A popular 18-year-old Indiana high school homecoming queen and salutatorian likely won't be able to deliver her graduation speech in person this weekend because she is stuck in Mexico on a visa technicality that could ban her from the United States for three years.

Elizabeth Olivas, 18, of Frankfort, Ind., whose father is a naturalized U.S. citizen, has lived in the United States since the age of 4, The Indianapolis Star reports.

U.S. immigration law sets the clock ticking for children like Olivas when they turn 18, the Star's John Tuohy reports. They are considered an "unlawful presence" in the United States and have 180 days to return to their native country to get a visa, or green card.

Olivas, the Frankfort High School homecoming queen and standout athlete, missed the deadline by one day.

Her father says he delayed her trip as long as possible so that she would miss the least amount of school.

Also, according to her Indianapolis lawyer, Sarah Moshe, her firm, like many, uses a legal-calendar to keep track of key dates and did not take into account that this is a leap year, with an extra day in February.

"She feels awful, terrible, devastated," Moshe says of Olivas. "The whole situation is crazy."

Olivas, who has been in Chihuahua, Mexico, for six weeks, is now hoping for a "humanitarian parole" to make graduation in time.

That's up to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service office in Juarez -- and the process can take three months.

Maria Elena-Upson, a Dallas-based spokeswoman for USCIS, tells the newspaper that the agency doesn't like to take waiver applications out of turn.

"There are a lot of people seeking waivers, and it is first come, first served," she says.

Frankfort high school principal Steve Edwards tells The Star that Olivas' classmates are "super sad" that she might miss her big day.

"This is a very skilled, talented, beautiful young lady," he says. "This hurts me and is one of the hardest things I've ever dealt with in my life."