Fergasun Posted September 17, 2005 Share Posted September 17, 2005 My wife and I are so mad today... I just have to come somewhere and vent. We got married last year and she is a Korean citizen, who was over here on a student visa, then a working visa. Naturally, she decided she wants to live here and attain American citizenship... in fact she has been working on this since before I met her. We've been working through a good immigration law firm, and pushing through the correct paperwork. The immigration interview (kind've a big deal) was scheduled sometime in April for August 17. Well, she was pregnant and our due date was August 11, so we petitioned DHS to delay the interview. The petition went through successfully and on August 10 we received a letter saying the interview has been re-scheduled for October 11. So, everything is set or so we thought.... Today she got a letter in the mail... "Upon consideration it is ordered that your application for status as permanent resident be denied because: You were scheduled for an interview on August 17. You failed to appear for that interview. (Citing the various laws and codes... blah blah). If you fail to depart from the United States, proceedings will be instituted to enforce your departure. You may renew your application for status as a permanent resident during such proceedings. If you believe your application has been denied in error you may file a Motion to Reopen or Reconsider with a fee of $110 at the address listed below." That letter was dated September 13... the letter to re-schedule the interview was dated August 10. So they expect us to show up after they re-schedule the interview?! What the *** is this? After going through the process, hiring a lawyer and paying the fees of citizenship for $1500.. they are going to deny my request because someone at office A didn't talk to someone at office B... and oh by the way if I want them to reconsider I HAVE TO PAY A FEE (which I consider a bribe). How can they treat us like this... she is married to an American citizen, hasn't broken any laws, hasn't committed any crimes... and because of some paper screw up she's now on the deportation list. But the millions of people here illegally... now they can sign up for any government programs they want. This is unreal... Now I know why many people would rather be undocumented than jump through the hoops of immigration... they don't bother to go after them, but after you provide DHS with your name and address... they say "Hmmm... easy target, let's deport this person who has lived in America for 10 years on a green card, then got married to an American citizen and had an American citizen baby". I'm freaking trying to support my family... and now I have to deal with even more **** from the government... Gosh... freakin' idiots! On more thing... I work for the government! This is how they are going to treat us?! "Thanks for workin for us... but we're going to deport your wife... this is also after we promote your mediocre co-workers and give them awards... but you who is one of our better employees... no... we're sending your wife back to Korea" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chomerics Posted September 17, 2005 Share Posted September 17, 2005 Man, that's a horrible story, but expected from the federal government. I work for them as well, and yes they do suck. Your best bet would be to contact your state representative and Senator. Let them both know what happened to you, and they can take care of things for you. You should send them an e-mail, as well as call them on Monday morning. BTW, did you get married in the US? They can't deport her if she is legally married to you, at least I think that is the law. Good luck, but get in touch with Washington, they will help you out. If not, contact the local newspapers and then call up our reps again. That will shake things up for ya. Godd luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueTalon Posted September 17, 2005 Share Posted September 17, 2005 Hopefully you've cooled down long enough to clear this up with a phone call. This just sounds like a bureaucratic snag that could happen anywhere (but which typically happens with the government). Just hang on to your paperwork, and you should be good, without having to spend an additional $110. (If not, you have a pretty pathetic legal team.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fergasun Posted October 11, 2005 Author Share Posted October 11, 2005 Update: DHS still sucks. We went in for my wife's interview today and they told us that her file had been sent to the National Records Center in Missouri, probably by mistake. They can't do the interview without having her file on hand. We'll see how this plays out. I think her situation is a little complicated. My wife entered as a student and transfered to an H1B. When the company sponsoring her went under she tried to transfer status to a new company, but that was denied. When she got denied she was already married with me, and filed for new wife of a citizen status. I guess technically she is "out of status" (illegal) right now, but since she entered into the country legally we don't have to pay the $1000 "America forgives you for breaking our laws" fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilmer17 Posted October 11, 2005 Share Posted October 11, 2005 definitely call your Congressman. Call their district office and ask to speak the staffer who handles immigration problems for the constituents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pR0JEkT 21 Posted October 11, 2005 Share Posted October 11, 2005 Man, that's a horrible story, but expected from the federal government. I work for them as well, and yes they do suck. Your best bet