Bergen County parents of undocumented children may want to take note of the challenges a star high school student encountered when she missed an immigration deadline by one day. The student was fortunate to have been granted a visa waiver that allowed her to reenter the United States legally and attend her high school graduation. Thanks to the waiver, she received an immigration visa and will now qualify to apply for permanent resident status.
The student's father was a naturalized United States citizen, but the student herself was not a legal immigrant. Immigration law provides that persons who have been in the country unlawfully for more than 180 days are subject to a three-year ban against lawful admission. The law only applies to periods of unlawful presence by persons over 18 years of age.
When the student turned 18, she was required to leave the United States within 180 days in order to avoid the three-year ban against lawful admission. The student traveled to Mexico to apply for legal admission at the office of the United States consulate. When she did, she discovered that she had left the United States a day too late and would be subject to the three-year admission ban.
Working with her legal team (not affiliated with this firm), the student applied for a waiver of inadmissibility. Immigration law authorizes a waiver of the ban against admissibility in cases in which denying admission would cause extreme hardship to a lawful resident spouse or parent. The student's waiver request was granted, and she was able to return to the United States in time to attend her high school graduation.
Although this case had a happy ending for the homecoming queen, it illustrates how critical immigration deadlines can be in order to avoid denial of legal status. New Jersey residents who are concerned about undocumented children approaching their eighteenth birthdays will benefit from a solid understanding of immigration law and the procedures for establishing legal residency once a child reaches adulthood.
Source: CNN, "Indiana student returning home from Mexico after visa mix-up," Jack Maddox and Nick Valencia, May 31, 2012
Source: indystar.com, "Elizabeth Olivas gains visa to return for graduation," John Tuohy, May 31, 2012
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