Applying for Marriage Green Card almost 10 years after overstaying visa

[kishalay]

I have an unusual case and require help regarding this. My wife recently got approval for an EB1 green card. We have been married since 2011.

I am currently in India. I was there in the US for 14 years and returned to India in 2014 due to family related issues. I was on a F1 visa while there. My last year, I forgot to renew my I-94 before it expired (the family related issues had put me in tremendous stress and I had missed the deadline).

My wife stayed back in the US and worked on her postdoc. She has recently gotten approval for an EB1 green card. I had not gotten on the green card application because I didn't want to complicate her case. My question is this.

If I apply for a marriage green card in 2024 (10 years after I had returned to India), are there any complications? I had heard that all visa violations become moot after 10 years. Is this true?

[newacct]

If you were in F1 status, you had "D/S" on your I-94 and not a date. Therefore, your I-94 did not need to be (and cannot) be "renewed". Since you had "D/S" on your I-94, you almost certainly did not accrue any "unlawful presence", and thus almost certainly did not trigger a ban when you left the US, no matter how many years you may have been out of status. If you have no ban, you should be able to get an immigrant visa at any time if eligible.

[kishalay]

The "D/S" designation was on the F1 visa, not the I-94 which is tied to the university and has a deadline and must be current. I had extended it by an year, the previous academic year but forgot to do so in 2014. That put me in violation. My question is, that were I to apply for the Family Green Card 10 years after the last date I was out-of-status, will it have any implications?

[newacct]

The "D/S" designation was on the F1 visa, not the I-94 which is tied to the university and has a deadline and must be current. I had extended it by an year, the previous academic year but forgot to do so in 2014. That put me in violation. My question is, that were I to apply for the Family Green Card 10 years after the last date I was out-of-status, will it have any implications?

No. The "D/S" is on your I-94. You might be thinking about I-20 instead.

Being out of status does not mean you accrue "unlawful presence". Since there was no date on your I-94, you generally do not accrue unlawful presence, and thus did not have an unlawful presence ban. Since you have no ban, you can get an immigrant visa at any time. You do not have to wait any number of years.

[kishalay]

Sorry, You are absolutely correct. I was talking about my I-20 (almost 10 years ago and that was a very challenging time for me). My I-20 had expired and I had not renewed it as I should have the last year I was in the US. If you still think this was not a violation, that would be absolutely great news for me.

[newacct]

Sorry, You are absolutely correct. I was talking about my I-20 (almost 10 years ago and that was a very challenging time for me). My I-20 had expired and I had not renewed it as I should have the last year I was in the US. If you still think this was not a violation, that would be absolutely great news for me.

You did violate F1 status, but violation of status does not cause a ban. You did not accrue "unlawful presence", and that's what matters for the ban.

[kishalay]

Thank you for your help. Greatly appreciate it.