haagen_dazs

I-94 or I-94W is the arrival/departure record. They should have made you fill out the I-94W, which is the green form, and then should've asked for it when you left.. I-94 is for people under a visa status, which is why you didn't need that one.

immigration did not ask me to fill out the I94 W, neither did they ask for one..... hmmm so how ?

So the update is

Woot =) Went through into the USA and left with no problems.

They didnt scan my passport when I entered. All the lady did was type in my passport number and said I was good to go.

She threw away the white I94 (that i filled up) and said I did not need it.....

So one interesting question.

I realized that when I left SFO, there was no immigration check point.

Since I did not have a I94 white card to be removed at the airplane check in counter, my question is : how does immigration know that I left USA?

Does the USA immigration department depend ENTIRELY on the check in counter staff entering into the system that I actually physically flew out on my aircraft???????????

He filled in the ESTA, he got it.

thanks for the input =)

LOOK for the MILLIONTH TIME. If YOU YOURSELF KNOW that you have OVERSTAYED 3 MONTHS even if it was to tie up loose ends, you will need a B1/B2 visa PERIOD. It DOESNT MATTER if you are from Singapore...thats the LEAST of their worries. THEIR worry would be if you overstayed. FILL OUT the ESTA form and then SEE if you need a B1/B2 visa

Its like you keep wanting us all here to tell you what you would LIKE to hear and not what you NEED to hear...

thank you for your comments

Just remember, if asked (verbally or in writing on the customs form) you'll need to tell the absolute truth. Failing to do so could result in a misrepresentation charge (trust me, they know already)

Good luck

thanks for the advice

they may ask to test me at the point of entry right?

well i will just explain the situation and hope like crazy they will be forgiving and gracious...

Well, the overstay was less than 180 days, and there is a valid explanation for it. However, nothing is ever 100% assured. You could go through your POE and they MIGHT ask about it, and you will tell them the truth, and then they MIGHT let you in. It all depends on the person you are dealing with.

Nobody here can give you the reassurance you are looking for. However, I do suggest you start pulling together any documentation of ties to singapore. College payments, rent leases, letter from employer stating the day you are expected back, car payments.. anything that shows you are definately going to go back to Singapore.

Even then though, they could still say thanks but no thanks, go back home.... The only way you will know for SURE, is to try.

I have been reading up and just wanted to know if I will have problems since my potential overstay specifically is a range from from 0 to 4 mths max (less than 6 mths)

brokenfamily, coraliesolms : Yes you really understood my situation. Trying is probably the only answer.

Channah&Aaron : I am reading up and never read a 2/5/10 ban. Only 3/10. I am not sure where your source is. No i was left the country perfectly fine.

Are you even sure you overstayed your visa. Because you assumed it took a month so you overstayed by 3 months, but what if it took 5 months and you never overstayed?

That is true

So the range is 0 to max of 4 mths only.

I did my best to get out asap and it does take time.

hi all

thanks so much for helping me out

alright so i just paid the 14USD and it says i am approved

so now what?

"Authorization Approved

Your travel authorization has been approved and you are authorized to travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program. This does not guarantee admission to the United States; a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer at a port of entry will have the final determination."

VWP allows some people of your nationality to use it, not everybody.

If you have issues, a criminal past, US Immigration Violations etc you are unlikely to get ESTA clearance. Have you completed ESTA?

Hi I have not completed ESTA.

I am actually not familiar and am looking and reading up on ESTA.

For the last 10 years, I have always entered USA via F1 and H1B so I am not up to date with these things since I am now wanting to enter USA simply as a tourist.

So if I apply for the ESTA and I get accepted,then it says i will be inspected at customs.

If I apply and am rejected, do i have to apply for a visa even though Singaporeans do not need visa to enter USA?

To use the VWP you need ESTA pre clearance.

With such an immigration violation you are very unlikely to get it, even with it you might have issues at the PoE.

So chances are that you will need a B2, which may be difficult, but you can only try and see.

do i need these visas and paperwork even if my country does not require a tourist visa to visit USA on a normal basis?

this is for an overstay / out of status of less than 180 days

how do i know if i need to apply for a tourist visa?

i mean, how do i know if i need it if Singaporeans normally do not need a visa to enter USA as tourist

The overstay of a visa may triger a bar on use of VWP to visit the use, and may be required to apply for a tourist visa by filing a DS-160 to the US consulate.

how do i know if i need to apply for a tourist visa?

thanks for the question

i forgot to mention that

i am from Singapore and do not need a visa to enter USA as a tourist.

i overstayed for ~3mths as i had to tie up the loose ends, (everything was too sudden) and get out of the USA.

thanks

I would like to get some insights

I was laid off my job in mid April 2010.

