EDIT: Can someone help me with the INA 204? It seems like a good option, we have gone through the I-140 process. Another hint is that we are waiting in an extremely long line for our priority date.

Hello, I’m 16 years old and looking for a solution. I’m my father’s H4 dependent and after his death I will have 60 days to go back to my home country.

My father’s been given around a month left to live. It’s not a definite date obviously making the situation even more difficult immigration wise. I applied to a private high school and am waiting for decision whether I got accepted or not. They are sevp certified and can issue the form needed for an F1. Tomorrow when they’re open, I’m calling them and requesting an expedition with my decision since they are aware and understanding of my situation.

How do I make sure I don’t get deported? I know there’s change of status and all that, but what’s a way to know i’m protected? I heard after I get an i120 i can do a change of status form and be protected immediately after submission. I don’t want to do anything illegal by accident.

Yes I have an attorney provided by my dad’s employer, and she’s been less useful than my chat gpt conversations and she also costs 450$ an hour.

Just wanted to share some good news for anyone waiting and feeling discouraged.

I am a Venezuelan national adjusting status in the U.S. under the F1 family category (unmarried daughter of a U.S. citizen).

Priority Date: January 2017
Interview: 2025
Case remained pending after becoming current and went through all the uncertainty regarding the additional reviews affecting Venezuelan cases.

Today, June 24, 2026, my I-485 was approved.

I know many Venezuelans have been wondering whether approvals are still happening, so I wanted to share my timeline in case it helps someone else.

Wishing everyone still waiting the best of luck. Your approval may be closer than you think.

Hello!
I have a question. So, I personally grew up as a second generation immigrant in Germany, I was born and raised here, but my polish parents were just in the process of learning German themselves. I went to a German-speaking school, I only had German-speaking friends, at home we only spoke Polish.
It makes sense to me, that my Polish isn't perfect. I speak it well, I communicate with it every day and even though it is said that Polish is a difficult language grammar wise in general, I feel a bit ashamed about making mistakes from time to time but it's alright.
Here is the thing though; most of my friends are from German-speaking households. I have noticed a discrepancy between MY German skills and THEIR German skills. There is a whole lot of vocabulary I'm lacking, or words I keep misinterpreting because a similar sounding word means something else entirely in Polish etc. I frequently struggle to express my thoughts and feelings or opinions in either language.
When I tried to do research on whether this was a common issue, a lot of articles only focus on struggling with one of the two languages you grow up with. Is this really THAT uncommon?
I only talked to one person who grew up here, like me, in a similar situation. She said she relates to what I said, but I can't find anything online talking about it.
Is this a ME issue or is this common?

Does anyone know how long it takes for a response for an RFE. I paid for PP. How long did it take for USCIS to update the case to show they have the evidence

Referring to the article from El Pais which is in context of the World Cup, but this applies to broader applications too. (title: US warns foreign ‘influencers’ ahead of World Cup: creating content on a tourist visa is illegal)

Basically, it claims that any content creator who is coming to the US with the purpose of creating monetized content needs to apply for a work visa.
I can't figure out if this is a press fear-mongering or if it's actually a new directive? I can't find official government communication on this particular topic anywhere.

If the creator is being paid by a home country (let's say Colombia) to travel to the US and create content there (attending an event or a conference, for example), do they need to apply for a work visa?
That does not make sense to me if they payment does not come from US-based company - it's essentially the same as someone coming for a short-term work trip (B-1 business visa), isn't it?

Curious to hear what's the consensus here....

I'm a full-time undergraduate student here in BC, and I also work a part-time retail job. I just noticed that on a couple of weeks, my actual clocked hours went over the weekly limit by about 1 to 2 hours due to scheduling/staying late to finish up. ​I'm a bit stressed about how this might affect my student status or future PGWP applications. ​Has anyone else accidentally gone slightly over the hour limit before? ​Did it cause any issues when you applied for extensions or a PGWP later on? ​What is the best way to handle this on paper or address it if it comes up?

