Upvote:9
You have a ten year bar to entry meaning you have another seven years before you will be eligible for a visa. After serving your bar your chances remain slim and none.
My advice will be to forget ever entering the USA again. An 18 year overstayer will receive no mercy. I was also an F1 and subsequently on H1B who fell out of status for a brief period of time and sympathize with your situation however it is what it is.
The 10-year Unlawful Presence Bar If you are an alien and are not a lawful permanent resident of the United States, you may be inadmissible for 10 years if:
You accrued one year or more of unlawful presence during a single stay in the United States on or after April 1, 1997; and You voluntarily departed the United States or were removed from the United States under any provision of law. The 10-year unlawful presence bar applies whether you leave before, during, or after removal proceedings.
This 10-year inadmissibility period starts when you depart or are removed from the United States. During this 10-year inadmissibility period you are not eligible to:
Receive an immigrant or a nonimmigrant visa to come to the United States; Adjust your status in the United States to that of a lawful permanent resident (Green Card holder); or Be admitted to the United States at a port of entry. If you are subject to the 3-year or the 10-year unlawful presence bars, you may receive a visa and/or be admitted to the United States if you apply for and receive a waiver of inadmissibility. The legal requirements and procedures for applying for the waiver depend on the immigration benefit you seek.
https://www.uscis.gov/laws-and-policy/other-resources/unlawful-presence-and-bars-to-admissibility