Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper

There are four things that you have to remember about becoming out-of-status:

First of all, you are considered deportable once you become outof-status. This means that agents from the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (USICE) can detain you at any time and have you removed from the United States when so ordered by an immigration court.

Second, your tourist visa will become cancelled or automatically revoked once you become out-of-status. For example, let us assume that you came here as a visitor, and you have a multiple entry tourist visa that has not yet expired. After becoming out-ofstatus for a couple of days, you went home and then, after six months, you tried to come back to the United States using the same visa. Since you became out-of-status the last time you entered the United States , there is a risk that you will not be allowed to enter as a tourist using the same visa by the officer at the port of entry from the US Customs and Border Protection (USCBP). Instead, you will be asked to go back immediately to your country of origin and be given advice to apply for and secure a new visa before making another attempt to enter the country as a tourist. The sad part of the story here is that once there is a record that you have become out-of-status in the past, even for a single day, the US Embassy will probably refuse to give you another tourist visa.

Third, you will accrue unlawful presence. You will be barred from coming back to the US for three years if you go home after accruing unlawful presence here for more than 180 days and up to a year. You will be barred from coming back to US for 10 years if you go home after accruing unlawful presence here for more than a year. The 180 days is counted from the date of expiration of your I-94 or, if you filed an extension application, change of status application, or adjustment of status application prior to the expiration of your I-94 and said application eventually got denied, then the 180 days is counted from the date of denial of said application.

Last, but not the least, you will no longer be allowed to extend, change, or adjust your status once you become out-of-status (a) unless you are covered by a special law that states otherwise (i.e., Section 245(i), Section 245(k), etc.) or (b) unless you are the beneficiary of a family-based petition that belongs to the Immediate Relative category (i.e., you are the minor unmarried child, spouse, or parent of a US citizen). This means that you will not be able to work legally during your stay here in the United States, and you have less chance now of becoming a lawful permanent resident of the United States.

Because of the harsh consequences of becoming an out-ofstatus individual, we advise our clients to try to maintain their nonimmigrant status and avoid becoming out-of-status as much as possible. If you are already out-of-status, we recommend that you consult immediately an immigration attorney in order to find out if there are viable options available to you and your family.

If you want to know more about this topic, please feel free to call us at (818) 956-8844 [ Glendale ] or at (626) 331-8188 [ Covina ] to schedule an appointment for your free initial consultation, or visit us at www.palacioslawfirm.com. You may also attend one of our free monthly immigration seminars.

***

Attorney Eugene M. Palacios is the founder and principal of the Law Offices of Eugene M. Palacios, APLC. He has great depth of experience and a successful track record in handling employment and family-based petitions as well as PERM and naturalization applications. He is licensed as an attorney in California and is admitted to practice before US Immigration Courts, the US Central District Court, and California State Courts. He is also an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers’ Association. His offices are located at 100 North Brand Boulevard, Suite 600, Glendale, California 91203 and at 800 South Barranca Avenue, Suite 250, Covina, California 91723.

***

The above article does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice for a specific immigration problem and does not create an attorney-client relationship between our office and the reader. It is for informational purposes only and reflects our law firm’s opinions and views on general issues.

( www.asianjournal.com )

( Published on February 7, 2009 in Asian Journal Los Angeles p. C2 )