Am I screwed?

Question

I went to the US on a tourist Visa (b1/b2) and I attended a public school for 5 months.

Now its time for my visa interview to get another visa.

Im afraid their gonna ask me "why did you attend a public school on a tourist visa" and barr me forever even thou I didnt overstay.

its just that I had no choice


am I screwed? anything I can say to get my self out of it? any excuses or anything?

I need to come to take my Ap exams....

My Sister was my guardian, shes a US citizen and Paid P.G. county taxes and I obtained residency under her.

Answer 1

Yes, you are pretty much screwed. You are not allowed to attend school on a tourist visa; you are not allowed to attend public school at all unless you have applied for a student visa AND are paying tuition. Tuition cannot be waived:
http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/temp/ty...

Origen is wrong, by the way; you cannot attend school in the US on a tourist visa legally, period.

How to get out of this mess? Someone needs to pay the school now - even if they insist they don't want it, etc - for the classes you did attend, get you an I-20, and then you go and apply for the visa you should have requested in the first place.

During your interview, it might be helpful to plead total ignorance, and apologize a lot now that you know that what you did was extremely illegal.

Answer 2

Maybe you should have looked at your sister sponsoring your for a permanent residence card. Provided she is a US citizen she could have sponsored you and you would not have any restrictions on school or working here. It would probably take you a lot longer to get than a regular tourist visa but would make things easier. If you are here in the US now on a tourist visa you can file a change of status Form I-485 after your sister files an I-130.

Still, I am not sure what you should answer if you get a difficult question like that. Doing things the right way the first time may take longer and be more expensive but in a situation like this you would have been better off.

Answer 3

Well, you probably broke the law. In most cases, the public school should have received full reimbursement from you or your family for the time you spent in school. Public school isn't really free, and if you don't pay US taxes, you should reimburse us for the cost of your having gone to school here. And how did you get into school without an F-1 visa or some other documents?

At this point, you should get an immigration lawyer to help you, and cross your fingers.

Answer 4

You should not have attended school on a tourist visa. You won't be barred forever. Most likely 3 to 5 years.

If I were in your shoes I'd do exactly what Doghorsemom said in her answer.

Answer 5

Americans don't pay taxes for some tourists to attend their schools. So it seems like you are screwed.
Be honest during the interview and explain your situation, I think you can still have a chance.

Answer 6

From what I understand, Public Schools in USA are the ONLY ones offering a Foreign Exchange student program.

I went to private school where there was no such thing. Public schools are supported by tax base of community. No shame in that! The school is as good as the neighborhood its in.

Some private Catholic schools have teachers without university degrees (nuns, etc) teaching. Public School teachers all must be acredited and have a 4+ year college degree.

Answer 7

Dude, don't listen to anyone else. Go see an immigration specialist.

My guess is you are straight since international students with tourist visas can stay up to 12 months in public school provided it was high school or elementary school (after 1996, international students are prohibited from attending grades K-8).

If you worked during the time period, you're SOL.

Answer 8

if the screw head is flush with the exterior,drill the pinnacle off the screw,get rid of the outer steel piece,then attempt a vice grips on the shaft.if the steel products are steel,you are able to warmth them with a torch to loosen the screw shaft. frequently eliminating the screw head and the outer plate takes the rigidity off the shaft of the screw.

Answer 9

I am not very familiar with the laws but it does not seem that you did anything wrong. So what that you went to school. I dont see any problem there. I dont know tho maybe the government does. But you can tell them i wanted to see how American Schools were and the education they provide.
Good luck

Answer 10

Don't say that you didn't have a choice. You did, and you made a bad one. The only thing you can do is tell the truth. Anything less than that, or even if they think you are lying and it is bye,bye baby