In this video, we'll talk about people that overstayed their visas or come here illegally.
Can they get a work visa and get sponsored by an employer right now? Watch this video,
I'll tell you more. People that overstayed their visas or entered here illegally, what
can they do if they find an employer, the perfect employer wants to sponsor them? But
before that, I highly encourage you to subscribe to our channel, click that big like, and follow
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also share this video with a friend somebody that may need help or needed information and
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So let's dive into this video. And this is actually a video that… I did this video
because of a situation I have with a client and I wanted to kind of explain to him the
whole scenario and he wasn't really understanding how it works. So, the idea is this. Imagine
somebody comes in the United States illegally without a visa, they come here, either they
get smuggled in or whatever way they come here. And then they just live here their life,
5, 10 years, or they come here with a visa, but then they overstayed that visa and they
still have no status. So, both of these people have no status at the moment. And then they
meet an employer, either they work for somebody, and then the employer has no idea that they're
without status. And in my case, there is a large restaurant that hired this manager,
and he's been working for them for the last three years. And just now, as they're trying
to promote him, get him some equity in the company, trying to get him more activities,
the person is pulling back because he really can't because he knows that he's here illegally.
And so, he spoke to the company owner and they mentioned the fact that he came here
illegally, and then they and then came to see me and they say, “Well, we want to sponsor
this employee, he has very good qualifications, he’s been working in this space for 10 years.
He knows finance very well. And we want to sponsor him as our finance manager.” And
I say, “Well, first of all, I need to understand how did the person come to this country in
the first place?” And I asked him the question, and he said, “Well, I came here with no
visa.” Right? And so, somebody who come here undocumented, with no visa, that person
really cannot change their status, really, to anything. So, if an employee is going to
try to sponsor that person, and here's why, because the first step in sponsoring somebody
is going through a labor department and getting a labor certification. That's fine. Nobody
cares who that person is while you go through the labor certification. We call this, also,
perm. But once that labor certification is approved, and we're ready to file the case
with the Immigration Service, the first thing they were checking is what is the status of
that person? That is a question on form I-45, Adjustment of Status, and also, when we file
this with an I-140, immigrant petition, there's also some things we have to prove about the
person’s status in combination with those two forms. So, if I'm not able to do that,
if my answer on form 45 will be EWI, Enter Without Inspection, at some point down the
line when the case will be adjudicated, it will be denied. And then, that person will
be put into proceedings. Essentially, will be exposing themselves. So, that's why I explained
to the employer, I said, “Under our current laws, you can’t do that.” Now, the situation
was different in the early 2000, there was a rule called Section 245i, where, if you
had a petition filed for you by an employer, before April of 2000, right, April 2001, I'm
sorry, then you will be able to use that petition to file Adjustment of Status in the future.
We call this Section 245i exception. And you will pay a fine, $1,000 fine, and you'll be
all good. But that law expired back in 2001. And since then, it never came back. So, the
only people we are able to help today are beneficiaries of the old 245i protection.
And I always ask that question, and I asked that person as well, “Have you had a petition
filed for you before April 2001? And you have to be present here in December of 2000.”
And his answer was, “No, nothing was filed for me back then.” And so, therefore, I
couldn't help him. So, the idea is that if you came here illegally, and you don't have
the protection of Section 245i, then you're out of luck, and you're not able to adjust.
Now, even if you marry a US citizen, you won't be able to do it from inside the US. You'd
have to file a waiver and then leave the country and get your green card at the US Embassy
abroad. Now, if you're just an overstay... because we have another employee, that same
company, who overstayed their visa, and now they marry a US citizen. That person can adjust
their status without going back to their home country because marrying a US citizen is the
only exception to cure an overstay. So, it's very important to understand what this video
is trying to explain. Somebody comes here illegally, right, so there's no overstay because
they're here illegally, and they live here and work here, and then they try to adjust
their status through employment, there is no way to do that because they never had a
status in the first place. However, if a person comes here with a visa, and then they just
overstay, an employer cannot help them because they already have no status, right? But if
they marry a US citizen, they can cure that overstay. So, hopefully, that kind of clarifies
that picture and explains whether an employer… and that's important for employers as well,
to know that you can’t really help anybody that came here illegally or overstayed their
visa. So, hopefully, that video was beneficial. Share with an employer that may need to know
that information. Click that big like and subscribe to our channel because more amazing
videos are coming based on your requests. Thanks for watching, we'll see you in our
next video.