My employer told me that my H1B will probably be stopped soon after.

I stayed around to look for a job and then left in August 2010.

Assuming it took about 1 mth for immigration to be informed that my H1B is stopped, I would have overstayed for about 3 months.

It is now Feb 2011 (6 mths after).

I need to return to USA for a short visit for about 1 week end Feb 2011.

I am representing my school in a MBA case competition and will fly to LAX.

I assume I will just enter as a tourist (get the white form at immigration?)

Will I have problems re-entering the USA?

Thanks

thanks so much

in hind sigh, i wonder if i could have done things differently about 1+ mth ago

but at that time, i did not know if i was going to b school

would applying for AOS 1 mth ago make my situation now more complicated?

should i have applied for the special tourist visa (B??) then?

Since your overstay is less than 180 days, there's no automatic ban, so you should not be too worried about being denied at the Point of Entry (POE) because of this.

My question is: do you have a valid B2 in your pass right now? If not, it might not be easy to get one in your situation, as your wife is a US citizen, you lived in the US for years, and now you want to return for a "vacation."

If you do have a valid B2, yes, then you can leave the country and should be able to come back in a while. Now, however, that if you leave now with an expired H1 and come back just a few days (or a week or two) later with a B2, that's a red flag.

If you have not submitted your AOS yet, meaning they haven't gotten your money yet, it might be smarter not to file now, but instead to file a DCF about 6 months before you intend to return to the US. If you happen to be married for 2 years by then, you immediately get your (unrestricted) 10-year Green Card (GC). This way you don't have to file for Removal of Conditions (ROC). It would make life much easier for you.

Before we dig deeper, please answer whether or not you have a B2.

So I spoke to a lawyer and have a couple of options laid out for me.

I guess I have to choose the best of the worse options.

Assuming my H1B was stopped in end April, I am now overstaying and will continue to do so till Aug 1.

That is about 3 months.

1)

If I want to be technically legal and safe, I can leave USA tomorrow. But that would mean I would forfeit my entire cermonial marriage which is in 3 weeks time. (Note : this is ceremonial ie church + cocktail + reception party but we are already civilly married).

This is quite ridiculous and most likely out of the question (not to mention i will be $40k poorer and leaving a bad taste with all my guests)

2)

I could leave USA and immediately come back into USA as a tourist (my country, Singapore does not need a visa to enter USA).

However the lawyer said this will raise red flags and there is high risk of denied entry.

So I don't think I can leave and come back for my wedding ceremony. right?

3)

I was told I could apply for the AOS and leave after 1+month but there may be issues when I have to come back for the interview later on right?

At the POE, I will have to explain myself as to why I am out?

Is it at this point that I have to apply for the AP to come back into the USA for the interview?

Are interview dates flexible or fixed?

After I get the temp. 2 year green card, I will still be out of the USA. Will I have problem coming back in later without the green card?

Can one fedex the green card to me while I am in another country so that I can use it to get back into USA later?

I am not sure

4)

Assuming after B school, we continue to work in ASIA,

I could file for a AOS outside of USA after 2 years of marriage. I understand that would be easier.

However I was caution that I had to plan ahead of time since the wait time can be long when filing outside of USA

Am I right on this?

5)

I was also told that if we were to work for a long time outside of USA ( 5 to 10 years) and decide to come back, I might not be able to file for a AOS through my wife because she will lose her domiciliary status. Then the ONLY way to come back with my wife is to get a H1B then (again!?!?) and come back to the USA.

Can people comment on the options?

Are there any other options?

You are correct. But you'll have to admit that this destinction is of academic nature when the O.P. is at the POE and the CBP officers sends him back home.

this is what makes things more uncertain in life.

were you out of status from 1994 to 2006 (when you were married) ?? wow

When you lose a job and your employer holds your H1B, they generally put in a request to USCIS to terminate your visa. I believe USCIS waits about 30 days for a visa transfer or renewal request to come through before it terminates the visa (You can get a quick consult with an H1B lawyer to confirm or check online). This should help you calculate whether or not you overstayed and by how many days.

someone said here 0-180 days over stay = 3 yr ban or is it >180days = 3 year ban?

i am confused

i kind of need some advice on what i should do now now now......

