. I love america I don't want to leave, or my parents.

L's do not get much coverage here.

And the OP can do do detailed research, or perhaps her Parents. So this is what I understand:

Temporary work Visa for max of 5 or 7 years depending on category, as she has been here 6 then that suggests a Manager role.

To stay longer then the the Employer would need to petition for a Green Card, could have been done on Day 1 so presumably it was always when not if they were going back.

So we are dealing with a multi national Hotel chain with operations world wide. The one in Saint Lucia closed down.

The only get out I can think of is that they have other overseas operations and that might save the situation. I seem to remember reading about this but no idea when or where. It is still a company with overseas operations if not in the Country he came from.

Still does not allow adjustment to resident but may allow adjustment to F1, Student.

You got it exactly right.. we got screwed because we were told we had to be here 3 years then the company could have petitioned for us..

Thanks guys.

Looks like i'm heading back to where I came back. Great.

Big Bad America

hmm, i was just reading up about it. they said petitions for people without a degree for an H1 rarely get accepted.

Ok, I'm not familiar with that situation, BUT he can get a H1B without a Bachelor. USCIS requires a bachelor degree or it's a equivalent. The regulations specifically state that for H-1B purposes three (3) years of progressive work experience in the field will be considered the equivalent of one year of U.S. university study. So 12 years of work experience in the hotel/hospitality field, or a associates degree+6 years work experience will do give him the basic qualifications for a H1B.

http://www.visapro.com/Immigration-Articles/?a=1453&z=48

He has more than 12 years of work experience in his field, he has no associates either. Will that still be an option or no? And can we apply for this ourselves or the hotel lawyers must do it?

You can't AOS anyway. The employer would need to file for EB-1 without Labor Certification as someone else already posted here. This is entirely different process.

Usually big companies like Starwood, Hilton or the such, have own legal departments since they handle a lot of visas. Did you already try talking to one of the hotel groups lawyers?

Yes sir, we went to the hotel lawyers first, because they were the only ones we had contact with. They were the first people to tell us that they can't petition it for us because of the whole property he transferred being closed down thing, from then on we went to 4 different ones hoping to get something else, but that wasn't the case. He also cannot get a HB visa because he doesn't have a Bachelors.

So I don't understand your problem: If you dad is still employed, he is still in status since he is working for the company he transferred here on L1. Even after December he still will be in status as long as the employment with the US subsidiary is still valid.

Maybe you're loosing something in translation: When you say the property closed, are you saying the company went bankrupt or decided to cease operations in St. Lucia ? Or do you mean they just closed the property and opened a new office somewhere else on the island?

The property closed down due to a hurricane, it didn't go bankrupt. They didn't open a new one on the island.

He works for a hotel, the hotel was closed due to a hurricane, then it wasn't reopened. The hotel he works for is a HUGE chain meaning they have properties all around the world, he currently works for the same hotel in the US, the thing is because the property closed down we cannot AOS according to the lawyers we've been too. Hope it makes sense now, even though it shouldn't be this hard to get AOS.. cuz it just pisses me off thinking about it.

I totally understand you. I myself had to talk to two lawyers and VJ basically gave me the answer I was looking for. IL's aren't the best source sometimes.

Sadly you're not and Boiler is right. The day your dad lost his job, is the day the visas lost their validity. The I-94 does NOT count. The visa you(r dad) has is linked the job/company he came here for. In theory you have to leave the US the day he was terminated. USCIS does not have an official grace period when it comes to L1. However, it is reasonable for a person to stay for an additional week or so to wrap-up things, sell stuff, plan the return etc.

But we are talking a week or two, NOT months. You(r family) have been out of status since the last day of his job. The only way you would have been able to avoid it, would have been to file an I-539 on the last day of employment. This way you would all have had enough time, and could have figured things out while on COS. Also going from L1 to a green card would have been possible if you would have done it a couple years ago, and not now.

Sorry, your situation doesn't look good. You will all have to return to your home country.

Dude mark, my dad didn't lose his job. He has the job with the SAME company he transferred with. The problem is the PROPERTY he transferred from is closed. The company he works for is a chain... he is still working here LEGALLY.

I will not give the company name, but let me tell you what happened. We lived on the islands, where he worked for said company, he then transferred here with the same company. When we left the PROPERTY on the island closed down. He still has the SAME job with the company that filed for the L1 for us.. he didn't lose his job. We are still IN Status.

I don't mean to be rude, but you've been to four lawyers who specialize in immigration law and they all told you the same thing, but you thought coming to an online forum would yield a better answer?

no need to be rude man, if you only knew how stressful this is....

There's still something wrong with this story - the company can petition him for EB green card regardless of that - if they only want to. People can be petitioned on EB even if they are not is US and never worked for a company that will petition them. Only difference here is EB-1C vs. L-1A and lack of labor cert requirement.

You (or your father) wouldn't never be able to adjust status just because you want to, without company's involvement.

I think there is something missing, too....

This is what we thought, we actually think it didn't make any sense. But apparently we have "no options" and like I said the lawyers are saying they cannot petition for it because of this "clause". We had one lawyer even open up her law book and read where it says that the property transferred from must be in operation at the time of applying... so I am stuck, I still had hope but apparently I'll have to give up.

It would appear that they are no longer in Status, so nothing to adjust from.

And they have been here a very long time so if the GC was a priority, why was it not done then.

You come across cases like this every now and then, usually seems to arise through the company being sold, reorganizing etc, but the principal is the same.

Boiler, we are still here legally, I just checked the I-94 it says Expiration date: December 15,2014. My parents are still allowed to work here legally until that date, so we are still in Status... the whole situation didn't make sense to us so that's why I came on here hoping to get some advice because one would think that after being in this country for almost 10 years it wouldn't be so difficult to get AOS....

You would only be allowed to get a part time job on college campus which would not pay much and there's a lot of competition for those.

http://www.***removed***/visas/studentvisa/working-parttime.html

so thees absolutely no way I can get a job OFF campus?

damn.. alright thanks.

As I understand it that as soon as the Company that transferred him closed he was no longer eligible for L1 status, if he had wanted to stay then he needed another type of Visa. You are of course dependent on his visa. He should seek legal advice, may be being mislead by the Company Lawyer.

Your option independent of your Parents is the F1.

okay thanks Boiler

whoops, can i get a job on an F1 visa?

No such luck. I lived here for eight years (F-1 - OPT - H1B) and was no closer to a green card until I got married. The time you've spent in the country does not count for anything when AOSing.

Your immigration lawyers are your best bet. However, they should have told you that you are no longer in L-1 status since your dad is no longer working for the employer. So you're already overstaying.

you're only hope would be to be petitioned by employer for employment based green card which is entirely independent petition.

The L1 is a visa that allows multi national companies to transfer employees from one location to another. There is no 3 year requirement, they could have applied for Permanent Residency the day that you arrived. Sounds like you are already out of status, that depends on your fathers employment, no job no status. From a practical point of view you would age out anyway at 21. If you want to study in the US look at a F1 Student Visa, your current situation may complicate matters.

My dad is still working for the same company in the US, the problem is that the property he transferred from closed down due to a hurricane. The lawyers told us that the property he transferred from must be in operation at the time of applying for the greencard (apparently that's the law) & because of this the company cannot petition for the greencard.

I will be out of status December 2014, therefore I can still be here. But I was just seeing if there were any other options instead of having to leave..