DS-160 form unlawful presence question for ex out of status F1 student

[Trooper]

Hello,

I applied and waiting for the interview for B1\B2 visa for touristic purposes. I'm filling out the DS-160 form.

There is a question there : "Have you ever been unlawfully present, overstayed the amount of time granted by an immigration official or otherwise violated the terms of a U.S. visa?"

I have been to USA for education on F1 visa two times before. On my first visa after completing my studies I returned back to my country. But on my second visa I couldn't pay the tuition of the latest school I transferred to and school told me that they terminated me. According to the rules I believe I fell out of status because of that incident. I went to see an immigration lawyer there and he told me that instead of going back to my country and re-apply to visa there to continue my education it's possible to get back F1 status back by doing reinstatement in the US too. Eventually I found a sponsor but lawyer told me that it was little bit late to do reinstatement. Since there was no way to continue my education there I returned back to my country. I believe I was out of status for 7 months on my departure date from the US. On the airport no immigration officer interviewed me about this when I returned back.

According to the old law (this incident happened around 6.5 years ago) when I entered the country since they stamped duration of status on my passport being out of status doesn't mean that I was unlawful present there. I learned that an immigration judge decides if unlawful presence starts and it's not certain when it happens after being out of status. I don't know if unlawful presence occurred or if I overstayed but I sent a request to USCIS about this and they informed me that there is no inadmissibility , time-bar or deportation order for me. I sent another request if I was unlawfully present there or overstayed and waiting for their response. In case their response doesn't arrive before the interview day how should I answer this question?

Is this question related to my situation? All I know is I was out of status and left the country after a while of felling out of status. I don't know if I overstayed or unlawfully present there.
Should I select YES and explain my situation or is this question not related for an ex out of status F1 Student?

Thank You.
Regards.

[newacct]

"Unlawful presence" never starts just because you are out of status. Based on your description, you almost certainly did not accrue any "unlawful presence". (By the way, there is no "old" or "new" law. There were some proposed changes to the policy but those were struck down by the courts and the rules are still the same today.)

But the question does not just ask about unlawful presence. It also asks about violating the terms of your visa. I believe you did violate the terms of F1, since you did not attend school for 7 months.