Dear Atty. Lou,
I have a few questions and I hope that you could help me with this predicament. I’m currently an international student here under F1 visa status. I’ve been going to a community college and paying the staggering amount of tuition fee for international students (about $2000+ quarterly). I was originally a nursing major, but unfortunately couldn’t find a program, and forced to take my second choice, Child Education as a major.
I earned my high school diploma after finishing 2 1/2 years of high school here in the US (in Hawaii) and been going to college in California for about 5 years now. My questions are: (1) What are the possibilities of converting my student visa to earn my residency.(2) Am I qualified to apply for a financial aid? with only having 2 1/2 years of high school here instead of 3 years regardless of the student’s status? (I understand that this qualifies only to undocumented students with 3 years of high school in the US. DREAM ACT) If so, where and when could I apply?
I hope you could enlighten me with this matter.
CE Student
Dear CE Student,
As soon as you obtain your Bachelor’s Degree, you may become eligible for a professional working visa or the H1B. Most of those who graduated in the US are offered jobs by their US employers if there are job openings. Usually after the Optional Practical Training is expired, the student visa holder changes status to working visa if there is a job offer by the US employer. As far as your permanent resident visa is concerned, just like an H1B visa, you need a US employer to offer you a job on a permanent basis and to undergo the petitioning process before you are actually granted a lawful permanent resident status.
Those who are issued foreign student visas by the US Citizenship and Immigration Service are required to have financial resources to sustain their temporary stay and to pay the foreign student tuition fee. This is a requirement before the USCIS grants the student visa. You may apply for a grant or scholarship and indicate to the USCIS that this will be sufficient resources to support your study.
Your situation is different from those who do not have student visas and are undocumented at the moment. For those who are undocumented students graduating from high school and going to college, when they apply for financial aid from the federal government, they usually ask for proof of valid immigration status. This will make it difficult for them to apply for student loan unless they try private foundations who provide scholarship. There are also ten states including California that gives undocumented students the in state tuition fee (which is less) instead of charging the out of state or foreign student rate.
Regarding the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act (DREAM Act), this week or on March 27, 2009, the bill was introduced in Senate by Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Richard Lugar (R-IN) and U.S. Reps. Howard Berman (D-CA) and Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL). This bill will provide young undocumented immigrants the opportunity to pursue their American dream by giving them the legal status to study.
Undocumented students would obtain legal status if they meet certain criteria: (1)They must have come to the U.S. before they turned 16, be under the age of 30, (2)have lived in the U.S. for at least five years, (3)graduated from high school or passed an equivalency exam, (4) have “good moral character” and (5) either attend college or enlist in the military for two years. If you meet these requirements and have a high school diploma from a US school you will be qualified for resident status under the DREAM Act.
I hope this information is helpful.
Good luck.
Atty. Lou
(Lourdes Santos Tancinco, Esq is a partner at the Tancinco Law Offices, a Professional Law Corp. Her office is located at One Hallidie Plaza, Ste 818, San Francisco CA 94102 and may be reached at 415.397.0808; email at law@tancinco.com or check their website at tancinco.weareph.com/old. The content provided in this column is solely for informational purpose only and do not create a lawyer-client relationship. It should not be relied upon as legal advice. This column does not disclose any confidential or classified information acquired in her capacity as legal counsel. Consult with an attorney before deciding on a course of action. You can submit questions to law@tancinco.com)
