Immigration Site

Hello everyone Im new here and will appreciate as much information/input given to me by fellow members. So I had my i130 appointment on Wednesday. Everything went smoothly except for the fact that the petition was disapproved. The reason being that I was out of status when my Dad initially filed for residency on my behalf. I came here Legally on a visitors visa and had overstayed. The said visa expired shortly there after. Could the disapproval have been avoided if my dad had paid the thousand dollar penalty for me overstaying when he first filed for me? Has anyone else been in the similar situation as I am? Would love some feedback as to how this was resolved. PS the immigration officer was a really nice guy and said that we should expect a detailed disapproval notice in the mail within a month or so. He also recommended that we hire an immigration lawyer. Whilst I am waiting I just need some advice ahead of time. Thanks

Are you under 21? Or were you under 21 when the I-130 was filed? Is your father a US citizen? Was the interview inside or outside the US?

Your answers to the above questions will affect your options.

I came to the US in August 2002 at age 16(been here since then). My visitors visa expired in March 2004. Later that year(2004) my Dad Received His Greencard and filed an i130 for me which was approved in 2005. In 2009 my dad became a US citizen. He then wrote USCIS to have my case upgraded. In January 2010 we were then notified to file the necessary paperwork,which was an i130 & i485 that were submitted concurrently. An approval notice for the i485 arrived in the mail after. Shortly afterwords I was called in to have my biometrics taken. Then the USCIS notified me to come in for my final interview which I was unsuccessful at for the reason previously mentioned.

First of all, when your visitors visa expired is irrelevant. All that matters is when your I-94 expired - usually 6 months for visitor visas.
Also, what do you mean by I-130 and I-485 were submitted concurrently? Your I-130 was filed by your father. And, are you sure you got an "approval notice" for I-485? I highly doubt it - you overstayed and were out-of-status - you werent even eligible to file I-485.

At this moment, the only thing you can do is get married to a USC and do the I-130/I-485. If you get caught now, you WILL be deported, and if you leave USA now, you will be banned for 10 years.