Visa/Residency advice - Student Visa, citizenship, forming a S.A.

[Cassiopeia]

Thanks for the response!
Getting ahold of the FBI background check is the bit I am working on now. The option of having my prints taken here, mailing them to the FBI and then getting them back here sounds like it may take longer than I have available still on my Visa (Until April 7th).

Any suggestions regarding getting this process done more quickly? I’m following a lead on a group that claims to take the prints digitally with a 5 day turn around time (excluding transit time) but have yet to get a response.

Additionally, in my case I have been here for the past 3.5 years (have spent a total of 10 weeks in the states since getting here), so the FBI background check would not exactly fulfill the requirement of “the country in which I have lived for at least a year in the past 3 years”. That country would be Argentina.

Hi there!, In country applications will require "PCC corresponding to the country of origin or those countries where you have lived for more than 1 year over the past 3 years, and also an ARG PCC. It doesn´t matter if you have not spent sufficient time in the USA, they will ask for it anyway as it is your country of origin.

With regards to securing the PCC from ARG, last time I did it for a client, it was indeed very lengthy. Fingerprints taken on a fingerprint chart and shipped to the FBI, and then waiting for the FBI to send it back to you, plus the APOSTILLE legalization on it, it took several weeks to have the document back in ARG. If now there is an FBI Certificate with 5-days processing time available, I suggest that you explore it in full! -- DON´T FORGET ABOUT THE APOSTILLE, you have nothing without it. Best!

 

[dilmah]

Any suggestions regarding getting this process done more quickly?

There are a number of companies-channelers who are officially partnered with FBI to collect (digital) fingerprints https://www.fbi.gov/services/cjis/i...channelers-for-departmental-order-submissions

I personally worked with https://www.nbinformation.com/channeler.php and I received my report in mail within a week.
Then FBI report needs to be apostilled which adds several more weeks to this process.
Apostilling the report is actually slower than receiving report per se.

Please notice that those FBI channelers will work ONLY with US citizens or green card holders.
They will not work with a person who resided in the US in some other immigration status (e.g. H-1B or similar visa).

 

[Maxwell]

Hi there!, In country applications will require "PCC corresponding to the country of origin or those countries where you have lived for more than 1 year over the past 3 years, and also an ARG PCC. It doesn´t matter if you have not spent sufficient time in the USA, they will ask for it anyway as it is your country of origin.

With regards to securing the PCC from ARG, last time I did it for a client, it was indeed very lengthy. Fingerprints taken on a fingerprint chart and shipped to the FBI, and then waiting for the FBI to send it back to you, plus the APOSTILLE legalization on it, it took several weeks to have the document back in ARG. If now there is an FBI Certificate with 5-days processing time available, I suggest that you explore it in full! -- DON´T FORGET ABOUT THE APOSTILLE, you have nothing without it. Best!

So in the case where I am not able to receive the background check before my visa expiration, do I overstay my visa or leave the country with the chance that I may be denied at the border upon re-entry?

 

[Maxwell]

There are a number of companies-channelers who are officially partnered with FBI to collect (digital) fingerprints https://www.fbi.gov/services/cjis/i...channelers-for-departmental-order-submissions

I personally worked with https://www.nbinformation.com/channeler.php and I received my report in mail within a week.
Then FBI report needs to be apostilled which adds several more weeks to this process.
Apostilling the report is actually slower than receiving report per se.

Please notice that those FBI channelers will work ONLY with US citizens or green card holders.
They will not work with a person who resided in the US in some other immigration status (e.g. H-1B or similar visa).

Am I correct to assume that this service can only be performed from inside of the US?

 

[Cassiopeia]

So in the case where I am not able to receive the background check before my visa expiration, do I overstay my visa or leave the country with the chance that I may be denied at the border upon re-entry?

A Tourist visa can be extended IN COUNTRY for additional 90 days. You just need to go to the Immigration Office and request the extension. It´s either doing that, or doing the border hopping. You should not initiate a visa application with an expired tourism status.