=(

i cannot leave the USA now and come back as a visitor visa because i have my ceremonial wedding in less than a month (we did the civil marriage last month). on top of that, we are both leaving the USA in 60 days to go to b-school (both of us). we might work overseas for a while and maybe come back to the USA later..

argh.

oh man

what should i do?

how do i find out when exactly did i go out of status?

how do i know if i over stay? does it happen when I leave the USA and they take the I94 card back to process?

What is the current status of your H1B? If you were laid off in April, then your visa is probably no longer valid and you start to accrue overstay. You need to be careful - you don't want to "earn" 3 or 10 year ban because of that (given you leave the US to pursue your MBA studies and would want to apply for a GC once you're done with the program).

yes my H1B is not valid

so what should i do for the next 2 months?

I leave for school end July

sigh

I am in such a wierd situation.

Can someone advise me please????????

As you probably know, the recipient of a Green Card is allowed to reside in the US, and he's required to reside there. In case you need to travel before you have the actual GC in hand, there's Advance Parole. It allows people who have not overstayed to leave the country and reenter.

Once you have your GC at hand, you can, theoretically, apply for a reentry permit. It is required for people who are absent from the US for a year or more, and valid up to 2 years.

The whole AOS process cost over $1,000, will take months, and after close to 2 years you will have to remove conditions, which will also cost over $600.

When filing for ROC in 2012, it will be difficult for you to convince USCIS that your marriage is "real" if you live away from your wife since the beginning. Therefore, it might make more sense if you attend school abroad, and in case you might be coming back, have your wife file a IR-1 for you which results in an unrestricted 10-year GC.

HI

My wife will be living with me together in that other country. We both got into MBA school there.

If there is a chance I will be away from the USA for 2 years, then is it better to apply for the GC later on when we both want to go back to the USA?

What is ROC in 2012?

Well first of all if you leave without Advance Parole (AP) you will have been considered to have abandoned your AOS application.

Second it would depend how long you would be out of the country.

Dependent upon the answers to the the above issues you might be better filing for a spousal visa when you finish school.

i will be away for 1.5 years for my studies.

and i might work overseas after that.

could you explain what this advance parole thing is?

I have an interesting situation that just materialized itself this morning.

I have been accepted to business school and will leave USA in 60 days.

Should I still start the AOS process (my wife is a USA citizen) now?

How would things change and what should I take note of?

This is the strongest evidence, IMO. When were you two married?

Do you have any rental lease/agreement? Health/car/life insurance? Car loans? Utilities? Cell phone bills? The more of these, the stronger your case.

Sure, the wedding invitation is great. The photos, over the course of 4 years, is great! Any letters between you two? Or better, any letters addressed to both of you?

Hi Markieboy.

We do not have those because we abstain from living together before we are married. We went through the civil marriage and signed the papers to speed up the process. We have emails between the 2 of us. Thousands. How am i suppose to show this to the govt ?

Hmm I just realized I am now on her health insurance since Massachusetts require health insurance.

That helps too. Cool

Question C15 is asking for present employer, not previous employer. So, I would still place NONE, as in no present employer.

It shouldn't raise any red flags. I'm assuming you no longer have H1B status, correct?

USCIS does not expect you to be presently employed, nor presently have an employer. This would be illegal because you're not presently authorized to work.

I think it's best to apply for AOS, that way your status would be pending.

I suppose I do not have H1B since I expect the previous employer to pull it and the H1B visa is on hold as I am not employed.

I am not sure what you mean best to apply for AOS (sorry newbie)

Is that the same thing as applying for the I-130 and I485 listed in this link?

http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide2

Hi, haagen_dazs and congratulations! From the way I read it, you are not actually married yet, but will be in June. Please note that you need to get married BEFORE filing your AOS package. You probably already knew this, but I thought I should err on the side of caution. Good luck!

HI ValirieA.

We already performed the civil marriage by a justice of peace at cityhall.

Thats should be enough to start the filing process right?

Being married to a U.S. citizen seems like a perfectly logical reason to apply for permanent residence.

You still, however, must provide proof of a bonafide marriage.

since we are married for a very short time frame

i can only show "Documentation showing co-mingling of financialresources;"

which would be joint bank accounts

what else should i send to them?

our wedding invitation for the ceremonial marriage in June?

photos of us together for the last 4 years?!?

is it ok to put NONE in the G-325?

i went from F1 to H1B and i never recall having a Alien Registration number

Maybe a stupid question but will a USA citizen have a Alien Registration number????