Visa

[Kate-kate]

Hi
I am petitioning my parent, in the same time I have my teenage sister visiting me, now my question is: if her I-94 expired and she did not return, will that effect my parents case???
Please help.
Thank you

[inadmissible]

Is your the parent you are petitioning a parent of your teenage sister?

Are your parents already present in the United States?

Are you a US citizen, or are you a US permanent resident?

Assuming you are a citizen, and everyone is related, no, your sisters overstay will not affect your parents adjustment of status.

Your sister overstaying her visa will seriously mess up her future in the United States, but that is not a question you asked about. It will be at least six years before she can get legal status, assuming that in the intervening period she doesn't get deported or something bad happens to your parent.

[Kate-kate]

Yes, I am a U.S. citizen and my parents are overseas right now, but my sister is here in U.S. on a visit visa.
Why my sister's future will me messed up if she over stayed?

[inadmissible]

Hi Kate, that is a good question.

I should have asked what your sisters future plans are, what the end-game is here. But given that her big sis lives here, and you're trying to get your parents permanent residency here, I jumped to the conclusion that her long term aspirations involve living here in the United States. At the very least, she does not want to irrevocably forfeit the opportunity to live in the United States.

As a practical matter, if she overstays her B visa, she will never be able to gain admission under her B visa ever again.

During the period she ovestays her visa, she is removable, which is their fancy term of saying that she can be deported anywhere anytime.

If she overstays by less than 180 days, she will not be denied under the law, but border agents will exercise their discretion in a manner unfavorable to your sister. If she overstays by 180 days or more then she is barred by statute, and border agents do not even have the the discretion to grant her re- admission for 3 years. If she overstays by 365 days, it is a 10 year bar.

These bars apply only if she leaves, either voluntarily, or when she gets deported. She has another alternative, she can wait for an immigrant visa to become available to her, and then she can apply for adjustment of status on the basis of an immediate relative alien petition.

Who can file an immediate relative petition for her? Not you, you are her sister. Her parents can some day when they become citizens, and her future spouse can.

I said six years in my previous message because it usually takes a year to get immigrant visas for your parents, and then they have to wait 5 years before they can apply for naturalization.

Your sister will have to stick it out for those six years, hope she does not get deported, and get by without being able to get a job.

The good news is her deportation risk is fairly low these days. There are fifteen million aliens unlawfully present in the country, and they only deport three-quarter of a million aliens a year. They have to prioritize their limited resources.

I myself overstayed my visa for four years, at which point I got a call from an ICE agent, telling me he had my file on his desk. He said he my file was "under a big pile of case files", and if there was some way for me to get status I should do so, " to make things easier for both of us". My story has a happy ending but not every alien is so lucky. The ICE agent called me in my unlisted prepaid cellphone, so I have no doubt their investigative technology will help them find any alien they really want to track down.