Adam

Here is the story.

I'm emploeed in Poland in a big Internet Company. A year ago i was
sent to US to work on project collaborated with other Company from NY.
Since i'm from Poland i need a visa to cross US border for any reason.
I got B1 visa valid for 10 years. And i went to US.

On the air port i got a stamp sayin' that i can stay 3 months in US.
Basicly i was sepouse to stay couple of weeks. But the project
extended beyond expected schedule and my polish company asked me to
stay a bit longer to finish the things up.

At the time i wasn't aware about US immigration policy and the fact
i'm able to stay only 3 months! (it was the first time i got to US i
didn't realy know anything about it at that point ) I overstayed more
then 3months ( but less then 180days ).

I went back to Poland for a conference. Talk to the company lawyer
about my situation. He advice me to have a letters from those two
companies (Polish and NewYork) backing me up if Immigration services
will have any problems with letting me inside the US. I got those
papers and after some time i went back to NY to finalize the project.
But they didn't let me through. They claimed that since i overstayed
my visa is no longer valid (they cancel it). And they adviced me to go
back to get a new one. So i decided to go back to the embassy to get a
new one - but when only the embassy officer saw i got one canceled he
denayed givigng me another one.

Now after all those problems there was a lot of confusion in the
company but after all i'm not in charge this project any more - the
project was passed to another person.

My question is about the future - how does my overstaying affect me ?
Can I've any problems of getting H1B in the future (since the company
i was cooperating with during my staying in states want to hire me
after my contract with polish company will expire. ) What are the real
law consequences - for example if i would win a GreenCard lottery or
sth like that - can i have problems becouse of the things that
happened ?

thanks.
Adam

Michael E. Piston

The consequences of an overstay depend on how long you overstayed and
what kind of visa you apply for in the future.

If you overstayed less than 180 days then you are not automatically
disqualified from obtaining visas in the future but, as you have
experienced, it is an adverse factor, particularly for visas like B, J
or F which require evidence that one does not intend to immigrate to
the U.S. It should be less of an obstacle in applying for an H-1B or
immigrant visa since these visas do not require that you prove that
you do not intend to immigrate to the U.S. so prior overstays of less
than 180 days should not be strictly relevant.

If you overstayed more than 180 days then you are barred for at least
3 years from applying for any visa without a waiver. If you overstayed
1 year or more you are barred from applying for any visa for 10 years
without a waiver.

Michael E. Piston
Attorney at Law
Michael E. Piston P.C.
4000 Livernois Ste 110
Troy, MI 48098
248/680-0600
Direct fax: 206/770-6350

The statements above have not been confirmed by legal research, and
are not intended as legal advice nor to create an attorney-client
relationship.SEND ANY FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS DIRECTLY TO
. DO NOT POST FOLLOW-UPS TO THE NEWSGROUP.




(Adam) wrote in message news:<>...
    > Here is the story.
    >
    > I'm emploeed in Poland in a big Internet Company. A year ago i was
    > sent to US to work on project collaborated with other Company from NY.
    > Since i'm from Poland i need a visa to cross US border for any reason.
    > I got B1 visa valid for 10 years. And i went to US.
    >
    > On the air port i got a stamp sayin' that i can stay 3 months in US.
    > Basicly i was sepouse to stay couple of weeks. But the project
    > extended beyond expected schedule and my polish company asked me to
    > stay a bit longer to finish the things up.
    >
    > At the time i wasn't aware about US immigration policy and the fact
    > i'm able to stay only 3 months! (it was the first time i got to US i
    > didn't realy know anything about it at that point ) I overstayed more
    > then 3months ( but less then 180days ).
    >
    > I went back to Poland for a conference. Talk to the company lawyer
    > about my situation. He advice me to have a letters from those two
    > companies (Polish and NewYork) backing me up if Immigration services
    > will have any problems with letting me inside the US. I got those
    > papers and after some time i went back to NY to finalize the project.
    > But they didn't let me through. They claimed that since i overstayed
    > my visa is no longer valid (they cancel it). And they adviced me to go
    > back to get a new one. So i decided to go back to the embassy to get a
    > new one - but when only the embassy officer saw i got one canceled he
    > denayed givigng me another one.
    >
    > Now after all those problems there was a lot of confusion in the
    > company but after all i'm not in charge this project any more - the
    > project was passed to another person.
    >
    > My question is about the future - how does my overstaying affect me ?
    > Can I've any problems of getting H1B in the future (since the company
    > i was cooperating with during my staying in states want to hire me
    > after my contract with polish company will expire. ) What are the real
    > law consequences - for example if i would win a GreenCard lottery or
    > sth like that - can i have problems becouse of the things that
    > happened ?
    >
    > thanks.
    > Adam

Adam

ok thanks,

it is kind of relief to hear that. I overstayed less then 180 days and
in the future i will not be interested in non-immigrant visas.

i realy appreciate your response

Best,
Adam