BarbarellaC

Hi. Please don't judge me based on my questions, I am going through some serious issues in my personal life. Thanks in advance for your help.

Have been in US for 4 years in 2 different schools, with 2 different F1 visas. I have just been authorized for early withdrawal from my 2nd school and am currently within the 60 day grace period. My visa goes until 2016, my I20 goes until October 2013, my I94 goes for D/S (Duration of Service.) For personal reasons it will be extremely hard for me to leave the US in the next few months. I'm looking to work out what exactly I'm getting myself into. All advice is appreciated.

1. Am I able to transfer to another school within the 60 day grace period, - or since I have been released for early withdrawal from my last school - I cannot?

2. If I do not transfer to another school; When is overstay officially counted from? I have read on this forum that overstay only starts after an F1 visa with D/S on I94, when a court proclaims that one has overstayed.

3. If this is true, - under what circumstances would a court be triggered to proclaim overstay? If I don't get in any trouble with the law, would they realize I'm an overstay and notify me accordingly?

4. If I don't get such a court order, when will overstay be proclaimed, when i20 expires or when visa expires, - or...?

5. When I leave the US eventually, how would Border control notice overstay? - Is the I94 system so sophisticated that they scan each i94 and match it to the visas?

6. If the i94 system is that sophisticated, is there anything I can do to keep myself out of trouble, (short of leaving.) Could I give my i94 to someone else to hand in when they leave the country? Or would leaving via a land port help me when I eventually do leave?

Many thanks,

I apologize for the peculiarity of some of these questions.

civilservant

4. Your status is to study, if you are not studying your status expires from the end of the grace period.

5. They wouldn't notice, but the overstay would be recognised and the appropriate ban would be in place should you try to enter the US again.

6. So you're asking if it's a good idea to attempt to commit immigration fraud? That's a good idea

You won't be 'in trouble' when you leave, the authorities are very unlikely to pull you aside since they want you to leave. As stated above you will incur the relevant ban depending on length of stay out of status.

Just to add, why don't you just do the decent thing and leave? You are potentially leaving yourself open to never being able to visit the US again if you do overstay, and US Immigration won't care that you were having personal issues.

dreamercon

The I-94 is expected to be phased out in all airports in the next few months.
I-94's are already electronic at https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/request.html - so the paper I-94 is irrelevant.

ian-mstm

D/S = Duration of Status. That means as long as you meet the F-1 requirements, you are allowed to remain in the US.


If you can find another school, I think you can transfer, yes. You will likely need to get an approved I-20 from the new school.


What you have read is essentially correct. The overstay will begin when your situation becomes known to US immigration authorities (not "a court"). Note that there is a difference between "out of status" and "overstay". You are out of status the moment you no longer meet the F-1 visa requirements... but you are not in an overstay situation until US immigration finds out about it. That could be immediately... or never... or somewhere in between. You likely won't know when that happens.


Again, it's not a court thing. See above.


Again, see above.


There is no immigration exit control in the US. However, if you find yourself in an overstay situation, then you will be subject to a 3-year ban (for an overstay of between 6 months and a year), or a 10-year ban from the US (for an overstay of more than 1 year). The ban is automatic and is triggered the moment you leave the US.


It's never a good idea to either lie to or attempt to trick US immigration.


Leaving by land will neither help nor hurt you... and if you try to enter either Canada or Mexico (the only two countries you can get to via a land border) you may be refused entry if you are out of status in the US.

Ian

Ray

http://www.buffalostate.edu/internat...fairs/x577.xml

scrubbedexpat099

After Boston you can expect that the issues they ignored in the past will not be ignored any longer.

jxv73

If you have bona fide personal reasons that impede you from leaving the US, there are legal alternatives: for example, if you are ill, you can change status to B2 for purposes of medical treatment.

BarbarellaC

But it is possible to stay for years without being realized as overstayed? If that is the case I could leave without notice?

scrubbedexpat099

11m plus cant be wrong.

Pulaski

Staying in the US without the immigration authorities realizing is not the same as leaving without being noticed. If you stay and "keep your head down" there is little reason the authorities would necessarily find you, but passenger lists for all flights are scrubbed and matched.

If you could find a way out of the US without being checked at the border or showing up on a passenger list then you might be able to "get away with" an overstay but most methods would be highly dangerous, and all are illegal.

Noorah101

I will be hard to stay in the USA for years out of status, though...how will you work? How will you support yourself? Would you work illegally?

Rene

scrubbedexpat099

To be fair it can not be that difficult.

ian-mstm

Yes, it's possible. It's not recommended... but it is possible.

It's at moments like this that I get to quote one of my favorite lines from the TV show "Law & Order".

Defense's question to ME (about an MD accused of malpractice): Isn't it possible that pneumonia killed Suzanne Morton?

Medical Examiner: It's possible that death rays from Mars killed her. But I don't think so.

Ian