peterbainham

Congrats and good luck.

I had my interview in San Antonio last week.

Had the biometrics last week and just received another Notice of Action requesting me and my wife to appear for an 'Initial Interview' for my AOS.

The question is, is this THE interview or is it one of many?

Actually I just found it myself. Here it is if anyone's interested:

https://egov.immigration.gov/cris/caseStatu...id=bOmybKoDnuua

That should be:

https://egov.immigration.gov/cris/jsps/index.jsp

What's the NOA (notice of action?) date and where can I find it?

NOA = Notice of Action aka I-797c. You said in your first post that yours is dated May 5.

I feared you were going to say that. Thanks for telling me though.

One last thing. I see that some people are able to check their application status online. How do I do that?

I was advised by both our lawyer and USCIS that as I entered on a VWP, if I left the USA I would have problems returning, it has something to do with being paroled into the US if you us an AP rather than being admitted if you use a visa or VWP..

I will try to find a link about it today....

Kezzie

hi Kezzie.. I wondered if that is where you were going with it.. most people don't appreciate the difference between 'admitted' and paroled!

However, the way your post is worded could lead someone to beleive that AP does not apply *period* to someone adjusting from a VWP. Many, many people do so without problem, although your lawyer's advice is the most conservative and practical. If you don't go anywhere, you're in a much safer position!

Ok, I think I understand. At what point would they order my removal and how likely is that? Basically I'm weighing up my options at the moment and seeing if it's worth the risk (though everybody seems to be telling me not to leave with or without AP).

I don't think you do get it.. based on your NOA date and your math, you'd be due for a ban against re-entry, and you wouldn't get paroled in either.

Risk? It's not a lottery. You either incur a ban when you leave, or you don't. I suspect from what you've written about your NOA date and your math that if you leave the US, AP or no, you won't be back for about 3 years.

Call a lawyer so you can be sure. Pay for the advice so you can be extra sure. Then spend your vacation money in the States.

What's the NOA (notice of action?) date and where can I find it?

I was advised by both our lawyer and USCIS that as I entered on a VWP, if I left the USA I would have problems returning, it has something to do with being paroled into the US if you us an AP rather than being admitted if you use a visa or VWP..

I will try to find a link about it today....

Kezzie

From what I understand the issue is not a problem of getting in... rather the issue is giving up your appeal rights for removal. By adjusting on VWP, you already give up your appeal right within USCIS for the adjustment denial... when you're also a Parolee, you give up your right to go in front of an Immigration Judge to appeal the removal order. Basically, if you use AP when doing a VWP adjustment, you give up your right of appealing anything and any adjudicator who has a really bad day can ruin your lives in an instant with no review of that decision available...

It is important to know what the distinction is of being a Parolee... the distinction is that they allow your physical self to be permitted in the US. But your legal self is still at the POE waiting to be admitted to the US. So if you are denied, you have no right of appeal since your legal self is outside the US. Only those whose legal self is inside the US can go in front of an Immigration Judge to protest their removal.

Ok, I think I understand. At what point would they order my removal and how likely is that? Basically I'm weighing up my options at the moment and seeing if it's worth the risk (though everybody seems to be telling me not to leave with or without AP).

That's right. The 180 days refers to the period of overstay 'allowed' before you start to suffer serious penalties. If you go over that 180 day limit then you will be banned from returning to the States for 3 years. If you go 360 days over then that increases to 10 years. It's only a problem if you leave the country though.

I think that I had accrued 177 days of overstay until I filed the AOS application but I can't be sure. Either way, it looks like I won't be leaving the country until I get my green card though.

Man that sucks.

I guess you're right though. It's really not worth jeopardising this after all the time and expense we put in so far. It's just getting to that point that I'm really missing my home and family after being away for so long and I'd just like to go visit them for a short while.

Do you ever regret doing this process the way we've done it?

Thanks for the advice.

Is there any way back into the States - short of smuggling myself in - after that?

Just got my I-797C through which is all well and good. My wife and I would like to go to England this summer and I understand that I have to get Advance Parole before I go anywhere. I've done the forms but how long does it take to get an answer?

The other thing is that I came on an I-94W (without any intention to stay) and didn't file until the 180 day limit had nearly expired. The Received date on the I-797C is April 26th while the Notice date is May 5th. The question is, on which date did I cease to be in overstay? If it's the former and I didn't overstay by more than 180 days then is it still a good to leave the country for a couple of weeks? Would they have any reason from stopping me from returning?

Thanks.

We had no intention of getting married but after a few weeks we thought, why not? Even then, we didn't know if we were going to stay or go back to Spain where we'd been living together for over two years. It was only after we married that we both decided to make the States our permanent home and begin the immigration process.

Wasn't sure what forum to post this in but here goes.

I arrived in the States on a I-94W in August 2005 and got married to a US citizen on 18th October 2005. I want to change my status to lawful permanent resident but my I-94W ran out on October 31 2005. I've heard that I can't change my status since I came on the visa waiver program. Is this true? If so what can I do?