fromnaija
10-05 11:00 AM
Yes, I noticed that and thought the same. I am submitting my application today. I have been trying it for the last 7 years with no luck. Who knows, this one could be the one when I hit the jackpot ! :cool:
Dream on. I have been trying it since inception but have never won. Well, that's why it's called a lottery.
Dream on. I have been trying it since inception but have never won. Well, that's why it's called a lottery.
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krishna.ahd
02-08 08:14 AM
my opinion what ever route u go u will have minimum 2 stops . IF u take direct flights like ny/chicago to delhi then u will have to fly from delhi to ahd.
what ever route u fly cost will be from $1300 to $1500
so my take would be this.
Atlanta - LA - singapore - ahmedabad (via singapore airlines).
no transist visa needed
service and food/drinks of singapore airline just superb.
singapore airport is also superb. nice entertainment area / food court. btw it has desi fast food place so you can enjoy good food there too.
last thing singapore to ahd direct flight :)
aj
Yes , your best bet is via LA , singapore or something like that
Or
Delta non stop to JFK - BOM
or
Any other non stop to Delhi/Bom
what ever route u fly cost will be from $1300 to $1500
so my take would be this.
Atlanta - LA - singapore - ahmedabad (via singapore airlines).
no transist visa needed
service and food/drinks of singapore airline just superb.
singapore airport is also superb. nice entertainment area / food court. btw it has desi fast food place so you can enjoy good food there too.
last thing singapore to ahd direct flight :)
aj
Yes , your best bet is via LA , singapore or something like that
Or
Delta non stop to JFK - BOM
or
Any other non stop to Delhi/Bom
ivgclive
12-14 01:30 AM
Hi,
If married in India & want to take divorce in USA what is the procedure & will it be a valid divorce?
Extremely sorry to hear that in this forum.
If there are valid reasons (believe me, 99.9% of time they are worthless issues) and you fall in that 0.1% (both of you are aware and willing to go separate), please go to India get it settled.
If you fall in 99.9%, talk to your spouse, take few days off from work, go out alone and get it settled within your home.
As others said, it is an expensive process and headace you don't want to go thru.
For me, I still believe you both can figure out and get back on track before it derails.
If you have kids, young kids, please please please, think 99999 times before you do this. It is worth going thru this pain for them.
If you are 30 years old, just think that its going to be another 20 to 25 years of active family life.
USCIS is creating problems in our everyday life, we take that pain and ready to wait another 20 years for GC, why not for a spouse who is living with us everyday?
Good Luck.
Bottom line : 99.9% time it is WORTHLESS arguments that leads us to get frustrated...
If married in India & want to take divorce in USA what is the procedure & will it be a valid divorce?
Extremely sorry to hear that in this forum.
If there are valid reasons (believe me, 99.9% of time they are worthless issues) and you fall in that 0.1% (both of you are aware and willing to go separate), please go to India get it settled.
If you fall in 99.9%, talk to your spouse, take few days off from work, go out alone and get it settled within your home.
As others said, it is an expensive process and headace you don't want to go thru.
For me, I still believe you both can figure out and get back on track before it derails.
If you have kids, young kids, please please please, think 99999 times before you do this. It is worth going thru this pain for them.
If you are 30 years old, just think that its going to be another 20 to 25 years of active family life.
USCIS is creating problems in our everyday life, we take that pain and ready to wait another 20 years for GC, why not for a spouse who is living with us everyday?
Good Luck.
Bottom line : 99.9% time it is WORTHLESS arguments that leads us to get frustrated...
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badluck
07-09 10:20 AM
This website is for immigration issues only. Please dont hate me now.
more...
learning01
05-11 01:14 PM
http://cpr.org/listen/
and click any link under KCFR. Program going good.
and click any link under KCFR. Program going good.
sunny1000
10-09 08:29 PM
I would appreciate if someone can help me with a link to how to post this question as a new post. I do not want to hijack this thread :o
goto "forums" on the top left (next to "home"). Once in the "forums" page, click on "Non-immigrant visa"->"all drivers license issues posted here" and post your query.
hope that helps.
goto "forums" on the top left (next to "home"). Once in the "forums" page, click on "Non-immigrant visa"->"all drivers license issues posted here" and post your query.
hope that helps.
more...
adibhatla
06-16 11:52 AM
I have seen a letter from USCIS after a congressional enquiry that the "485 is pre-adjudicated and waiting for a visa number"
Hi Chandu,
Could you tell me what needs to be written to the congressman (looking at the content).
