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My family came here legally as well, I was 10. Got stuck on I829, been renewing my permanent residency status every year for almost 18 years. Based on my home c

My family came here legally as well, I was 10. Got stuck on I829, been renewing my permanent residency status every year for almost 18 years. Based on my home country's government records I'm not its citizen. I applied for U.S. military some time ago, but got denied due to depression I went through in college years. I'm a citizen of no country, and yet I love the U.S., I would die for no other country.

PebblesHD 11y ago
That is a very interesting situation to be in, do you have any concerns should your resident status get changed? What would you do if you were required to leave the US?
- treeonion 11y ago
  Every year we visit USCIS to get our status renewed for another year, and it worries us every time we do so. There are times when inexperienced USCIS agents (who don't understand our status) refuse to renew our status, in such circumstances we have to make another appointment and simply hope to run into one who've seen us for years. After the disappearance of our lawyer (over a decade ago), we had no way of getting our hands on any case files, I wouldn't know how to fight it in court if we were required to leave the US. After my father's real-estate developer business went bankrupt in the early 2000s we were in a financial downward slope, pretty much to the point where we had to beg our family friends for money. Nothing was left after my father's passing, well by that time my brother and I had jobs, which was fortunate, although the school loans do hurt, I may have to save up some for the lawyer costs if it ever comes to that.
  - PebblesHD 11y ago
    Wow, that is indeed very precarious, my best wishes and i really do hope it never comes to you needing a lawyer. That sounds incredibly stressful especially when going to uni/college while dealing with it.
    - treeonion 11y ago
      Thanks. It hit me pretty hard, but I'm just glad I had the opportunity to study at the university (Physics) and get a job. Although I may not have joined the military, I'd like to believe even as a software engineer at a small company, I'm contributing for ever more brighter future of this country. I revere the people who are working in US digital services agencies.
  - pkaye 11y ago
    If you married someone, could they sponsor you?
    - treeonion 11y ago
      That is probably the one and only way for me. My brother did get married to a citizen, he has to remove his permanent residency first, leave the US for several months and come back to apply for green card. He hasn't done that yet, but at least he's safe in that regards. In any case tho, what the OP went through did remind me of my own situation but looks like he had it worse.
arjie 11y ago
Funny thing, that. So it would have been better to have hidden the depression. Presumably you were applying through MAVNI? Ah well, good luck.
- treeonion 11y ago
  Not exactly, it actually would have back-fired if they ever found out. Applied for the Marines in high school during the heat of the Iraq war, but decided not to go a week before the bootcamp since my family and former soldiers were against it (which I still regret to this day), I did apply for the Army after college, but Army's MAVNI program? nope I was going through the recruiting process as an immigrant (permanent resident).

PebblesHD 11y ago

That is a very interesting situation to be in, do you have any concerns should your resident status get changed? What would you do if you were required to leave the US?

treeonion 11y ago
Every year we visit USCIS to get our status renewed for another year, and it worries us every time we do so. There are times when inexperienced USCIS agents (who don't understand our status) refuse to renew our status, in such circumstances we have to make another appointment and simply hope to run into one who've seen us for years. After the disappearance of our lawyer (over a decade ago), we had no way of getting our hands on any case files, I wouldn't know how to fight it in court if we were required to leave the US. After my father's real-estate developer business went bankrupt in the early 2000s we were in a financial downward slope, pretty much to the point where we had to beg our family friends for money. Nothing was left after my father's passing, well by that time my brother and I had jobs, which was fortunate, although the school loans do hurt, I may have to save up some for the lawyer costs if it ever comes to that.
- PebblesHD 11y ago
  Wow, that is indeed very precarious, my best wishes and i really do hope it never comes to you needing a lawyer. That sounds incredibly stressful especially when going to uni/college while dealing with it.
  - treeonion 11y ago
    Thanks. It hit me pretty hard, but I'm just glad I had the opportunity to study at the university (Physics) and get a job. Although I may not have joined the military, I'd like to believe even as a software engineer at a small company, I'm contributing for ever more brighter future of this country. I revere the people who are working in US digital services agencies.
- pkaye 11y ago
  If you married someone, could they sponsor you?
  - treeonion 11y ago
    That is probably the one and only way for me. My brother did get married to a citizen, he has to remove his permanent residency first, leave the US for several months and come back to apply for green card. He hasn't done that yet, but at least he's safe in that regards. In any case tho, what the OP went through did remind me of my own situation but looks like he had it worse.

arjie 11y ago

Funny thing, that. So it would have been better to have hidden the depression. Presumably you were applying through MAVNI? Ah well, good luck.

treeonion 11y ago
Not exactly, it actually would have back-fired if they ever found out. Applied for the Marines in high school during the heat of the Iraq war, but decided not to go a week before the bootcamp since my family and former soldiers were against it (which I still regret to this day), I did apply for the Army after college, but Army's MAVNI program? nope I was going through the recruiting process as an immigrant (permanent resident).