I have questions about admissions regarding my status. I am currently E-2 visa and attending California Community College. My E-2 Visa expires this December which will leave me with no status. However, I am applying for Green Card and F-1 by December. The lawyer told me that F-1 will likely be denied due to application of Green Card. Thus, I will be left with I-485 pending residency for Green Card as my status.
My question is, is it possible to attend school possibly this upcoming 2019 spring semester and with I-485 pending of Green Card?
I currently have 55 UC transferable credit and I need to have at least 60 UC transferable credit by this spring to be able to transfer.
Also, if I do not have I-485 or F-1 visa by registration date for 2019 Spring semester, is there any way to attend school for spring semester?
*I have lived in United States since 2006 and I believe I meet the requirement for AB540. However, with the I-485 I believe I do not qualify for AB540.
Has anyone been in similar situation and has advise on what to do?
Thank you in advance
Is your AOS guaranteed though? You will be an overstay if that isn't squared away. You would be a big risk even as a full pay international in a UC. What is the expiry date on your 194? Your lawyer is on top of your AOS?
You should direct these questions to your community college. At the end of the day, it’s up to the community college to decide whether you can enroll and to classify you as a resident or nonresident for tuition purposes.
The general consensus is that individuals in I-485 pending status can study, but there doesn’t seem to be a federal law saying that explicitly. (I-485 pending is technically not even a real immigration status. The law just says that individuals with a pending I-485 petition are not removable while that petition is pending. However, should the I-485 petition be denied, all time in I-485 pending status is considered unlawful presence.)
Yes, you are eligible to attend college under your I-485 adjustment pending status. You do not need a GC to go to college, in fact some undocumented immigrants attend college in the US also. As long as you are able to pay - of course you won’t be eligible for federal financial assistance until you have your permanent resident status.
Also are you the child of an E2 or are you an adult student (over 21?)? Is your E2 not renewable? If not, why not? It seems worrying about school is cart and horse. If you have the cash to splash on your own lawyer rather than filing an extension,is it about money or legal status? Applying for your adjustment “by December” means it isn’t even started?
Since the OP has graduated from a CA high school (AB 540) and is currently in the second year of community college, it is highly likely that the OP is an E-2 dependent and will soon age out of status. The parent’s E-2 renewal wouldn’t do him/her any good.
It is customary for employers to hire a lawyer to assist with employment-based immigration petitions.
Even if this petition was not employment-based, it would be prudent to consult with a lawyer in this case. Too many moving pieces that an ill-executed immigration petition or adjustment of status application could interrupt (e.g. leading to a gap in employment authorization for the E-2 worker).
@Sybylla Yes, what @“b@r!um” said is correct. I am E-2 dependent and will soon age out of status this December which is my 21st birthday. I can no longer renew E-2 visa under my parent. It is mainly about legal status but we are hoping I can attend school during this limbo stage with the least financial burden as possible that we can afford.
@paul2752
To tell the full story, the lawyer has advised us to apply for F-1 visa despite the likeliness to be denied with pending Permanent Resident I-485 to have back up plan if Green Card gets denied. To answer your question, the basis for applying Green Card would be my E-2 Visa but it will expire during the pending of Green Card.
I believe what @“b@r!um” said is true about having no status while I-485 is pending.
“The general consensus is that individuals in I-485 pending status can study, but there doesn’t seem to be a federal law saying that explicitly. (I-485 pending is technically not even a real immigration status. The law just says that individuals with a pending I-485 petition are not removable while that petition is pending. However, should the I-485 petition be denied, all time in I-485 pending status is considered unlawful presence.)”
@hpcsa @“b@r!um” Thank you for the information.
Yes, my worries are if I am able to attend school with I-485 my tuition will be same as international student with not being eligible for any federal financial aid. However, like what @“b@r!um” said I am hoping I can attend school with California Resident tuition or even better with AB540 if I qualify.
Having an adjustment of status is a status though, my question is what happens if your application isn’t actually in by the time your visa expires? When are you actually filing? Why not yesterday for example? When was your f1 application filed? It seems to me you risk being an overstay…
Being out of status for a brief period wouldn’t be catastrophic. The OP can (probably) file for adjustment of status as long as s/he is out of status for no more than 180 days as of the filing date [INA 245(k)].
I got the impression that the OP and their lawyer are aware of the urgency of the situation, and there’s probably a good reason not to file the adjustment of status right now. Maybe the parents need to renew their E-2 status first before filing AOS to avoid a gap in work authorization. Maybe the I-140 petition hasn’t been approved yet. Maybe they are still collecting the supporting documents for the AOS application (English-language versions of foreign birth certificates, police records, etc).
That’s clever!
One word of caution about the F-1 application. In order to apply for a change of status to F-1, you’ll have to request an I-20 from your community college. At that point your community college might reclassify you as an out-of-state student because F-1 students are generally barred from in-state tuition eligibility in California. I don’t know how your community college would handle the concurrent application for a change of status to F-1 and application to adjust status.
Small and moderate-sized businesses hire immigration lawyers too.
My impression about how common that is might be biased because it’s based on a German-language immigration forum. German investors might do the E-2 paperwork themselves but almost always hire outside council for EB immigration petitions (either for themselves or for their employees). I wouldn’t be surprised if E-2 investors from other countries might do a different risk-reward calculation and choose to proceed without a lawyer more often.