How can I visit the USA again?

I lived in the united states illegally as a minor when I moved there with my parents in 2001. I left the US in January 2011 at the age of 19. I overstayed roughly 10 years but only 1 year as an adult over the age of 18. Can I apply for a waiver to visit the USA again?

My father is currently still living in the USA and is now a Resident. He filed an I-130 Aplication for me in October 2017. However I wish to visit to vacation and see my father again after being apart for almost 8 years.

Would this be a problem for my application as in would it mess with it in any way? My dad's lawyer says that the request can take 1-2 years before I can get a residency.

I need more info on how to go about my situation.

Best Answer

Assuming you were in the status in visitor status or any status other than F (student) or J (exchange), you would have gotten an I-94 with a specific date, and staying past that date would subject you to "unlawful presence". However, you do not accrue "unlawful presence" while under 18. So you accrued a little more than a year of "unlawful presence" from when you turned 18, and then left the US, triggering a 10-year ban. This ban will end in January 2021, so you are still under the ban, and need a waiver to enter the US.

Assuming you are not a Canadian citizen, you need to apply for a visitor visa to visit the US. Your visa will be denied, either due to the ban or some other reason (usually the generic reason of "failure to overcome the presumption of immigrant intent"). If your visa is denied only due to the ban and not due to immigrant intent, then the officer will inform you the steps to apply for a nonimmigrant waiver, which will be adjudicated by the same officer. If your visa is denied due to "failure to overcome the presumption of immigrant intent", there is no waiver and there is nothing you can do other than try again. Past overstay is a negative factor in the determination of immigrant intent; also, you are the beneficiary of a pending petition and it is difficult to say what effect that has on the determination of immigrant intent. Applying for a visa won't affect your immigrant petition.

By the way, what you have been told about the "1-2 years before you can get a residency" is wildly incorrect. An unmarried over-21 child of a citizen is in the F1 category which currently has a wait of almost 7 years (from the date the I-130 was filed) for people born in most countries (longer for people born in Mexico or the Philippines). A married child of a citizen is in the F3 category which currently has a wait of more than 12 years for people born in most countries (longer for people born in Mexico or the Philippines). They may be referring to the time the I-130 petition takes to approve; but that time doesn't matter as an approved petition doesn't allow you to proceed -- you also need a visa number to be available for your category and priority date before you can proceed to the next step.