Turnaround approval with expedited handling
A rare, very high-risk case
20 Years in the U.S. Without Status
Background
Mr. Y entered the United States on a Q-1 visa in 2004 and had not left in the 20 years since. During that time he had tried unsuccessfully to immigrate through marriage, and this time he sought to change to student status.
Challenges
His status had been expired for 20 years, and our team initially judged that a change to student status would almost certainly be denied.
Strategy
After fully informing him of the high risk, we still prepared the materials carefully and filed the application, handling a difficult RFE along the way.
Outcome
Approved after expedited handling (filed late September 2024 · approved October 2024). This is an extremely rare case and does not represent a repeatable path.