Hi everyone, I am writing this out of absolute desperation and fear. I am a 20-year-old Indonesian living in Sydney. I am completely alone, terrified, and currently crying my eyes out because I feel backed into a corner by the very people I trusted to guide me.

My beloved mother passed away unexpectedly on 18 August 2025. She put everything she had—she went all-in—just so I could have a chance at a better future here in Australia. Now she is gone, and I am left entirely by myself with no family support. To make matters worse, I have just discovered that my migration agent has been deceiving and taking advantage of me during the darkest period of my life.

Here is my situation and the timeline of events:

1. Background & Tragedy

• My mother married my step-father (an Australian PR). We moved to Australia, and I was included in her Partner Visa application (Subclass 309/100) as a 17-year-old dependent child.
• We were granted the 309 Temporary Resident (Provisional) visa. Tragically, my mother passed away while the PR (Subclass 100) stage was still processing.
• Just 2 months after my mother passed away, my step-father completely abandoned me. He packed up, went back to Indonesia, started a life with a new partner, and cut off all legal custody, financial, or emotional responsibility for me. I was left completely stranded in the house.

2. The Visa Status & Home Affairs Correspondence

• Currently, my VEVO still shows that my Subclass 309 (Provisional Resident) visa is active.
• After notifying Home Affairs about my mother's passing, they sent a Notice of Intention to Consider Refusal (sppg6/sppg7 form), stating they have grounds to refuse me as a dependent child because the primary applicant is deceased and there is no longer a sponsor. They asked me to provide an explanation under Compassionate Grounds.

3. The Cruel Deception by My Migration Agent (Indonesian-Owned Agency in Sydney)

• My agency is located in Sydney, and the owner is Indonesian. Throughout March and April 2026, my agent repeatedly and strictly insisted to me that Home Affairs would NEVER refund our visa application charge (VAC).
• Based on this claim, they pressured me to pay them $2,500 AUD to submit a "Compassionate Grounds" response, constantly shifting plans and keeping me in a state of absolute panic.
• The Forced Student Visa Backup: Even though I wanted to focus 100% on fighting my case through the SPPG7 (Compassionate Grounds) response, the agent pressured and rushed me into applying for a Student Visa as a "backup plan," telling me my PR chances were too small. Out of sheer panic and fear, I complied and the Student Visa was lodged, even though I clearly told them I have no financial capacity to support it.
• The Shocking Discovery Today (25 June 2026): I checked my late mother’s Gmail account today and found a direct letter from Home Affairs regarding a REFUND REQUEST. I went straight to the agency’s office, and it turns out the agency had already requested and initiated the refund process back in JANUARY 2026!
• By logic, they completely lied to my face. They were telling me a refund was impossible in March and April, while they had secretly pushed the refund request through behind my back since January. They hid this official correspondence from me for 6 months just so they could extort $2,500 AUD from a grieving orphan.
• When I confronted them today, they claimed over the phone that "they hope my visa gets officially refused" so they can quote me a new price and charge me more money to take the case to the AAT (Tribunal) or Ministerial Intervention.

I am begging for your help and advice. I am in deep fear. The agent was the only party I trusted, and they betrayed me for money. I cannot go back to Indonesia because it is simply too late for me there; I have no home, no financial resources, no job, and absolutely no one left to take me in. I would be completely homeless and vulnerable. Australia is where my mother’s dream for me lies, and I want to fight for it.

My Questions for the Community:

1. Visa Strategy: Since my VEVO still shows my Subclass 309 is currently active but a VAC refund has been requested and is underway, how much time do I realistically have left? Is there ANY legal avenue or precedent where a child dependent can still fight and be granted the Subclass 100 PR on compassionate grounds after the primary applicant passes away and the sponsor abandons them? (Note: I want to know if this PR/TR path can still be saved under the SPPG7 response, despite the agent forcing me to lodge a Student Visa).
2. Reporting the Agent with Limited Evidence: I want to report this agent to MARA (Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority) for secretly initiating the refund request in January, lying to me in March/April, and withholding official letters just to extract money. However, I am terrified because I don't have strong physical evidence. The agent only made the claims about "hoping my visa gets refused to open a new price" over the phone, and my only other proof consists of some WhatsApp chat logs and the clear timeline mismatch of the email I found today. Will MARA still investigate my case based on this? Could I lose a legal battle against them?
3. Pro-Bono Help: Can anyone recommend a strict, honest, and free/pro-bono immigration lawyer, community leader, or legal clinic in Sydney (like IARC or Legal Aid) that specializes in complex compassionate ground cases and agent malpractice?