Appreciate your help in this regard.
MA
Hi Chandu,
Could you tell me what needs to be written to the congressman (looking at the content).
Appreciate your help in this regard.
MA
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madsat1234
06-08 03:11 PM
Hi Freedom2007,
Can you please let me know your Interview Checklist..what they have asked for...
Thanks
Can you please let me know your Interview Checklist..what they have asked for...
Thanks
more...
amitpan007
06-09 12:26 PM
You got to ignore some of these statuses from certain IOs. I went for infopass end of may and I was told namecheck is pending. When i said it does not matter anymore since it has passed 180 days, he mentioned that its not official yet and gave me a document describing name check process which mentioned something about N-400 which i believe is for FB. Talked to IO over the phone a week later and I was told that its assigned to the officer and Visa Number also assigned. Got the Card Production Ordered email next day.
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va_dude
06-16 11:56 AM
I think people should refrain from making congressional enquiries just to get a status update on their case. It should be used only under special circumstances, RFE, rejection, etc.
If everyone starts doing this, these congressional offices will just not entertain our genuine requests anymore.
If you really need to check just the status, take an Infopass.
Just my 2 cents.
va_dude
If everyone starts doing this, these congressional offices will just not entertain our genuine requests anymore.
If you really need to check just the status, take an Infopass.
Just my 2 cents.
va_dude
more...
canmt
10-31 08:18 AM
You can apply for your EAD renewal 4 months in advance. If USCIS takes more than 3 months to renew your EAD, you could visit the nearest USCIS field office and request for an interim EAD after you have accrued 90 days of filing EAD renewal. You will get your Interim EAD in day(s). My personal opinion would be not to spend too much $ for EAD renewal as it is simple online application and you have instructions on the USCIS website.
I hope this helps and good luck on your green card pursuit...
I hope this helps and good luck on your green card pursuit...
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javadeveloper
09-04 10:24 AM
Hi guys,
I would like to know if somebody has done interfiling i.e. upgrading EB category while pending AOS. I am planning to do it as soon as I receive my RN (July filer). I was looking for some more info on this from folks who have already done it. Thx
I am also planning.
I would like to know if somebody has done interfiling i.e. upgrading EB category while pending AOS. I am planning to do it as soon as I receive my RN (July filer). I was looking for some more info on this from folks who have already done it. Thx
I am also planning.
more...
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go_guy123
10-11 10:54 AM
It seems that the bill S 1085 (the Reuniting Families Act (RFA) has become active again. I received e-mails from Senator Menedez and Senator Lautenberg talking about the bill. Senator Menendex mentioned the recapture employment-based visas that haven't been used in past years so that they may be used in future years. Among other things, he also mentioned that he will continue to address the concerns of employment-based visas in the context of comprehensive immigration reform. He is the sponsor of the S 1085 bill.
Senetor Lautenberg mentioned "Under current immigration law, employment-based immigration is limited to 140,000 visas, or green cards, per year. The process for obtaining employment-based visas can take years to complete, causing many of these visas to go unused. There is also an annual per-country limit that caps at seven percent the number of employment-based immigrants that can come from any one country. In some instances, this per-country cap causes employers to consider country of origin, not talent, when hiring foreign workers.
A bill has been introduced in the Senate that would address some of these delays and caps. The “Reuniting American Families Act” (S. 1085) would recapture unused employment-based visas from prior years. This bill would allow the Department of Homeland Security to issue any unused visas from Fiscal Years 1992-2007 and in the future roll over any unused visas from one year to the next. It would also increase the per-country cap for employment-based visas to ten percent of the annual total."
It seems that Senator Menendez is doing a lot of work to bring relief to all immigrants including employment based. It may be brought in the lame-duck session in December.
Please call your Senators to co-sponsor/support this bill.
Senator Menendez in charge of this...looks like Fox guarding the hen house. I suspect he is more interested in hostage taking "employment-based immigrants " for his
"comprehensive immigration reform". Dream act advocates know this and are openly attacking the "frenemies" or "two-faced" pro-immigrant politicians and Senetor Reid in the democratic party.
