The rules for reentry
Certain illegal immigrants who want to become legal U.S. residents must first leave the U.S. and apply for visas at a U.S. consulate or embassy in their native countries. But the law dictates specific restrictions on reentry, depending on how they entered the U.S. and how long they lived here illegally.
Here are the general rules:
* Foreigners may be prohibited from reentering the country for three years if they entered the U.S. illegally and stayed for more than six months or if they entered legally but overstayed a visa for more than six months.
* They may be subject to a 10-year reentry ban if they entered illegally and stayed for one year or more or if they entered the U.S. legally but overstayed a visa for one year or more, or for other reasons.
* They may be subject to a reentry ban if they were deported and then reentered or tried to reenter the U.S. illegally, or if they lived illegally in the U.S. for more than a year, then left and illegally reentered or tried to reenter.
* Foreigners subject to the bans may apply for a waiver to reenter the U.S. Those subject to the bar must wait 10 years before applying. To obtain waivers, they must prove that not allowing them to return would result in extreme hardship to their U.S. citizen spouse or parents.
Last year, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services received about 11,600 waiver requests; it approved 8,435 and denied 878. Nearly 2,300 are pending.
Source: Mautino & Mautino, immigration and citizenship lawyers in San Diego, and the law offices of Carl Shusterman in Los Angeles
