Just another name on the list.

Hey guys!

My name is Michael. I'm originally from Venezuela. I'm 17.5ish and I'm currently a junior in high school.

My family [My mother, sister, and myself] came to the US when I was 10 [back in 2004]. My oldest brother lived here and he is a US Citizen. I started going to school completely oblivious to any sort of legal anything.

Petitions were filed once. There was a problem with our address and the cases were dismissed because all the letters were returned.

Petitions were filed a second time through some organization thing that's meant to "help immigrants." Before my mother received her GC, my sister and myself received a date for our interview. [Apparently my brother was petitioning for my mother who was then petitioning for us]. Since my mother wasn't a permanent resident yet, the woman who was "helping" us told us not to go to the interview because we'd be deported. I received my Working Permit with a mistake in the spelling of my name. We sent it back to be fixed and decided not to go to the interview.

Our cases were dismissed and my working permit was never returned because we didn't go to the interview.

About... 2-3 years back my mother and sister went to a lawyer. He filed our I-130 and last year it was approved. We were so happy! But now we're stuck. It's been almost 7 years since we arived in this country. We overstayed our 6 month time period.

We are not granted amnesty because my mother is not a US Citizen. She will be eligible in about 2 years. As of now, our case is frozen. It is said to resume once my mother becomes a citizen. I am starting my Junior year of high school and have begun to look into going to college. This is very hard for me, because we are not in a gret financial palce right now [who is?] and tuition is... pretty expensive. We live in NJ so there's not state DREAM Act for us.

I'm hoping to get scholarships to cover the costs. I'm hoping to find any scholarships that are avaiable to us, the dreamers. I am hoping to be able to attend college and finally adjust my status so my degree won't be just another piece of paper.

It's tough to deal with this situation, mostly because we have the stress of having little money. [My mom won't quit complaining about it]. However, I'm not giving up. Every time I tell someone in my family what I'm going to do with my life they say "okay" in disbelief, but I'm going to prove them wrong. I guess life is not about the opportinities that come to you, but those that you make for yourself.

Oh yeah! I just signed up today. I'd been checking out the forums and news for the past month or two and decided I should make an acount and join everyone

Don't give up, apply to college, particularly private universities. They tend to have more private resources and scholarships that undocumented students are able to apply to. I graduated from a high school in Florida, now I attend a university in Illinois.

Even after they accept you and they give you scholarships, it might be a good idea to appeal, particularly considering your status and the limitations that you have towards getting any other kinds of resources, it might not result in much, but I have heard of a few cases that were particularly successful, including my own. 4 years in this university, I thought I was the only one and never sought help, took a leave of absence, and this semester I finally appealed my tuition after I started telling a few people in some departments about my status and learned there was a special process for me to appeal I was not aware of because I never told anyone about my status, and this semester is covered, next semester, is not, but the cost of my education has decreased to a level where it might actually be possible for me to not have to rely on another loan.

Apply, don't give up, and if you have any other more specific questions you can ask them here or you can ask me.

Regardless, your chances are very good, if your mom can indeed apply for citizenship in 2 years and gets USC status before your turn 21.

One thing that I learned when my parents where being petition by my sister is that you should consult several lawyers, they tend to give the first consultation for free and you can get a lot of information from them in that case, research the lawyers. We went through almost a dozen lawyers before we settled on one, along the way we found some whom had we followed their advice my parents would be in a different country unnecessarily, or their case could have been jeopardized or take longer than necessary.

Thank you so much for that! This has made me want to move on so much more. I am really set on showing people that you set your own limits, because there are ways around these "issues" if you really work for them. Thanks a ton!