New + Seeking advice...

Hello everyone, i assume you guys are much more educated then me as to what is to prospectively happen in the future...long story short, i came here while i was younger ('93 i think?), over stayed visa, asylum denied due to a lawyer basically copying information on everyones case. There fore do have problems and undoc...However the only twist is...i would say i am luckier than others who are considered undoc simply because my parents have licenses, and siblings (including i) have SS (not valid without work auth, which we dont have). However we do pay federal taxes blah blah...

So here is my problem...im about to go to college in NY, and have been accepted to one of the best universities in NYC (not going to be specific but think near NYU but not as highly ranked)...so were talking top 80 unviersity nationally. They fail to give me aid because its private and i am considered an international....my parents are coming up with the money to pay for it but i do want to go with the eventual hope of becoming a doctor one day. I feel that if i go here it will help prepare me, the only problem is that my parents would only be able to support me for 4 years assuming no status change. So....do you guys think i should take the risk and go? (they are very generous to people who fill out fafsa, im taking free money no matter how much income because the school issues various grants) ...or should i be miserable at a city university? were talking a ....30K per year vs. 2k per year.

all im interested in is a proper education, which i feel i will not receive in the city school (and this is because i have personal experiance and see just about what everyone who goes to these city schools end up doing)


Any comments would be appreciated.

First of all, check to make sure you don't have a deportation order against you. If you have a failed asylum application, it could be very possible.

I don't mean to scare you, but If you do have a deportation order against you ICE could show up at your door any day and you NOT be able to adjust when the DREAM Act Passes or when you get married.

You will be disqualified from the DREAM Act if you got the final removal order at age 16 or older.

You can finish school but keep in mind you may not be able to adjust without an I-601 wavier of some sort. If I were you, I could go to a state school and save money in case you have to leave. Med schools don't care where you went to your undergrad as long as you succeed.

I agree with the previous post in the fact that you should check if there is a deportation order against you. Get a lawyer or yourself to file a FOIA with the USCIS. Almost all asylum cases that are denied have pending deportation orders, many without the knowledge of the applicant.

Besides that, you're selling yourself short by refusing to attend a public university. I'm sure you've looked at CUNY yet probably not hard enough to see that it has one of the nationally renown medical programs in the Sophie Davis school at City College. I'll be the first to admit that public universities have several shortcomings that private universities lack, in terms of large class sizes, high teacher attrition and low student participation.

But that ignores the fact that some of the best research is done in public universities. Ultimately, its your choice but in terms of the material, physics is physics whether its taught at a public university or a private university.

If the student has no interest in the material, then it doesn't matter whether he/she is taught by a world class professor at a private university or by a grad student at the public university.

the thing is that im pretty sure we do have that against us...so is there no hope?

and yeah sophie davis requires paper work, also with scholarships i do have very small tuition to pay because im getting scholarships and the CUNY schools basically WANT me to go.

Um according to a lawyer we spoke to previously, we have to wait for governmental action, before fighting


i dont know what removal 16 and over you are talking about...we probably had that order stated when i was probably 8 or 9, ive been here since like 3 or 4.
I checked all the eligibilities on wiki before and i fit all the criteria...if i got some notice, it was before 16 for sure, and i was in the country long before i recieved the letter....can you be a little more specific? i will add more info if needed.


to Rahman IV, i understand where your coming from...but i would have to disagree. Physics is not just physics whether it is taught at a private or public simply because i have taken courses at a prestigious private, and a CUNY public...and believe me...the work load was completely different. The pace was different and the feel was different..which absolutely made sense because if it was all the same material there would be no point in many students paying so much money to go to these schools...however i do agree with you that in my situation, yes, public would probably be the best choice, also...the environment meaning students has to some extent, A type of impact on learning. At a private highly ranked school (i mean there are simple privates like St.Johns in NY which is just paying for your grade cuny is far superior) you get the researched advantages and more job security (assuming situation is resolved) because your buying into the little network. And after sitting in some CUNY lectures.....believe me, the students have better chances of scoring higher staying at home reading the book and coming in on the days of finals. But ofcourse these were just my experiences, your could have been completely different.

How does one check to make sure there are no deportation orders against us?

Well, as I've said, ultimately its your choice.

To Roscalada, you can have a lawyer file a FOIA request with USCIS or you can do it yourself. Or you call the national hotline to check if there is a deportation order entered against you in immigration court. Search this forum for the number of the hotline or just Google "National Deportation Hotline". You need your A number to check.

wait Rahman IV, forgetting the part about education...what about the info i gave about status? would i be eligible for dream act for what i have? I plan to check with a lawyer soon

There is a criteria for eligibility under the DREAM Act. Its on this forum. You can search for it or google it.

As long as the deportation order was given before age 16, you still qualify for the DREAM Act.

Just to let you know, USCIS is actively looking for you. They actively pursue people with criminal records AND people with deportation orders against them.
Most if not all the dreamer deportation stories revolve around failed asylum applications that ended in final orders for removal.

You're young right now but once you hit your 20s , you may want to get get married one day and if your spouse is an American citizen, most likely you will not be able to adjust in the country. Sometime in the future, I would ask if you would still qualify for an I-601 wavier over at www.immigrate2us.net .

DREAM should pass by then but just in case the eligibility requirements change I would look into it. The last thing you want is to have leave your spouse and kids behind and be deported to a foreign country for something that happened when you were 9. Just keep this in mind in the coming years, it seems irrelevant right now but could be very helpful knowledge in the future.

Yeah it was before 16, so now im relieved that i will qualify. However i spoke to my older brother about this and he talked to our lawyer a few months ago who is well known for being strong in these issues. He did say that marriage is an option though it is getting harder, but it obviously has to be legit. When i go again i will ask him to see whats going on now, and ask any further questions. I think as of now, im pretty ok...

just a quiestion..what other information do they use to "look for you"? like fing print or somethin? because there are many ppl who have gone.."undetected" you can say for several years now but idk thanks for ur info btw