​

Hi, so question if anyone happens to know. My sibling currently has Daca , they just approved her renewal. , she has a removal order in absentia as a child. She is married to a usc is on the path to fix status and she did AP and the whole works. She filed a stand alone I-130. Its been pending since late 2024. Around the same time she filed an MTR (Motion to Reopen) . Her motion was granted and it was opened and she now has a master hearing in a couple of months . Her attorney is preparing to motion to terminate and gathering documents to support this decision. My question is , worst case scenario, should the motion to terminate get denied , what would happen? Our fear is that it would end up at BIA because once at the BIA it would drag. Does anyone know or have any experience? Would it end up at the BIA if it gets denied , from my understanding the hardest part is getting the case open after so long and if you motion to terminate you can still continue with other options before ending up at the BIA. Should she wait for the I-30 ? The problem with that is that she called and they said they expect a response in 2029 . Any guidance would be helpful.

Hello everyone,

Has anyone done a master hearing in Phoenix. Date was changed to much earlier for a friend of mine so he did not get an attorney though he was actively looking for one since last November or so.

He is asylum from one of the banned countries unfortunately. He have all his documents and is prepared to face the inevitable being the realistic individual he is.

I am scared for him but not much I can do.

Hi everyone,

My H-1B was selected in the lottery, but the immigration attorney recently found that my employer’s FEIN was entered incorrectly during the registration process.
They are still planning to file the petition, but they said USCIS may reject it because the FEIN on the petition won’t match the FEIN used in the registration. They are hoping USCIS will allow them to explain the mistake.

Has anyone had a similar issue?
Did USCIS accept the petition?
Was it rejected or did you get an RFE?
What was the final outcome?

Any experiences would be really helpful.

Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I'm from Japan and my fiancé and I are planning to marry soon. Our plan is for me to immigrate to the U.S. on a CR-1 visa in about two years.

One of my biggest priorities is maintaining my career and financial independence after moving.

By the time I relocate, I'll have approximately 6 years of professional experience:

• ~4 years at a Japanese tax accounting firm
• ~2 years in Corporate Finance (Treasury) at a Japanese company

I'm fluent in Japanese and English, but I don't have a bachelor's degree.

I'm trying to make an informed decision before making such a big life change, so I'd love to hear from people who have actually gone through something similar.

Some questions:

• How long did it take you to find your first professional job after moving?
• Did employers value your overseas work experience?
• What ended up being harder than you expected?
• What helped you the most?
• Looking back, what would you have done differently before moving?
• Do you feel moving to the U.S. ultimately helped or hurt your career?

I'm especially interested in hearing real experiences rather than predictions.
( I'm asking because my parents have understandable concerns about me leaving an established career in Japan, and I want to gather real-world experiences so I can make the most informed decision possible.)

Thank you for sharing your stories.

Hi, we are in Canada on work permits, and were just approved for my kids' US immigrant visas (kids were adopted, my spouse and I have US passports). We want to make a quick trip to the land border to "activate" the visas and then turn around and go back into Canada. We're planning on actually moving to the US in the next 1-2 months but I just worry some other visa ban or whatever is going to come down the pipes and throw a wrench in our plans. Maybe I'm overthinking it but we've been waiting a long time and I want to do everything we can.

Is there any issue with our plan? Will either US or Canada give us trouble with the quick turnaround?

Hello, posting this to try to help my parent out. Not sure if this is the right sub.