would be to contact your state representative and Senator. Let them both know what happened to you, and they can take care of things for you. You should send them an e-mail, as well as call them on Monday morning. BTW, did you get married in the US? They can't deport her if she is legally married to you, at least I think that is the law. Good luck, but get in touch with Washington, they will help you out. If not, contact the local newspapers and then call up our reps again. That will shake things up for ya. Godd luck. Sorry to say this, but I have a friend that was born in Paris, FRANCE. He moved to the states in 1984 at the age of 4 years old, and grew up here in the states for 20 years. He was an american pretty much, not by paperwork, but because he lived there for so long. He came in on his mothers visa. His parents didnt take care of his paperwork so by the age of 18 he started his own. He has no criminal record, he graduated high school, who has an american wife and 2 american childeren and they still deported him and his family. Hes 26 now..they told him to leave last year. At the age of 19 the INS judge granted him permission to stay in the country and they gave him his social security # and a work permit. The problem is INS had to appeal the decision by the judge and tried to get rid of him. He was a citizen to me ..he paid taxes and worked never was unemployed and always had a job and never lived off the government not mentioning that he didnt even speak french and the only language he knew was english. So they went threw all the loop holes as well and forked out like 3000 dollars into attorneys and everything. INS and DHS says that he broke a law because of his parents mistake. That he was living here in the states illegally for 20 years because the visa was expired. What I dont understand is how can you hold a 4 year old responsible for something like that. What do they want him to pay taxes too at the age of 4? How freakin retarded! The crappy thing is his mom got deported too, but his dad still gets to stay. Im confused thats the bottomline, they got rid of my bestfriend for nothing and now hes livin in FRANCE since july last year, living off the government cause they cant even get jobs in that country because they cant even speak the language. They lost everything their house, cars, jobs and etc. Anyways my point is being married to an American citizen doesnt help at all..the government [iNS/DHS] is just a bunch of A-HOLES with no heart and rather keep criminals and hand out visas and passports too dumb a$$ people like the guys who jacked the planes on sept. 11th! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cdowwe Posted October 11, 2005 Share Posted October 11, 2005 Its more of the slow bureacracy than anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted October 11, 2005 Share Posted October 11, 2005 Besides the obvious lack of communication within this government entity the thing that really bothers me is that fact that you have to pay them to fix their own mistake. That really is amazing. You have every right to be upset by this and I'm glad you chose to share this experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsHokieFan Posted October 11, 2005 Share Posted October 11, 2005 Red tape and bueracracy at its best The INS blows big chunks But yeah contact your congressman. Ours did wonders for us in dealing with my grandmothers immigration in the mid 1990s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mayor of Fed Ex Field Posted October 11, 2005 Share Posted October 11, 2005 Well I guess I will have to be the one to defend the Government. Homeland Security keeps you safe. Say what you want, but ever since the office of Homeland Security was installed, America became safer. Maybe you havent noticed, but America has not been attacked since September 11th. Why? Because of things like this. Don't take it personal, as I am not trying to offend you at all, but with very few ways to get in this country, I would hope that all of them are as strict as this policy. It will get cleared up, and Im sure it will take longer than you want. But you should be fine with it like me, because without these barriers and roadblocks in citizenship and entry into the country, we would have alot of shady characters in this country and are saftey level would be at an all time low. Make a phone call. It sucks, but degrading OUR countries Government, thats Cuba type ****. These left wing liberals are to blame for most of the ****ing in thsi country and I am sick of it. Maybe if they werent a cesspool of liars and pond feeding scum, the country would accomplish more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ignatius J. Posted October 11, 2005 Share Posted October 11, 2005 The question is "is it worth it?" the growing sentiment is no. There are things that are more important than our safety. You can't get very far in life being afraid all the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostofAlvinWalton Posted October 12, 2005 Share Posted October 12, 2005 Man, that's a horrible story, but expected from the federal government. I work for them as well, and yes they do suck. Your best bet would be to contact your state representative and Senator. Let them both know what happened to you, and they can take care of things for you. You should send them an e-mail, as well as call them on Monday morning. BTW, did you get married in the US? They can't deport her if she is legally married to you, at least I think that is the law. Good luck, but get in touch with Washington, they will help you out. If not, contact the local newspapers and then call up our reps again. That will shake things up for ya. Godd luck. That is NOT correct. Also there