Senetor Lautenberg mentioned "Under current immigration law, employment-based immigration is limited to 140,000 visas, or green cards, per year. The process for obtaining employment-based visas can take years to complete, causing many of these visas to go unused. There is also an annual per-country limit that caps at seven percent the number of employment-based immigrants that can come from any one country. In some instances, this per-country cap causes employers to consider country of origin, not talent, when hiring foreign workers.
A bill has been introduced in the Senate that would address some of these delays and caps. The “Reuniting American Families Act” (S. 1085) would recapture unused employment-based visas from prior years. This bill would allow the Department of Homeland Security to issue any unused visas from Fiscal Years 1992-2007 and in the future roll over any unused visas from one year to the next. It would also increase the per-country cap for employment-based visas to ten percent of the annual total."
It seems that Senator Menendez is doing a lot of work to bring relief to all immigrants including employment based. It may be brought in the lame-duck session in December.
Please call your Senators to co-sponsor/support this bill.
Senator Menendez in charge of this...looks like Fox guarding the hen house. I suspect he is more interested in hostage taking "employment-based immigrants " for his
"comprehensive immigration reform". Dream act advocates know this and are openly attacking the "frenemies" or "two-faced" pro-immigrant politicians and Senetor Reid in the democratic party.
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Lacris
07-18 01:39 AM
They might return urs , simple.
:confused:
Could you answer this? We applied in march for 140/485. I have EAD, AP and FP done.The problem is that I don't remember seing the I-140 application among the papers we had to sign, and nothing just for my husband to sign, which would be normal, since he's the primary applicant. I thought at the time that I-140, being thru the employer doesn't have to be filed personally? Do you think it's possible the I-140 was accepted by mistake without the signature or should I enquire more and maybe my husband signed it at work and doesn't remember?
Thank you
:confused:
Could you answer this? We applied in march for 140/485. I have EAD, AP and FP done.The problem is that I don't remember seing the I-140 application among the papers we had to sign, and nothing just for my husband to sign, which would be normal, since he's the primary applicant. I thought at the time that I-140, being thru the employer doesn't have to be filed personally? Do you think it's possible the I-140 was accepted by mistake without the signature or should I enquire more and maybe my husband signed it at work and doesn't remember?
Thank you
more...
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devikas81
02-26 11:22 AM
In which state you are practicing as a PT??
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arnet
10-31 04:05 PM
my lawyer said that if anyone uses EAD to work or planning to use EAD soon (not H1B) then it is better to apply for EAD renewal before 6 months of current one expires. If you are in H1B not planning to use EAD even in future then you can renew it 3-4 months before expiry.
more...
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mnq1979
10-23 10:48 AM
Bad idea to leave after two days. He should allow for 3 business days at least and then go to Pak.
I had my visa stamping done in Canada this summer and got the visa in 2 business days. My appointment was Wednesday and got the passport with visa stamped on Friday afternoon . This is the best case scenario.
And yes I'm from Pakistan :)
Ok, thanks for the info...really appreciate it...will let him know to stay atleast 3-4 days and then leave.....by the way did u go to Ottawa for stamping or some place else in canada?
secondly can u please also tell me that if the visa officer told u after ur interview that u would need to come on friday to pick get ur visa stamp or did they jst say that they will inform u? do u remember by any chance that if the visa officer told u that u would have certain # of days to come and stamp ur visa once they inform u that ur visa is ready for stamping?
thanks n sorry for the multi threads !!!!
I had my visa stamping done in Canada this summer and got the visa in 2 business days. My appointment was Wednesday and got the passport with visa stamped on Friday afternoon . This is the best case scenario.
And yes I'm from Pakistan :)
Ok, thanks for the info...really appreciate it...will let him know to stay atleast 3-4 days and then leave.....by the way did u go to Ottawa for stamping or some place else in canada?
secondly can u please also tell me that if the visa officer told u after ur interview that u would need to come on friday to pick get ur visa stamp or did they jst say that they will inform u? do u remember by any chance that if the visa officer told u that u would have certain # of days to come and stamp ur visa once they inform u that ur visa is ready for stamping?
thanks n sorry for the multi threads !!!!
