Banna

I was at a US undergraduate college on an F-1 Visa and was out of status a couple of
times. On one occasion, I took a leave of absense from my school, but stayed on in the US
an additional semester before I left for home. On another instant, I returned from a leave
of absense on a fresh I-20, did not register as a full time student and left the US after
4 months. Now I am finally planning on going back to school to finish off my degree: I
have one semester of work left. The school's fine with my return, and sent me an I-20.
However the US Embassy suspects I was out of status and wants copies of my transcripts, to
make certain I was a full time student for all the time I was in the US. Official
transcripts I cannot get because I owe Brown (the school) some money (Another problem!!).
My questions are-:

1) Would the INS/Embassy be likely to penalize someone like me by not allowing me to
return? I am planning on biting the bullet and giving them a memo explaning the whole
sorry tale!

2) Given these circumstances would I be able to get a business visa to go to the US
on business?

3) Would these circumstances prevent me from getting a K-1 (Fiance Visa). I am planning on
getting married to my US girlfriend soon.

Basically what I'm asking is this: Should I even apply for a VISA, or is my case too
****ed up? What else would anyone suggest I do? Any expert advice, or help from someone
who's "been there, done that" would be much appreciated.

Betastar

First of all, this group is really just for marriage-based visas, so you might want to try
just alt.visa.us (I don't know if you cross-posted - to be honest I didn't look)

> 1) Would the INS/Embassy be likely to penalize someone like me by not allowing me to
> return? I am planning on biting the bullet and giving them a memo explaning the whole
> sorry tale!

Yes, if you were out of status for at least a total of 180 days you may face a ban from
entering the US for 3-10 years. You may be able to get past this by filing a waiver.

> 2) Given these circumstances would I be able to get a business visa to go to the US on
> business?

See the answer to #1

> 3) Would these circumstances prevent me from getting a K-1 (Fiance Visa). I am planning
> on getting married to my US girlfriend soon.

See above again.

> Basically what I'm asking is this: Should I even apply for a VISA, or is my case too
> ****ed up? What else would anyone suggest I do? Any expert advice, or help from someone
> who's "been there, done that" would be much appreciated.

A lot depends on just how long you were out of status - the total number of days. Do you
know how many days it was?

marjeta

Don't bother with F1. Just go for K1.

Marjeta

In article <[email protected]>,

> I was at a US undergraduate college on an F-1 Visa and was out of status a couple of
> times. On one occasion, I took a leave of absense from my school, but stayed on in the
> US an additional semester before I left for home. On another instant, I returned from a
> leave of
absense
> on a fresh I-20, did not register as a full time student and left the US after 4 months.
> Now I am finally planning on going back to school to finish off my degree: I have one
> semester of work left. The school's fine with my return, and sent me an I-20. However
> the US Embassy suspects I was out of status and wants copies of my transcripts, to make
> certain I was a full time student for all the
time
> I was in the US. Official transcripts I cannot get because I owe Brown (the school) some
> money (Another problem!!). My questions are-:
>
> 1) Would the INS/Embassy be likely to penalize someone like me by not allowing me to
> return? I am planning on biting the bullet and giving them a memo explaning the whole
> sorry tale!
>
> 2) Given these circumstances would I be able to get a business visa to go to the US on
> business?
>
> 3) Would these circumstances prevent me from getting a K-1 (Fiance Visa). I am planning
> on getting married to my US girlfriend soon.
>
> Basically what I'm asking is this: Should I even apply for a VISA, or is my case too
> ****ed up? What else would anyone suggest I do? Any expert advice, or help from someone
> who's "been there, done that" would be much appreciated.