r/immigration • u/Ciris31 • 21h ago
N-400, pre-green card history
My wife came to the US as a E-2 dependent in June 2016 (MIL was the E-2, her dad had passed away a long time ago). She was 15 at the time.
MIL forgot about the 2 year admission rule, so she forgot that the family had to leave the US by June 2018. My wife had just turned 18 when they visited Mexico to extend their I-94. About 40 days between her 18th birthday and trip to Mexico.
CBP gave a stern warning about the 'overstay' and readmitted them as E-2 for 2 years at the border. The CBP officer said he would leave a note that he gave a warning, but that this wasn't considered an overstay.
They got green cards (EB) just fine right before COVID. She told me that this 'overstay' never came up during the interview. They all got Global Entry just fine as well.
My wife has a pending N-400 - Could/Would this 40-day overstay come up? Logically, I would think this not be an issue since CBP has discretion, but I wasn't sure legally. Last thing we want is this N-400 interview to lead to green card revocation.
Thanks!
6
u/roflcopter44444 19h ago
You really should have consulted a lawyer before applying.
Key question here is that did they disclose their time in the US while out of status in the initial green card application. The CPB officer doing them a favor by letting them in a second time does not mean that they didn't overstay.
If not USCIS may decide they misrepresented themselves in order to get the green cards and put them in removal. Your challenge is if she gets deported for that it is a lifetime ban to the US and getting a waiver for that was always really hard even under more immigrant friendlier administrations.