hi

hi

hi

[Julie]

Mistake # 1 - overstaying your visa. Mistake # 2 - returning to India. You now need to file a waiver and are subject to a 10 yr bar from USA for overstaying longer than 6 months. You can have as good as excuse as you think, but you still broke the immigration laws of USA. You will be waiting forever to hear from Chennai. Your wife, should retain a lawyer and file the waiver.

[Lucy]

Overstay of 10 months only leads to a ban on entering for 3 years, not 10. If he overstayed more than 12 months, the ban would be 10 years.

So, if he doesn't get the waiver, he will be eligible for his immigrant visa in August 2005. Not as bad as 10 year ban, I guess.

[???]

WHAT IS UNLAWFUL PRESENCE???

[Lucy]

it's either when you entered the country without inspection by immigration officer or when you entered legally with a visa or a visa waiver, but overstayed the time allowed (usually indicated on I-94)

[Spouse]

Because you left the country, you will have to file the I-601 waiver to return.

There are a bunch of us that have gone through that process, or are going through it, but we generally post on a different forum.

www.immigrate2us.net

perhaps we can be of some assistance... or at least be some support!

Actual approval times of this waiver vary according to the consulate. Some countries take as short as a couple of months, other countries take as long as a year or (sometimes even more). I had to wait a year for my husbands waiver to be approved, and I am going to guess that India has similar wait times, but the only way to know for sure is to ask the embassy/consulate that processes the waivers for India.

[Spouse]

by the way, you do not need an "excuse" for overstaying your visa... what you need to do is to demonstrate that your wife (LPR) will experience extreme hardship if you do not return to the USA to live with her (i.e. she cannot live in India, etc.)

[Spouse]

As per section 212(a)(9)(B)(v) of the Immigration and Nationality Act

(v) Waiver.-The Attorney General has sole discretion to waive clause (i) in the case of an immigrant who is the spouse or son or daughter of a United States citizen or of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence, if it is established to the satisfaction of the Attorney General that the refusal of admission to such immigrant alien would result in extreme hardship to the citizen or lawfully resident spouse or parent of such alien. No court shall have jurisdiction to review a decision or action by the Attorney General regarding a waiver under this clause.

Thus, your wife, being an LPR can file for you. To my knowledge although there are preference categories for immigrant visas, etc. in which being a citizen or not being a citizen can make a great deal of difference, the actual processing times of the I-601 should not differ according to citizenship status.

Hope this helps!