Immigration Option Question

[alfred russel]

A more reasonable course of action might be for her to move to a state that gives illegals drivers' licenses.  No one is being deported right now unless you kill someone.  Things are not likely to change if Hill gets elected.  I know California gives illegals licenses.  There must be others.

Won't solve the problem of not being able to prove a legal right to work in the US. I doubt she wants to go get a landscaping job.

On top of that, she has lived in Atlanta for 16 years. Apart from this now being her home, any chance she has to get quality under the table work is probably in Atlanta.

I'd offer to help her out, but I don't think there is anything i can do. No one here or in real life seems to be optimistic there is some great legal avenue available that a lawyer could help her with. Any other assistance just kicks the can down the road.

[CountDeMoney]

The advice to marry a woman so she can stay in the country seems absurdly shortsighted. So she marries me to get a green card and then once she does what happens?

Contrary to popular belief, citizenship is not something that is doled out all willy-nilly;  it is earned.  And she would earn it by paying for that citizenship every day. 

Oh yes, she would pay.

[Siege]

There is this woman I sort of know from Indonesia (of Chinese descent) who has lived in the US for 16 years but apparently needs to go back. I was speaking with her over the weekend, and this is what she told me:

-she came here for college 16 years ago
-she has been through a few different careers, most recently as a pastry chef
-her last employer would not sponsor a continued work visa for her
-her work visa expired in December
-she no longer has a valid visa and she can't do things like renew her driver's license (her license has expired)
-she lost her job when her visa expired
-she has gotten ill at night at the thought of having to go back to indonesia because she has been here so long

So...does she have options, or is she totally screwed and needs to go back to Indonesia?

She needs to get the fuck out.

She is taking the jobs of law abiding Americans.

[OttoVonBismarck]

I mean you guys know I went from DoD to ICE like 5 years ago right? It sounds like you're telling me you know someone who has violated American immigration law by overstaying an expired visa.

[Razgovory]

The advice to marry a woman so she can stay in the country seems absurdly shortsighted. So she marries me to get a green card and then once she does what happens?

Contrary to popular belief, citizenship is not something that is doled out all willy-nilly;  it is earned.  And she would earn it by paying for that citizenship every day. 

Oh yes, she would pay.

Okay, so she marries Seedy.  Everyone is happy.  As a bonus, as a rock climber, she could potentially climb out of any pit that CdM throws her down.

[CountDeMoney]

I mean you guys know I went from DoD to ICE like 5 years ago right? It sounds like you're telling me you know someone who has violated American immigration law by overstaying an expired visa.

I'm sure there are more than enough apple orchard raids to keep your Swingline busy, El Deportes Maximo.

[alfred russel]

I mean you guys know I went from DoD to ICE like 5 years ago right? It sounds like you're telling me you know someone who has violated American immigration law by overstaying an expired visa.

I do.

So...do you have any advice for how she can remedy her status and stay in the country legally?

[OttoVonBismarck]

Heh, but seriously without being an immigration lawyer my understanding is under current law she's fucked in terms of legal employment at most non-shitty jobs (i.e., companies that are going to do the I-9 process and not keep someone on staff on the down low) and also fucked in terms of fixing her immigration status.

I'm guessing she came in on a student visa and then probably was able to get a H1-B and then later an EB-3 type visa as a skilled worker with a degree, the thing is the H1-B and the EB-3 are dual-intent and immigrant preference visas respectively, so she could've been going through the long and very difficult permanent residency process while she was on the visas, and over a span of 16 years she certainly would've gotten through that process. Plus at a certain point in the process I believe you become eligible for further extensions to your stay and work permits as well. Unless a large part of the 16 years was on a long student visa, then I could be off a good bit on the timeline. But either way she fucked up, once the visa expires and you don't leave the system just isn't set up to legally give you a new visa until you actually leave the country.

Going into a field where her employer wasn't willing to be a visa sponsor was frankly, unwise. Not working through the permanent residency process (which takes 6-7 years-ish depending) was also frankly, unwise--maybe we would even say dumb.

All that being said, she's been working in restaurants, which are infamous for employing people who are here illegally, so she can probably find another restaurant job in Atlanta to make ends meet. I would say given the political climate she could resign herself to "running out the clock" for awhile, maybe 5-6 years, maybe 10, and it's likely we'll have done an amnesty or something that improves her legal situation. If we don't do an amnesty ala Reagan I suspect we'll have made some more formalized and accepted illegal-->legal visa status available, and that may happen sooner rather than later. Someone without a criminal history and an advanced degree may even get a preference in that process once/if it comes online.

If she literally cannot find work and can't support herself here her options are basically going to be going back to Indonesia and applying through the visa lottery, with a college degree and work experience she'd probably eventually get in, but the backlog is years, so she'd need to accept living in Indonesia for 5+ years.

[OttoVonBismarck]

And here's the reality where I'm going to rely on the fact nothing I say here can be traced back to me, use it at your own risk.

There are States where she can get a driver's license (this has been mentioned), this is 1/2 of what she needs to get past the I-9 process. I don't believe she has any good options in Atlanta, states like Maryland and California will issue her a driver's license with a valid foreign passport, Maryland at least I know also requires two years of Maryland tax returns (which she won't have.) I'm not sure off hand if California's policy is more liberal. Anyway with a driver's license she has a List B item for the I-9, and now needs a List-C item. The item she would get is a birth certificate. So if you've ever seen a birth certificate you may be aware that it is the most easily forged document from List-C. Additionally she may be able to find record of a person with her exact name who was born in the United States, and get a copy of that raised seal birth certificate and use it in the I-9. The not too hidden reality is the stuff submitted with I-9s isn't really vetted too much.

I don't know of any easy option for her in ATL/GA, and what I describe above isn't necessarily easy.

[Admiral Yi]

I mean you guys know I went from DoD to ICE like 5 years ago right? It sounds like you're telling me you know someone who has violated American immigration law by overstaying an expired visa.

I thought you were at Treasury.

[alfred russel]

OvB, you are a good guy. 

[Valmy]

OvB, you are a good guy. 

And they say we are nothing but a bunch of degenerate low lifes.