QUESTION
Do immigration judges ever reinstate f 1 Visas?
Asked on Jul 13th, 2012 on Immigration - Texas
More details to this question:
I am on a F 1 visa. I travelled back to my home country over the christmas to see my family and couldnt get back till the last days of january due to an industrial strike that saw all the airports closed. As such i could not get back and register for school. Im in deportation proceedings and just wanted to know if i can be considered for reinstatement. I have never worked illegally, or broken any laws. I just would like to know if i have any shot at court?
1 ANSWER
Immigration and Nationality Law Attorney serving New York, NY
Partner at
Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Attorneys at Law
3 Awards
Reinstatement of F-1 visas is not within the jurisdiction of immigration judges. The only power of the immigration court in that situation is to adjourn or continue the case to give DHS an opportunity to look into the merits of a reinstatement application. If DHS agrees to the reinstatement, it can move the court to terminate immigration proceedings. In your case, however, it is highly doubtful that a reinstatement could be accomplished since the regulations only allow reinstatement applications to be made within five months of the violation. By the time you asked this question in July, you had already been in the country since January, over five months by my count.
Answered on Oct 01st, 2012 at 5:27 PM