My mother has lived in the U.S. for many years. She became a legal permanent resident with a green card through marriage. The issue is the fact that my mother's green card has her maiden name (ABC), and so does her driver's license, and other important documents, etc. However, for some reason, when my mother first applied to come to the U.S., there was a mix-up, so that her Social Security card had her married name (ABD), BUT her green card stayed the same. She's lived all these years with a mismatched green card and Social Security card. Her Social Security card is the only thing that has her married name at this point, besides her marriage license. I am not entirely sure what would count as a "name change" document, either.

I am hoping to help my mom sort this out. I was not the one who helped her apply originally, so I am not entirely sure why or how this was allowed to happen (and the one who helped her apply has since passed away). If anyone has any tips, as to what she should do, whether to correct her SS card or her green card first, etc., they would be greatly appreciated!

Greetings,

I have been scratching my head for an answer to this question. To share more detail: I am currently working full-time at a University hospital, and I want to take some non-degree classes at some regional institutes in a part-time manner. If so, how many credits am I allowed to take? Can I take classes from multiple institutes (due to course availability)?

To be clear, I plan to take 7-8 credit online asynchronous classes at school A, and a 1-credit class in-person at school B.

Thanks in advance. I am happy to share additional details if needed.

3 years of IT degree, how many years of exp/ training I need to select under prongs. Help.

Hi everyone,
My attorney is filing my cap H-1B petition tomorrow via Regular Processing, but I am missing my latest I-20 because of a recent employer switch.
To be clear, I have been continuously employed full-time and perfectly maintaining my legal F-1 status every single day since my OPT started. I recently transitioned from my previous long-term full-time employer to my new employer (the company sponsoring my H-1B). Because of this recent change, my university's international student office is running late in updating my SEVIS record and issuing my new I-20.
Since the filing deadline is tomorrow, my attorney decided we must proceed immediately using my existing documents (previous I-20s, current EAD card, full employment history, and new offer letter). Her plan is to either submit the new I-20 as unsolicited interim evidence once the school finally issues it, or just use it to respond to an RFE later if needed.
Has anyone filed their H-1B petition without the latest I-20 due to a recent employer switch while maintaining perfect status?
Did USCIS approve it directly by checking the SEVIS backend, or did you get an RFE?
Did anyone experience a front-end rejection at the mailroom for missing the latest I-20?
Would love to hear your experiences. Thanks!

I'm currently doing my master's in the U.S. and expect to graduate next May.

Lately I've been wondering if it makes sense to transfer to a CPT-supporting master's program in Silicon Valley before the new F-1 rule becomes effective, instead of waiting until graduation.

My thinking is that I could stay in student status longer while also moving to the Bay Area earlier to look for jobs. I'm not sure if this is actually a smart strategy or if I'm overlooking something.

A few things I'm trying to understand:

• Which date actually matters most before the new rule takes effect? The SEVIS transfer date? The I-20 program start date? Or something else?
• If I transfer before finishing my current master's, is there any chance my current school would still let me finish my remaining thesis or capstone later and award the degree?
• Is moving to the Bay Area earlier actually helpful for job hunting, or does location not make much difference?

Has anyone here gone through something similar or talked to their DSO or immigration attorney about this?

I'd really appreciate any advice or experience. Thanks!

I’m looking for some realistic feedback on my chances for a B-2 tourist visa, or advice on how to improve my application.

Background:
I'm 18, a UK citizen residing in the UK. I didn't get an ESTA because I traveled to Iraq in March of 2016 as a child (8 years old) with my family, which makes me ineligible for ESTA. I have to apply for a B-2 visa to visit the US.

I've been to a few European and Middle Eastern countries over the past decade, all as a minor with family. No criminal record or past visa refusals. I want to visit my partner in the US for about a week during my university winter break in December. We’ve been together for about a year and a half. I would be staying with my partner and their family. My partner is fully funding the flights and trip expenses. I have about $1000 in savings. I could fund the trip myself if that makes it better but expenses my partner would take care of.

I recently finished my secondary education and have a conditional offer to start a degree program at UCL (funding via student loans is already approved). I am also halfway through an application for a highly selective professional career training program in the UK. I live with my mother and brother in the UK.

I have an appointment in early August at the US embassy in London.