Question on : "Proof of residence for 5 years"
 

Hello,


I satisfy all the conditions of the Dream Act but I have a question on this part:

"Proof of residence in the United States for a least five (5) consecutive years since their date of arrival"

I arrived in the US when I was 10, I'm 23 now - but throughout the last 13 years I have left the country for vacations/family meetings and come back. I have always been in status (either as a child on my Father's H1B visa, or as a child on a E2 investor visa). Basically my question is: do you start counting the time you are resident based on your last i-94 (which would be 2 years) or from your FIRST entry date. It would be easy to prove I have been living here since I attended high school and college here all full time. I don't want to get my hopes up for the Dream Act only to have them ding me on a technicality but it's happened before...

Any input is appreciated, Thanks!

Edit: To clarify, some of my background: my VISA is currently expired, but my i94 is still good (expires soon) - so I know I have to leave the country pretty soon - within 180 days if I'm correct. I aged out of my parents green card application which finally went through.

Re: Question on : "Proof of residence for 5 years"
 

I found this:

"IN GENERAL- An alien shall be considered to have failed to maintain
continuous physical presence in the United States under subsection (a) if the
alien has departed from the United States for any period in excess of 90
days or for any periods in the aggregate exceeding 180 days."


So it seems like I would be okay...

Still appreciate any input.
Thanks

Re: Question on : "Proof of residence for 5 years"
 

Hi ejgejgejg,Why would you leave when there is still the possibility of getting your green card under your Parent's application if your name was on the original I-485 ?

Aren't you covered under CSPA ?

Re: Question on : "Proof of residence for 5 years"
 

I have not heard of CSPA before... Let me look into it and forward it to my Dad.

Re: Question on : "Proof of residence for 5 years"
 

Unfortunately, the CSPA has an age-freeze calculation you have to meet. That means your "visa" age is frozen depending on when your parents filed for I-140. Same thing happen to me. But the case as most cases are is that the age-freeze calculation does not help much if your father has not filed his I-140. As a result, many of us simply age out.

Another bad news is that the bill seems to only cover undocumented students...The two words to look for in the text of the bill is "inadmissible" and "deportable" So if you are a legal dreamie like me then I don't know if we will actually get covered by this bill. Let me open up a thread inviting all legal dreamies to discuss....

Re: Question on : "Proof of residence for 5 years"
 

You still qualify. No one knows for sure how USCIS is going to handle legal dreamers but IT DOES NOT MATTER because the worst that can happen is they tell you to wait to apply until your current visa expires. Again, I doubt this will happen and they will process legal dreamers paperwork normally because USCIS isn't stupid and real humans work there who do not want to look at the same application twice, they will more than likely approve you the first time around when you are still in status.

Re: Question on : "Proof of residence for 5 years"
 

Yeah It'll just be an adjustment of status from whatever visa u have to conditional residence.