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sri_chicago
05-14 06:33 PM
Hi--
Priority Date : Feb 2006/EB3
I-140 Approved on Sept 2006
I-485 filed on 07/02/2007
Spouse I-485 online status changed to requested additional evidence on May 01,2009.
As of now either me or my attorney not received RFE letter.
Please advice how to solve this.
Priority Date : Feb 2006/EB3
I-140 Approved on Sept 2006
I-485 filed on 07/02/2007
Spouse I-485 online status changed to requested additional evidence on May 01,2009.
As of now either me or my attorney not received RFE letter.
Please advice how to solve this.
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purgan
11-11 10:32 AM
Randell,
Congratulations on getting the attention of the Times, and your tireless efforts in spreading word of the broken legal immigration system.
===
New York Times
Immigration, a Love Story
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/12/fashion/12green.html
WHEN Kenneth Harrell Jr., an Assemblies of God minister in South Carolina, invited Gricelda Molina to join his Spanish ministry in 2000, it didn’t take him long to realize he had found the woman he had been waiting for. On the telephone and during romantic strolls they talked about their goals, their commitment to God and how many children each would like to have. Six months flew by, and he asked her to marry him.
“She’s a beautiful woman with a beautiful spirit, very gentle, very sincere,” Mr. Harrell said. But Ms. Molina, a factory worker, was also an undocumented immigrant from Honduras, who had crossed into the United States twice, having once been deported. Mr. Harrell, the pastor of Airport Assembly of God church in West Columbia, said he was not too concerned. “Whatever came, we would walk through this path together,” he said.
Mr. Harrell and Ms. Molina, both 35, married in 2001, in a large wedding attended by family from both sides and blessed by pastors in English and Spanish. But the Harrells no longer live together, not because of divorce, but because Mrs. Harrell, now the mother of two sons and four months pregnant with their third child, has been deported. She had applied for legal residency, or a green card, with her new husband as her sponsor, Mr. Harrell said, but she was sent back to Honduras 20 months ago because of her illegal entries and told she would have to wait 10 years to try again.
“Illegals are pouring over the border,” said Mr. Harrell, who has visited his family five times. “We meet them, we fall in love with them, we marry them. And then the government tears your family apart, and they take no responsibility for letting them in, in the first place.”
Falling in love and marching toward marriage is not always easy, but a particular brand of heartache and hardship can await when one of the partners is in this country illegally. The uncertainty of such a union has only been heightened by the national debate over illegal immigration. Whether the new Democratic leadership in Congress will help people like the Harrells remains to be seen.
It is hard to quantify how many people find themselves in Mr. Harrell’s situation, but with stepped-up enforcement in recent years, deportations have increased, and so have fears of losing a loved one in that way. (There were 168,310 removals in 2005, compared with 108,000 in 2000, immigration officials said.)
And that is only one byproduct of love between two people with such uneven places in society, immigration lawyers say. Many relationships strain under the financial burden of hiring lawyers for what can turn into years of visiting government offices, producing pictures, tax records and other evidence of a legitimate marriage in the quest for legalization. And while instances of immigrants faking love for a green card are in the minority, according to immigration officials, some couples feel pressure to marry before they are ready, hoping that marriage will prevent a loved one’s deportation.
Raul Godinez, an immigration lawyer in Los Angeles, said: “I ask people, ‘How much do you love this person? Because immigration is going to test your marriage.’ If you don’t feel it’s going to be a strong marriage, I wouldn’t do it.”
Many people may still believe that obtaining legal status through marriage is easy, because of periodic reports of marriage scams. In a three-year investigation called Operation Newlywed Game, immigration and customs enforcement agents caught more than 40 suspects in California for allegedly orchestrating sham marriages between hundreds of Chinese or Vietnamese nationals and United States citizens. But such fraud occurs in only a minority of cases, federal officials said.
In reality, immigration lawyers said, marrying a citizen does not automatically entitle the spouse to a green card and is only the first step in a long bureaucratic journey. The lawyers noted that changes in the law in the last five years have made this legalization path increasingly difficult, one worth choosing only if true love is at stake. (Other routes include sponsorship by immediate family members or an employer.)
