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Out of Status Problem
I am the host for a Japanese student who has been studying here in the USA for over 3 years.
She first attended a school in Northridge CA, then transfered to Arizona State University. ASU prepared a new I-20 for her. She then transfered to Mesa Community College in Mesa, Arizona and MCC also prepared her I-20 for her and did all the necessary transfer for her.
She then transfered to National American University in Rapid City, South Dakota and the staff there said they would take care of the transfer for her. They assured her everything was in order and she attended one quarter with 12 credits and a 4.0 GPA. She then skipped one quarter after getting approval from the staff at National American University and registered for Spring quarter which was to start on March 9th, 2009. In February, a new staff member from NAU called and said that the transfer from MCC was never done properly and a new I20 was never issued by NAU and that she was not eligible to go to NAU. From the best we can tell, she went out of status because her I 20 was not transfered from MCC on or about October 22, 2008.
We consulted with an immigration attorney who recomended she leave the country at once so she would not hit the 3 year bar that happens after 6 months of being out of status. She returned to Japan on or about March 15th, 2009. Hopefully this is before the 6 month period before the 3 year bar goes into effect.
She is in Japan and now wishes to re-enter on a student visa and attend college at MCC in Mesa, AZ. The staff at Mesa has prepared an I-20 for her which she now has in Japan.
My question is: Should she just fly over here and get her F1 at the port of entry with the same visa she had before or should she go to an embassy in Japan first and explain what happened? Does she need an attorney?
Any feed back would be greatly appreciated.
Timopu
She first attended a school in Northridge CA, then transfered to Arizona State University. ASU prepared a new I-20 for her. She then transfered to Mesa Community College in Mesa, Arizona and MCC also prepared her I-20 for her and did all the necessary transfer for her.
She then transfered to National American University in Rapid City, South Dakota and the staff there said they would take care of the transfer for her. They assured her everything was in order and she attended one quarter with 12 credits and a 4.0 GPA. She then skipped one quarter after getting approval from the staff at National American University and registered for Spring quarter which was to start on March 9th, 2009. In February, a new staff member from NAU called and said that the transfer from MCC was never done properly and a new I20 was never issued by NAU and that she was not eligible to go to NAU. From the best we can tell, she went out of status because her I 20 was not transfered from MCC on or about October 22, 2008.
We consulted with an immigration attorney who recomended she leave the country at once so she would not hit the 3 year bar that happens after 6 months of being out of status. She returned to Japan on or about March 15th, 2009. Hopefully this is before the 6 month period before the 3 year bar goes into effect.
She is in Japan and now wishes to re-enter on a student visa and attend college at MCC in Mesa, AZ. The staff at Mesa has prepared an I-20 for her which she now has in Japan.
My question is: Should she just fly over here and get her F1 at the port of entry with the same visa she had before or should she go to an embassy in Japan first and explain what happened? Does she need an attorney?
Any feed back would be greatly appreciated.
Timopu
