Having dealt with US Immigration law, if you are legally present for 20 years, it's extremely difficult not to transition to GC/Citizenship since work visas in United States generally have a limit and any immigration lawyer would have been clear "Either move to GC or you are going home."

Also, despite all the US screaming about "They took our jobs" with immigrants, the US doesn't really hand out work visas all that much and don't really hand it out to blue collar labors at all.

There is a possibility that he's been on legal visa entire time but I'd give extremely good odds that he wasn't. The fact his immigration lawyer doesn't mention it is very telling.

Huh, the headline is very misleading but the article says this:

> Culleton entered the US in 2009 on a visa waiver programme and overstayed the 90 day-limit

> Culleton said that when he was arrested he was carrying a Massachusetts driving licence and a valid work permit issued as part of an application for a green card that he initiated in April 2025

That's about 15 years of illegal stay according to "the facts in the article".