The Harrells said they had no idea how difficult it could be and were shocked when Mrs. Harrell’s application for permanent residence was turned down, leaving them only 12 days to prepare for her departure. In that time, Mr. Harrell said, they decided that the children, now 4 and 3, would go with her. So Mr. Harrell obtained passports for them, and the church held a farewell service.
“It was very traumatic,” he said. “Our whole world was crashing around us.”
In Yoro, in north central Honduras, where Mrs. Harrell and the children live with her parents, she said the older boy constantly asks for his father, begging, “Let’s go to my papa’s house.” She has coped with her own dejection, too. “I know how much work he has over there,” she said by telephone. “He needs his wife.”
But even in the best of circumstances, when an immigrant enters the country legally, couples may have to rearrange their lives and defer their dreams.
Paola Emery, a jewelry designer, and her husband, Randall Emery, a computer consultant in Philadelphia, said they delayed having children and buying a house for the nearly four years it took the government to complete a background check for Mrs. Emery, who had entered the country from Colombia with a tourist visa and applied for permanent residency after they married in 2002.
Mrs. Emery, 27, said lawyers advised them it was not wise for her to risk trouble by visiting her close-knit family in Colombia and then trying to re-enter this country. She said she was absent through weddings, illnesses and even the kidnapping and rescue of an uncle.
“I felt like I was in jail,” Mrs. Emery said.
Officials with the Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Homeland Security Department say that delays lasting years are rare, but some immigration lawyers say they see clients who wait three to four years for security clearance. Mrs. Emery and her husband, 34, sued Homeland Security over the delays, and she was finally cleared last May. By then Mr. Emery had helped form American Families United, a group of citizens who have sponsored immediate family members for immigration, and which advocates immigration-law change to keep families together. Immigration Services officials say they are not out to impede love or immigration. Nearly 260,000 spouses of citizens received permanent residency through marriage last year, out of 1.1 million people who became permanent residents, according to the Immigration Services office. “The goal is to give people who are eligible the benefit,” said Marie T. Sebrechts, its spokeswoman in Southern California. She said the agency does not comment on individual cases.
When a legal immigrant is sponsored by an American spouse, she said, the green card can be obtained in as little as six months. But with complications like an illegal entry, laws are not that benevolent, Ms. Sebrechts said. In those cases, the immigrant usually must return to the home country and wait 3 to 10 years to apply for residency, though waivers are sometimes granted.
Such obstacles are far from the minds of couples when they meet. And for some, so is the idea to question whether the beloved feels equally in love with them.
Sharyn T. Sooho, a divorce lawyer and a founder of divorcenet.com, a Web site for divorcing couples, said she has represented American spouses who realized too late that the person they married was more interested in a green card than in living happily ever after. “They feel conflicted, used and abused,” she said. “It’s a quick marriage, and suddenly the person who was so sweet is turning into a nightmare.”
But more often, said Carlina Tapia-Ruano, the president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, couples marry before they are ready because “there’s fear that if you don’t do this, somebody is going to get deported.”
Krystal Rivera, 18, a college student in Los Angeles, and her boyfriend fall into this group. Ms. Rivera is set on marrying in April 2008, even as she worries that it may put too much pressure on the relationship.
“I never wanted to follow the Hispanic ritual of getting married early,” said Ms. Rivera, a native of Los Angeles whose parents emigrated from Mexico.
She said she fell in love at 13 with a Mexican-born boy who sang in the church choir with her. “He started poking me, and I said ‘Stop it!’ ” she remembered.
Ms. Rivera is still in love with the boy, now 19, who was brought into the country illegally by his mother when he was 12. He goes to college and wants to become a teacher, while she hopes to become a doctor.
But for those plans to work, Ms. Rivera said, she needs to help him legalize his status. She said she has witnessed his frustration as he dealt with employers who didn’t pay what they owed him or struggled to find better jobs than his current one as a line cook. Because of his illegal status, he is unable to get a driver’s license or visit the brothers he left in Mexico. “We want to be normal,” Ms. Rivera said.
The Harrells, too, have decided to take charge. After months of exploring how to reunite the family and spending thousands of dollars on lawyers, Mr. Harrell has decided to leave his small congregation, sell his house and join his wife in Honduras. He will be a missionary for his church for a fraction of the $40,000 a year he makes as a minister.