are only two categories of status: in status and out of status. But you should, as has been said, contact your State Rep and Congressman. The filing SNAFU is to be expected unfortunately. Certain departments in DHS are using a different filing policy than they used to. Your immigration attorney needs to get on this. Unfortunately, in my experience 99% of the immigration attorneys I have meet/dealt with are scam artist scumbags. They want to get paid and do not have your best interests in mind. One thing I can guarantee is that it will not be fixed over night. And if it comes to the point where you hear a knock on the door at 0500 hrs, I suggest you cooperate with the agents. They can’t fix your situation but they can make the process less painful and in turn, they can make the process much more painful (not physical but emotional pain). This type of problem should, and I think it will, be taken care of. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pR0JEkT 21 Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 Look at this crap since we are on the subject.. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=2188326 N.C. State forward Grant facing deportation ESPN.com news services RALEIGH, N.C. -- Federal immigration officials have determined that North Carolina State sophomore forward Gavin Grant is in the country illegally, an immigration spokeswoman in Atlanta said Tuesday. Grant, 20, could face deportation after a hearing in federal immigration court in Atlanta, Sue Brown, a spokesoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told The News & Observer of Raleigh. She said she had neither specifics on the hearing date for Grant nor details on the amount of bond on which he was released. "We do know after the interview that it was determined that he was in this country without inspection, which means he did not come with a visitor's visa or anything like that," Brown said. Several messages left by The Associated Press with immigration officials in Cary were not returned Tuesday night. Tom O'Connell, ICE resident agent in charge in Cary, told the newspaper that Grant was interviewed in Raleigh early last week.[highlight]He said he understood that Grant entered the United States from Jamaica after his mother did. Gavin Grant has lived in the United States since at least 1994, O'Connell said.[/highlight] Deportation isn't the only possible outcome for Grant, a key reserve on last year's Wolfpack team that reached the round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament. [highlight]Another option is voluntary departure, where Grant would leave the country on his own and then apply to return, O'Connell said.[/highlight] N.C. State coach Herb Sendek said Grant will go through conditioning as scheduled Wednesday and the plan is for him to be practicing with the team Friday. His status in the U.S. is and has been an ongoing situation and the school is going forward with the assumption that he is in school and on the team. The 6-foot-7 Grant averaged 4.2 points and 2.4 rebounds as a freshman. Grant played at St. Raymond's in New York, the same high school that produced former Wolfpack star Julius Hodge. What a bunch of crap how the hell would he get in the country without a visa? First off, its mandatory to have a visa just to be able to get in the country. So now we have a person who has done nothing wrong and lived here in the states for 11 years and speaks english and is getting an education trying to do things right, and their gonna kick him out the country! :wtf:I bet you something though, they kick out people who dont do nothing wrong and thats another person that gets to saty and terrorize the states. They focus on the wrong people this is ridiculious. Also about that crap, saying he can leave on voluntary departure thats a bunch of bull. That doesnt even work, if you read my post earlier on this thread, I talked about what happened to my best friend. They kicked his ass out and told him he can do the same thing go on his own, cause the thing is he had to leave before the date that they give its a volantary departure, if hes not gone by the date, its deportation. So he left by the date and he still isnt back and hes done everything to try and come back with his family and they told him that he might not be able to get back in because of his parents mistake. I feel bad for my best friend and this basketball player. Also everyone who has to go through this for no damn reason, it just frustrates me. What I dont understand is how did this guy even enroll into college if he has no paperwork? To get into a university your student ID # is your social security #, thats why my friend couldnt even go to college! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chomerics Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 That is NOT correct. Also there are only two categories of status: in status and out of status. But you should, as has been said, contact your State Rep and Congressman. The filing SNAFU is to be expected unfortunately. Certain departments in DHS are using a different filing policy than they used to. Your immigration attorney needs to get on this. Unfortunately, in my experience 99% of the immigration attorneys I have meet/dealt with are scam artist scumbags. They want to get paid and do not have your best interests in mind. One thing I can guarantee is that it will not be fixed over night. And if it comes to the point where you hear a knock on the door at 0500 hrs, I suggest you cooperate with the agents. They can’t fix your situation but they can make the process less painful and in turn, they can make the process much more painful (not physical but emotional pain). This type of problem should, and I think it will, be taken care of. Good luck Cool thanks for clarifying that up for me. One of my friends growing up was Vietnamese, his dad married a woman in the war. He had always told me that she was allowed to live in America because she was married to him, but she had to get her papers before they got a divorce, so I always thought that. Thanks for setting me straight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancalagon the Black Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 Make a phone call. It sucks, but degrading OUR countries Government, thats Cuba type ****. Actually, no, that's exactly what's not allowed in Cuba. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pR0JEkT 21 Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 Red tape and bueracracy at its bestThe INS blows big chunks But yeah contact your congressman. Ours did wonders for us in dealing with my grandmothers immigration in the mid 1990s Its not as easy as that anymore, my bestfriend tried to contact senators Harry Ried and John Ensign here in Nevada. One is democratic and one is republican. They told him all they can do is, propose a private bill in front of congress, and then they would have to vote on it, however the president can veto it if he wants. All that does is buys the person more time and honestly they dont even do this anymore because it takes too much time now days..here in the 2000's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fergasun Posted October 13, 2005 Author Share Posted October 13, 2005 Another Update: My wife has been issued both a Social Security Number and some type of work visa from DHS. This all occured prior to us getting the deportation notice, so we are fairly certain it is some filing screwup. As mentioned before, the INS wing just changed some of their processes nationally, which has caused some filing problems. She has been in status for the last 9 years and went temporarily out of status... but I don't know why they would issue her a work permit if she was out of status. During the process DHS wants to ensure a few things: 1) They want to make sure you entered the country legally. If you lied on your visa application, forged documents, or came in illegally she won't pass. There is a slightly different process for those who entered illegally who have to pay a $1000 fine. We have to make sure our paperwork passes the mustard, and I think this is the hardest part of the process. 2) They run a background check on you to make sure you aren't a criminal. My wife's name will be sent to agencies across the world to make sure she isn't a wanted criminal. 3) The interview is to ensure that my wife and I are legitimately married. Because we have a child this is easier to prove. Sometimes the interviews are harder because the interviewer wants to go exactly by the book. They like to see that we have mixed our finances. We've got a joint bank Once everything passes, she will get a 2 year conditional visa. This is because we've been married for less than 2 years, and that is the average length of a marriage (thank you celebrities). After the 2 year conditional is up, she can get a 10 year visa, but after 3 years from now she'll be able to apply for American citizenship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dead Money Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 This is because we've been married for less than 2 years, and that is the average length of a marriage (thank you celebrities). Glad to see that your keeping you sense of humor throughout this! :thumbsup: Good luck with everything! Your story reminds me how lucky I was to be born in the greatest nation in the world! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DjTj Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 Its not as easy as that anymore, my bestfriend tried to contact senators Harry Ried and John Ensign here in Nevada. One is democratic and one is republican. They told him all they can do is, propose a private bill in front of congress, and then they would have to vote on it, however the president can veto it if he wants. All that does is buys the person more time and honestly they dont even do this anymore because it takes too much time now days..here in the 2000's. In the very brief time I was an intern on Capitol Hill, this was one of the few substantive things I did - I helped get visas for people that were stuck in the system and needed a little bit of expedited service. It's very hard for Congressmen to reverse an INS determination once you have been through the administrative appeals process and especially if you've been through the courts, but when you are at the front end and just trying to talk with someone in position to make a decision, your representatives can be a lot of help. The best thing about calling from a Senate line is that you won't get put on hold. Fergasun's situation sounds like one where they just need to get in touch with someone at INS that is actually competent, and Congress can often be a big help with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thiebear Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 The government doesnt do anything right... Be it Homeland Security or the old INS .. same people age 55 still work there..