bkilp

My best friend is an idiot, no doubt about that. When we came to america in our early 20's we over stayed our visa's. I got married to my beautiful wife got a job and living the american dream, but he took a slippery road got caught with drugs. He faced 6 yrs in prison, but before he was actually sentenced to the 6 yrs after close to a year, he got bailed out and took on another trip around immigration prisons for nearly another 8 months then shipped home to england. This was over 10 yrs ago.. I know the chances are very slim to none, but does anyone know of a way to get him back to visit me? He has changed grown up, married and so on. he would love to bring his wife to see the sites. obviously he still has an outstanding term on his sentence but my understanding is he cannot be actually sentenced if not available by choice. Money is no object if this can be done. Please no stupid responses. I am full aware of the difficulties and if money is no object then why not fly somewhere else. Just looking for sensible answers, if any.

tom169

Firstly, I suggest get your friend to sign up and ask and answer questions himself... Or is that "friend" actually you?

Secondly, if money is no object then your friend should hire a very experienced immigration attorney.

If he still has time to serve in the US I would assume he has warrants out for his arrest. So perhaps make that a defense attorney too.

Twinkle0927

So he's a fugitive from justice? I wouldn't get too involved if I were you as the case is still open. Was this a state or federal crime? Sounds like it was "escape without force" - something my husband did too many years ago. In his case it resulted in an expensive extradition across the country. Depending on which state it was (if it was a state charge) they will add time for this too. The amount varies from state to state. And I'm guessing he will also have unpaid restitution too as he likely would have had restitution to pay as part of his J&S. We have no experience of federal crimes so I cannot comment on how that it would go if it were a federal crime but I can't imagine the Feds would be any more lenient than a state court. In fact, I can't imagine any leniency at all here.

He needs a good lawyer. The courts will not care that he has been law-abiding since and that he has a wife and children, job, house, etc. They will not care that "just wants to show his wife the sights" - she's a grown adult and can come here without him if she wants to go sightseeing.

ian-mstm

If he's been out of the US for 10+ years then any ban that might have been triggered from the visa overstay has run out - however, without involving an experienced US immigration attorney, he can't find out whether or not there's still an outstanding arrest warrant for him. If there is, and he tries to enter the US, he will be arrested.


Your friend has made his choices and must now live with the consequences of those choices.

Ian

scrubbedexpat099

Money is no object so 2 lawyers, one criminal, one immigration.

britinusa777777755

Just visit him? Flight is cheap enough.

Why would he take a huge risk when he is a free man in the UK? Or meet up in Canada etc?

ian-mstm

Why? Read the OP's first comment... his best friend is an idiot.

Ian

scrubbedexpat099

Canada, with that record?

crg

Was it an overstay of an actual visa, or a visa waiver?

With such a serious history of problems, getting a visa and any required waiver(s) could be really hard.

Even though a 10-year bar for an overstay would have elapsed, there is a possibility of a lifetime removal order for an aggravated felony (can be overcome with an approved I-212) or lifetime inadmissibility for a controlled substance violation (can be overcome for a visitor with an approved 212(d)(3)(A) waiver.

He'd have to make sure the criminal matter was actually resolved and that there isn't an active arrest warrant out there. Immigration will sometimes remove people who are out on criminal bail and ignore a judge's order for the person to be present in court.

jellybean_17

After being told the story friend's husbands experience - it probably won't work out well for him. He got into some trouble with the law as a 20 year old, cannot remember exact details but to do with a fight of some kind. Anyway he ended up back in the UK before sentencing. Fast forward 20 years, he flew to Florida with his family and friends. The short version is that there was a warrant for his arrest in the state it took place, because he wasn't in that state they decided to deny entry rather than enforce it (lucky for him) and he returned home. He is also a changed man with a family etc.

I would tell him to definitely not just wing it and take the advice of the other posters above

bkilp

Actually the lad is from Sheffield and as you can imagine, those northern monkeys can be a little lazy so I thought I would ask. I kinda got all the answer I knew I would get, I was just hoping for a genie in bottle. Canada won't let him in either, We meet in Costa Rica a lot. But honestly There is just so much more for us to do here. We have covered about all that we have wanted to in central america.

bkilp

Thanks for that, because I know a few people have suggested he just fly back and it won't show up. i thought that would be a really bad idea.

albanks2542

It should also be worth considering that if he did end up in U.S custody for a period of time or did go through the U.S Court process on those drug charges he would probably lose whatever employment he has in England. The loss of that employment would probably have a knock on effect for the entire family.

crg

Agreed. If the past problem was resolved with a removal order as an aggravated felon, the worst case is that he could be committing a felony punishable by 2 to 20 years and up to a $250,000 fine in prison just for asking to come in without prior permission to reapply.

jellybean_17

Lol the person I wrote about is also from the Sheffield area, although not the same idiot