Cork man Keith Byrne returned to work yesterday after he was granted another 90 days in America by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The Fermoy painter was arrested on July 10 after living in the country undocumented for 12 years.
Byrne's attempts to get full citizenship failed due to a minor drug offence in Ireland although he is now optimistic of gaining full citizenship.
He has been granted 30 days to submit his latest appeal and a 90-day extension by ICE to stay in the country, Cork Beo reports.
He told the Neil Prendeville Show on Redfm: "I was granted 90 days by the ICE and I started back to work yesterday.
"I've been here for 10 years now, it's very frustrating that something so small and that happened so long ago is coming back to me.
"I was pretty happy yesterday, I'm hoping we hear back from immigration sooner rather than later."
The 37-year-old hasn't been back to Ireland in over 12 years and hopes to go back as soon as he sorts out his American status.
He added:"I had some family over recently, I haven't seen my parents since 2007(can't leave). It's tough.
"The first thing I'll be doing will be coming back to Ireland to see my parents and get a breakfast roll.
"When I left Ireland I never saw much of it, I was in a town and I stayed there so I want to go back and see more of it."
Byrne is married to long-time partner Keren in Philadelphia and runs a successful painting business which has taken a bit of a hit since his arrest.
He said: "I did fall into it at some point, when I left Ireland I was building houses and block work, I couldn't find any here.
"After sometime I fell into a painting company and I learned stuff from them.
"I had four guys with me before I was arrested and now I'm back down to two because they had no work."