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fergasun Posted November 11, 2005 Author Share Posted November 11, 2005 ***** ANOTHER UPDATE ***** We finally had our interview today... appointment scheduled for 10 AM. We were brought in early, the interview was done by an older fellow... he was able to pick us out of the crowed because everyone else had a last name that ended in Z. It was the first time my lawyer had gone early to one of these appointments, probably because tommorrow is a government holiday, and he was trying to get done with work. Got in, swore in under oath and he looked through paperwork. We both questionairre a test asking various questions... our answers matched up well enough... the hardest one for me to remember was her mother's name and age, but I came close. Luckily our parents all are the same ages. My wife is funny in that she didn't want to tell him last New Years Eve I went to a party while she stayed in with morning sickness... whereas I tried to explain all my answers. For example, we don't pay for cable, but since we're on digital internet we get some channels in through our cable provided... one of the questions was if we got cable or satelite TV. The reason we got this questionaire is because she's "significantly" older than me. All of our paperwork was good, except since our son was born < 3 months ago the official birth certificate wasn't issued yet. We should be getting it soon. Also my wife didn't have her vaccination record... she's gonna be getting some silly shots in the next couple of weeks. The whole process was painless, as it should be, he didn't ask for any pictures, and we removed her uncle as an added support because I make enough income to support her which was good, that guy is sketchy. Anyways, we were both relieved none of our worst fears and ideas were realized... it was a good day. Since we had to take the 405-101-Downtown LA Exit, we dropped off our baby at some friends and left about 2 hours early... to drive ~ 20 miles. We made it there at 9:30... as we were sitting on the highway's my wife's blood drained... she was worried we weren't going to get there in time as we were still in Burbank a little before 9. Luckily, it seemed like everyone got off the highway at Hollywood, clear sailing into downtown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thiebear Posted November 11, 2005 Share Posted November 11, 2005 /rant off.... good to here it. People that live in a glass house should not through rocks at peoples that have names that end in Z though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fergasun Posted September 8, 2006 Author Share Posted September 8, 2006 ******** FINAL UPDATE ************ I didn't share back in April. My wife was denied permanent residence status back then because DHS again lost her paperwork. A motion was filed to reopen the case back then, and we provided DHS with proof that they indeed received the paperwork they were missing. 3 weeks ago we received a notice that her case had been reopened, and they required fingerprints and marriage certificate. We were lucky because we had already set up an appointment to go downtown, and I had taken the day off. We also had the marriage certificate ready. Going downtown we received good news and bad news. Her Work Permit was denied on August 11th, because her case hadn't been reopened. Better news was that she would get her green card within 2-3 weeks. TODAY HER GREENCARD NOTICE FINALLY CAME IN THE MAIL! US AMERICAN CITIZENS DO NOT REALIZE HOW VALUABLE IT IS TO BE BORN IN THIS GREAT COUNTRY, AND HOW GOOD IT IS THAT WE DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT STATUS, GREEN CARDS, ETC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSW Posted September 8, 2006 Share Posted September 8, 2006 ******** FINAL UPDATE ************I didn't share back in April. My wife was denied permanent residence status back then because DHS again lost her paperwork. A motion was filed to reopen the case back then, and we provided DHS with proof that they indeed received the paperwork they were missing. 3 weeks ago we received a notice that her case had been reopened, and they required fingerprints and marriage certificate. We were lucky because we had already set up an appointment to go downtown, and I had taken the day off. We also had the marriage certificate ready. Going downtown we received good news and bad news. Her Work Permit was denied on August 11th, because her case hadn't been reopened. Better news was that she would get her green card within 2-3 weeks. TODAY HER GREENCARD NOTICE FINALLY CAME IN THE MAIL! US AMERICAN CITIZENS DO NOT REALIZE HOW VALUABLE IT IS TO BE BORN IN THIS GREAT COUNTRY, AND HOW GOOD IT IS THAT WE DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT STATUS, GREEN CARDS, ETC. Actually quite a few of us do. Glad things worked out for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fergasun Posted July 23, 2008 Author Share Posted July 23, 2008 ****** UN-FINAL UPDATE ******** Here's an update on my wife's current immigration status. Since the green card we were working on in 2006 was based on a marriage less than a two years old, she was given a two year conditional visa which expires this September. Within 3 months of that visa expiring you have to apply for a 5-year green card. Since we've been through the system before, we figured a) we didn't need to hire a lawyer and pay crazy lawyer fees; and lets get the paperwork turned in ASAP. In early July (I think the weekend after the 4th) we put applied to remove the conditional status from her visa... and hallelujah if we didn't receive a response last week! SOP in these cases is to extend the conditional visa by 1-year, and now we are waiting to get her biometric appointment set up. I don't expect any problems and actually think we might get approved without an interview this time. I suspect that due to the age difference (she is 7 years older than me) and the fact that her status had gone just into "illegal" status we were first classified as "potential marriage fraud risk" and that is why we had such a dickens of a time getting her green card in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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