 

[Bajo_cero2]

A Tourist visa can be extended IN COUNTRY for additional 90 days. You just need to go to the Immigration Office and request the extension. It´s either doing that, or doing the border hopping. You should not initiate a visa application with an expired tourism status.

This is wrong. You can apply even with an arrest order for deportation.

 

[Bajo_cero2]

So in the case where I am not able to receive the background check before my visa expiration, do I overstay my visa or leave the country with the chance that I may be denied at the border upon re-entry?

You do not have a visa. It is an I.94, an entry permit. Overstay.

 

[Cassiopeia]

This is wrong. You can apply even with an arrest order for deportation.

Hi - this is not wrong. Why would you suggest to overstay when you can easily get another 90 days of legal stay?! Only someone who is really unprofessional would advise to overstay, this would entail to start a case with the WRONG foot, and therefore, compromising the outcome. I would be careful with these comments as you will cause a lot of damage to people who need true and lawful advice.

 

[FallenAngel]

I agree that the advice of Bajo_cero2 / Rubilar is oftentimes not correct in reality. Rubilar gives advise according to his interpretation of the law, but unfortunately what matters is convincing the judge said interpretation is correct. If you cannot do that, then you will lose. This is why despite citizenship cases taking 6-18 months according to Bajo the reality is that it takes much longer if you follow his advice.

For example, here is a case that started in 2015:

Link:

http://scw.pjn.gov.ar

Jurisdiction: CCF
Case number / year: 7778 / 2015

You can see this case has taken about 5 years now. It resulted in a supreme court decision in 2018. Rubilar won that decision which nullified part of DNU 2017, which is good. However, it did not matter in terms of translating to a successful citizenship application. Despite all these efforts, 2 years after the supreme court case, the case is still being denied within the court system. May it one day get citizenship? Perhaps, after 5 years, but it won't help the hundreds of others held up due to visa irregularity.

My guess is that Rubilar has over 50+ potentially as high as 100+ cases from 2014-2016 time period that are effectively zombie cases and they are all cases involving irregular status of the applicant to some degree. The judge didn't like the facts of the case (irregularity of status), the interpretation of the law does not matter, the cases have been forever held up via procedural strategy. This is something that Rubilar never posts on the forum, which is very important for anyone following his advice to understand.

If you want a successful case that does actually take 6-18 months, then you need to no overstays, visa regularity, a source of income within Argentina, and demonstrate some attachment to Argentina. That is what cases that actually receive citizenship have in common. The rest (half) are zombie cases with no decision.

That said I have researched Rubilars cases and his work and he is a fighter. He does have some success. He does not give up and he is tenacious. I just really do not understand why he gives advices that complicates cases as evidences by his very own backlog of cases. The best advice is always to be as "normal" as possible and avoid the fight or avoid the raised questions in the first place. If you find yourself in a position where your case needs a fight, then Rubilar is still a recommended lawyer, but my advice is to try to avoid needing it in the first place even if you use a lawyers services anyways.

 

[steveinbsas]

So in the case where I am not able to receive the background check before my visa expiration, do I overstay my visa or leave the country with the chance that I may be denied at the border upon re-entry?

You can ask for the prorroga de permanencia (extension of stay) within ten days of the expiration of your 90 day "tourist visa"and the current fee is $2700 pesos.

PS: The day you entered counts as one of the 90 days.

If you do not ask for the prorroga before your 90 day entry permit expires, you still have a 30 day grace period in which to get the extension and the fee will increase by 50%.

If you don't get the prorroga, and your 90 day permit expires before you submit your application for temporary residency, I believe you will still have to pay the fee when you do, so I suggest you get the extension while you can, even though I'm not absolutely certain if would make any difference to migraciones if you don't.

I never made a visa run and I never had an overstay. I got one prorroga just prior to the expiration of my one and only 90 day entry permit. I applied for and received temporary residency while the prorroga was in effect and I never had to worry about what migraciones "might think" (then or now) if I ever had an overstay