text: can an indonesian here illegally return to bali, then come back to the us later, (legally, one would hope?)? a young relative has been told by her balinese boy friend that the government would not let him emigrate again.  he is here on an outdated student visa, and some of us are very afraid he will want to marry her in order to remain in this country, or that he would take her to his country, which is 90% or so muslim, and she is a good christian.  he claims to have been hindu, and has accepted christianity.  it's a scary situation!    at the very least, we would like to know if he is telling the truth.  also, wonder if his family would be accepting to her if she did return there with him. i would recommend consulting with an immigration attorney for a full answer, but here's my experience. if you lose your legal status for one reason or another, you can still be eligible for a legal permanent resident status at a later point. as a matter of fact, the applications asks you the question, whether at some point you were "illegal". things like that happen, and the expired student visa case is not unique. the key to avoiding legal problems is not leaving the country before obtaining the lpr status. however, when it comes to leaving and then re-entry, you will have some serious problems. violation of the legal status can lead to anything from a 3-year to a 10-year bar from obtaining a visa. i have also heard from an attorney of a vast number of cases where people were barred from re-entry permanently. check ch. 8, cfr. for more details, or the www.uscis.gov website.