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Illegal with parents who are legal as well as citizens

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LukeOppa

Junior Member
I do not know what to do honestly, and the fact that my parents aren't even thinking of doing something about this really just puts me at a state of disgust.

I was brought here from the Caribbean French Islands at the age of 5, of course through no fault of my own. I attended school like any other kid did and played by the rules.

Fast Forward 13 years and here we are.
I am 18 going possibly nuts. - .-
My parents are both legal citizens of these United States and both have professional jobs.

Here is the Dilemma, reading forums I was told that after you are 18 and stay here this becomes your fault and you are an illegal as an adult. Now if I went back to the Caribbean,

would I be thrown out of this country for possibly 5+ years because I was illegal and entered illegal through no fault of my own?

I certainly could leave, but not to be punished and not come back 10 years later, I hear that my application gets pushed back because of what happened.

Where do I start? I need advice. If I have the wrong information please enlighten me

Can a Good Lawyer, if I find one, help me sort this out?:confused:
 


Just Blue

Senior Member
I do not know what to do honestly, and the fact that my parents aren't even thinking of doing something about this really just puts me at a state of disgust.

I was brought here from the Caribbean French Islands at the age of 5, of course through no fault of my own. I attended school like any other kid did and played by the rules.

Fast Forward 13 years and here we are.
I am 18 going possibly nuts. - .-
My parents are both legal citizens of these United States and both have professional jobs.

Here is the Dilemma, reading forums I was told that after you are 18 and stay here this becomes your fault and you are an illegal as an adult. Now if I went back to the Caribbean,

would I be thrown out of this country for possibly 5+ years because I was illegal and entered illegal through no fault of my own?

I certainly could leave, but not to be punished and not come back 10 years later, I hear that my application gets pushed back because of what happened.

Where do I start? I need advice. If I have the wrong information please enlighten me

Can a Good Lawyer, if I find one, help me sort this out?:confused:
Are you assuming you are not legal? Did you discuss with mom or dad?
 

ImmigAttyLana

Senior Member
On what basis did your parents legalize their status? If they did it correctly, it may very well be that you were included in their process. Can you please clarify your situation?
 

LukeOppa

Junior Member
Thank you kindly for responding,

However I am sure I am not legal because I cannot leave the country, I cannot get into a college if its not a community college. I don't have a Social security, nothing. They both first came here alone legally leaving me with my grandparents, then brought me over as a child but they brought me through the border. There was no paperwork ever done, the year was 1998.

We have discussed this.
They came on a visa, my father and mother.
became permanent residents and are now citizens

Correct me if I am wrong, but are you guys suggesting there shouldn't be a problem legalizing me? or am I going to have to leave the country for 5+ years because I was here Illegaly and came in illegaly


Generally when they naturalize the parents, the children are also taken care of. Are you sure that no one took care of you legally?
100% sure, I am not legal.
 
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ImmigAttyLana

Senior Member
It seems to make very little sense that your parents brought you here illegally if they themselves came here legally and became citizens. However, if that is the case and you were brought into the US unlawfully and are now over the age of 18, there is no way for you to legalize your status within the US under the current immigration laws. You would need to depart the US and go to your home country but as soon as you depart, you would automatically trigger a 10 year bar to reentry which can only be waived by a showing of extreme hardship to a US citizen spouse or child.

If you were going to do this, then the time to have done this was BEFORE you turned 18 as you would then NOT have accrued unlawful time and could have easily processed overseas. Now, however, if you are already 18, there is nothing you can do within the US. You can wait for laws to possibly change or risk being out of the country for 10 years since you don't have the grounds for a waiver based on your story.

I cannot understand why your parents would have done this to you, really. IT is very unfortunate.
 

LukeOppa

Junior Member
It seems to make very little sense that your parents brought you here illegally if they themselves came here legally and became citizens. However, if that is the case and you were brought into the US unlawfully and are now over the age of 18, there is no way for you to legalize your status within the US under the current immigration laws. You would need to depart the US and go to your home country but as soon as you depart, you would automatically trigger a 10 year bar to reentry which can only be waived by a showing of extreme hardship to a US citizen spouse or child.

If you were going to do this, then the time to have done this was BEFORE you turned 18 as you would then NOT have accrued unlawful time and could have easily processed overseas. Now, however, if you are already 18, there is nothing you can do within the US. You can wait for laws to possibly change or risk being out of the country for 10 years since you don't have the grounds for a waiver based on your story.

I cannot understand why your parents would have done this to you, really. IT is very unfortunate.

According to Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”) section 212(a)(9)(B)(i) “any alien (other than an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence) who: (I) was unlawfully present in the United States for a period of more than 180 days but less than 1 year, voluntarily departed the United States (whether or not pursuant to section 244(e) prior to the commencement of proceedings under section 235(b)(1) or section 240, and again seeks admission within 3 years of the date of such alien's departure or removal, or (II) has been unlawfully present in the United States for one year or more, and who again seeks admission within 10 years of the date of such alien's departure or removal from the United States, is inadmissible.”


I have about 5 months before it's year (180-year) of over stay since I turned 18 last september, if I leave now I have not piled up a year of over stay correct?. Am I safe to conclude that if I attend court now and tell this to a judge, that I want to leave voluntarily, do you think I am still going to get the 10 year bar? or is it the 3? of course it's on the judge, however I need to know if there is a chance.

My parents became citizens when I was already here, not too long ago in fact and I had no choice before 18, I was focused on high school at the time, and my parents didn't clearly explain what everything meant.

All I feel is depressed, angry and discouraged.
It's like I don't even belong anywhere and I'm such a talented person :(
/sigh
what to do....
 

ImmigAttyLana

Senior Member
If you've been unlawfully present for 6 months, you automatically trigger the 3 year bar to reentry if you depart the US. TALK TO YOUR PARENTS!!!! Understand if they ever did anything about your status before you do anything else! It doesn't matter if you are now over 18 and are an adult. If your parents have information that might help you, YOU NEED TO FIND OUT!
 

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