Congratulations on getting the attention of the Times, and your tireless efforts in spreading word of the broken legal immigration system.
===
New York Times
Immigration, a Love Story
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/12/fashion/12green.html
WHEN Kenneth Harrell Jr., an Assemblies of God minister in South Carolina, invited Gricelda Molina to join his Spanish ministry in 2000, it didn’t take him long to realize he had found the woman he had been waiting for. On the telephone and during romantic strolls they talked about their goals, their commitment to God and how many children each would like to have. Six months flew by, and he asked her to marry him.
“She’s a beautiful woman with a beautiful spirit, very gentle, very sincere,” Mr. Harrell said. But Ms. Molina, a factory worker, was also an undocumented immigrant from Honduras, who had crossed into the United States twice, having once been deported. Mr. Harrell, the pastor of Airport Assembly of God church in West Columbia, said he was not too concerned. “Whatever came, we would walk through this path together,” he said.
Mr. Harrell and Ms. Molina, both 35, married in 2001, in a large wedding attended by family from both sides and blessed by pastors in English and Spanish. But the Harrells no longer live together, not because of divorce, but because Mrs. Harrell, now the mother of two sons and four months pregnant with their third child, has been deported. She had applied for legal residency, or a green card, with her new husband as her sponsor, Mr. Harrell said, but she was sent back to Honduras 20 months ago because of her illegal entries and told she would have to wait 10 years to try again.
“Illegals are pouring over the border,” said Mr. Harrell, who has visited his family five times. “We meet them, we fall in love with them, we marry them. And then the government tears your family apart, and they take no responsibility for letting them in, in the first place.”
Falling in love and marching toward marriage is not always easy, but a particular brand of heartache and hardship can await when one of the partners is in this country illegally. The uncertainty of such a union has only been heightened by the national debate over illegal immigration. Whether the new Democratic leadership in Congress will help people like the Harrells remains to be seen.
It is hard to quantify how many people find themselves in Mr. Harrell’s situation, but with stepped-up enforcement in recent years, deportations have increased, and so have fears of losing a loved one in that way. (There were 168,310 removals in 2005, compared with 108,000 in 2000, immigration officials said.)
And that is only one byproduct of love between two people with such uneven places in society, immigration lawyers say. Many relationships strain under the financial burden of hiring lawyers for what can turn into years of visiting government offices, producing pictures, tax records and other evidence of a legitimate marriage in the quest for legalization. And while instances of immigrants faking love for a green card are in the minority, according to immigration officials, some couples feel pressure to marry before they are ready, hoping that marriage will prevent a loved one’s deportation.
Raul Godinez, an immigration lawyer in Los Angeles, said: “I ask people, ‘How much do you love this person? Because immigration is going to test your marriage.’ If you don’t feel it’s going to be a strong marriage, I wouldn’t do it.”
Many people may still believe that obtaining legal status through marriage is easy, because of periodic reports of marriage scams. In a three-year investigation called Operation Newlywed Game, immigration and customs enforcement agents caught more than 40 suspects in California for allegedly orchestrating sham marriages between hundreds of Chinese or Vietnamese nationals and United States citizens. But such fraud occurs in only a minority of cases, federal officials said.
In reality, immigration lawyers said, marrying a citizen does not automatically entitle the spouse to a green card and is only the first step in a long bureaucratic journey. The lawyers noted that changes in the law in the last five years have made this legalization path increasingly difficult, one worth choosing only if true love is at stake. (Other routes include sponsorship by immediate family members or an employer.)
The Harrells said they had no idea how difficult it could be and were shocked when Mrs. Harrell’s application for permanent residence was turned down, leaving them only 12 days to prepare for her departure. In that time, Mr. Harrell said, they decided that the children, now 4 and 3, would go with her. So Mr. Harrell obtained passports for them, and the church held a farewell service.
“It was very traumatic,” he said. “Our whole world was crashing around us.”
In Yoro, in north central Honduras, where Mrs. Harrell and the children live with her parents, she said the older boy constantly asks for his father, begging, “Let’s go to my papa’s house.” She has coped with her own dejection, too. “I know how much work he has over there,” she said by telephone. “He needs his wife.”
