Im in need of advice. Ok so I’m an international student and the date on my f-1 visa is about to expire in about two or so months.
1 questions is can I renew it here?
Secondly I took a leave of abscence from my school and due to money issues. But I was unable to leave the country because my family couldn’t afford me ticket out.
Now it’s been about a year and this summer my family will be able to pay my fees. I guess my Sevis has been canceled and most of my mates have a new I-20 but I still have my old one
Is there any way I can begin solving this conundrum?
Jeez. Alright. For best advice, you’d need to speak to an experienced immigration lawyer.
Based on my knowledge, it seems that your only legal option would be to depart the US as soon as possible.
- The date on the F-1 visa sticker in your passport is irrelevant for your purposes. The validity of your F-1 status hinges entirely on your SEVIS record. Your F-1 status terminated when your SEVIS record got canceled. (Conversely, students are allowed to legally stay in the country beyond the date on their student visa sticker as long as they maintain valid student status and a valid SEVIS record.)
- The longer you remain physically present in the US on an invalid visa status, the worse for your future immigration options in the US. 180 days of "unlawful presence" trigger a 3-year entry ban to the US. 365 days of unlawful presence will trigger a 10-year entry ban. If removal or deportation proceedings are initiated, you may face a life-long entry ban.
- In general, you cannot apply for a new visa from within the US ("change of status") if you are currently not in a valid visa status. You would have to depart the US and apply for a visa at a consulate abroad.
I am not an immigration lawyer. I agree that speaking with one is your best bet, but whether you can afford this is another question.
I am pretty sure that you need to leave the US immediately, go home, and apply for another student visa. I think that your F1 actually expired when you withdrew from school, and you have overstayed your visa by quite a bit. The good news is that they won’t check your visa status while you are leaving, so there is some hope that they might not notice how badly you have overstayed your visa. If the US I&N does notice, you might, as the previous post said, be excluded from the US for a while.
I would not return to university in the US unless and until two things BOTH happen: (i) You have a valid visa; (ii) You are very confident that you will have sufficient financial support through graduation. It sounds like the cost of education is a major factor for your family. University in the US is in most cases very expensive for international students. You should be able to get a very good education elsewhere at a much lower price, with fewer immigration issues.
It appears you’ve been in the US illegally for the past year.
This means it’s going to be much more difficult (if not outright impossible) for you to change your status so you can re-enroll in school.
It will also be much more difficult for you to get another student visa if you leave the country, since you face a 10-year ban due to your illegal year-long stay.
Your options aren’t good. A good immigration attorney will be expensive and, frankly, if you couldn’t pay for school in the US it’s doubtful you can pay for a good lawyer in the US.
I’m sure you’ve heard about the aggressive targeting of illegal immigrants by the new administration. Unless you want to risk spending weeks if not months in a US immigration jail, I would recommend you leave America and pursue your education somewhere more affordable.
Sorry. But that’s the ugly truth.
Where are you? In my area Catholic Charities has volunteer immigration lawyers who can provide basic advice for free.
I’m in Chicago
Cetholic Cheaities has an immigration office in Chicago. For information about that office run a quick google search. For other free immigration services in Chicago, see immigrationadvocates.org