But even in the best of circumstances, when an immigrant enters the country legally, couples may have to rearrange their lives and defer their dreams.
Paola Emery, a jewelry designer, and her husband, Randall Emery, a computer consultant in Philadelphia, said they delayed having children and buying a house for the nearly four years it took the government to complete a background check for Mrs. Emery, who had entered the country from Colombia with a tourist visa and applied for permanent residency after they married in 2002.
Mrs. Emery, 27, said lawyers advised them it was not wise for her to risk trouble by visiting her close-knit family in Colombia and then trying to re-enter this country. She said she was absent through weddings, illnesses and even the kidnapping and rescue of an uncle.
“I felt like I was in jail,” Mrs. Emery said.
Officials with the Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Homeland Security Department say that delays lasting years are rare, but some immigration lawyers say they see clients who wait three to four years for security clearance. Mrs. Emery and her husband, 34, sued Homeland Security over the delays, and she was finally cleared last May. By then Mr. Emery had helped form American Families United, a group of citizens who have sponsored immediate family members for immigration, and which advocates immigration-law change to keep families together. Immigration Services officials say they are not out to impede love or immigration. Nearly 260,000 spouses of citizens received permanent residency through marriage last year, out of 1.1 million people who became permanent residents, according to the Immigration Services office. “The goal is to give people who are eligible the benefit,” said Marie T. Sebrechts, its spokeswoman in Southern California. She said the agency does not comment on individual cases.
When a legal immigrant is sponsored by an American spouse, she said, the green card can be obtained in as little as six months. But with complications like an illegal entry, laws are not that benevolent, Ms. Sebrechts said. In those cases, the immigrant usually must return to the home country and wait 3 to 10 years to apply for residency, though waivers are sometimes granted.
Such obstacles are far from the minds of couples when they meet. And for some, so is the idea to question whether the beloved feels equally in love with them.
Sharyn T. Sooho, a divorce lawyer and a founder of divorcenet.com, a Web site for divorcing couples, said she has represented American spouses who realized too late that the person they married was more interested in a green card than in living happily ever after. “They feel conflicted, used and abused,” she said. “It’s a quick marriage, and suddenly the person who was so sweet is turning into a nightmare.”
But more often, said Carlina Tapia-Ruano, the president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, couples marry before they are ready because “there’s fear that if you don’t do this, somebody is going to get deported.”
Krystal Rivera, 18, a college student in Los Angeles, and her boyfriend fall into this group. Ms. Rivera is set on marrying in April 2008, even as she worries that it may put too much pressure on the relationship.
“I never wanted to follow the Hispanic ritual of getting married early,” said Ms. Rivera, a native of Los Angeles whose parents emigrated from Mexico.
She said she fell in love at 13 with a Mexican-born boy who sang in the church choir with her. “He started poking me, and I said ‘Stop it!’ ” she remembered.
Ms. Rivera is still in love with the boy, now 19, who was brought into the country illegally by his mother when he was 12. He goes to college and wants to become a teacher, while she hopes to become a doctor.
But for those plans to work, Ms. Rivera said, she needs to help him legalize his status. She said she has witnessed his frustration as he dealt with employers who didn’t pay what they owed him or struggled to find better jobs than his current one as a line cook. Because of his illegal status, he is unable to get a driver’s license or visit the brothers he left in Mexico. “We want to be normal,” Ms. Rivera said.
The Harrells, too, have decided to take charge. After months of exploring how to reunite the family and spending thousands of dollars on lawyers, Mr. Harrell has decided to leave his small congregation, sell his house and join his wife in Honduras. He will be a missionary for his church for a fraction of the $40,000 a year he makes as a minister.
RedHat
08-30 05:01 PM
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I field my GC thru Very good company.
I am not understanding why its happend
Ann Ruben
04-17 12:22 PM
As you understand there is no magic correct solution to this situation, but, whichever decision you make about which line your mother-in-law stands in, she should be well prepared to document her intention to return to her home abroad after her visit to the US. Documents she should be prepared to show could include: proof of home ownership or long term lease abroad, proof of bank accounts abroad, proof of car ownership abroad, fixed date return ticket, proof of family abroad--husband and/or other children/grandchildren, proof of some specific event she plans to attend abroad such as wedding or other invitations, etc.
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