whts this HELL

[janson]

Hi Guys,

I'm closly watching USA Immigration system and reform act of our g88 senators...u knw one person hv maximum 90 yrs of life in this world.For USA Immigarion we are spending minimum 5 yrs for all the categories...can i ask u one thing can this senators are working for our good future??..all persons hv value for his/her own life. why they all r waiting for the election purpose.I'm not expecting they will change the law,bcoz if they are looking for a gud US in the future they will nt wait for the rform act.And for other important thinsg thse senators passing all kinds of Bills.So be active and call for the immigration reform.

[PraetorianXI]

No need for rants... you are seeking a privilege not a right, hence you can not demand anything.

[janson]

Should need a strong attention to these type of sons too

Hello all,

Its heartening to know there are so many people that fell the same way as i do.Your comments are a bitter reality.Dear friend I suggestr that we make a forum and forward this letter to all affected by these stupid laws.Can we have a sort of signature campaigns over the internet.Its very true that the american law makers have diferent yardsticks to measure different relations.They seperate us unmarried children from our parents and we have to go through so much mental agony.

I propose that we all should demand that child status protection act should be made retroactive.What the hell is this.we people who are waiting for last 5-6 years,hear one day that CPSA is in place but its not retroactive.What the hell......were we fools that we were waiting for so many years only to find such idiotic laws being passed and visas being given fromour share.The F2B priority date hasnt moved a single day since 5 months.I cant understand what is happening.

Let us share our ideas to see what we all can do collectively...before its too late.


We all victims of age out law feeling same way.

Separation for 2-4 years one might understand. But 9-10 years very
much hard. That too many have to live all alone. Many people are
there who are attach to there family very much. No one to look after
for any even you fall sick or any happened. If a job visa holder
marry his/her spouse also get visa very fast even though they have
not much emotional connection. But what about a person who stay with
his/her family for more then 21 years & being made separated even
though done nothing wrong.

When INS claming to being realize family value want to being them
together. Then certainly we should bring this point under there
notice.

Even from F2 category preference F2A get 77% preference where F2B
only 23%.

http://www.immihelp.com/greencard/visa-bulletin.jsp

If not immigration then too non-immigration arrangement should be
there way he can stay there & work till his number come thru F2B.
Like K / V visa.

There are big number of people who want this things to be happen if
come together there are chances something can be done.

One have to stay alone for 9-10 years.
Cross 21 yrs of age capable of working & help one's family but can't.

There are many ways to make one self heard. You present this
situation to your country as well USA news papers. In today's media
has biggest power. They can bring attention of many people as well as
directly connected to concern authority who has power to change.

So requesting all to come together & try to make change.

[C4us]

If you don't like the rules, you don't have to play the game. No one is forcing you to live in the US.

[janson]

These are the BIG FACTS......

Hi all,

Readers Share Immigration Stories
By Julia Preston
During two years as the national immigration correspondent for The New York Times, I have received many e-mail messages from readers recounting their struggles with the United States immigration system. These readers were often American citizens and legal immigrants who said they were determined to follow the law. Yet they described heavy burdens the federal bureaucracy imposed on them as they tried to play by the rules.
They wrote of being separated from loved ones because of unpredictable backlogs and delays, or immigration officers’ hasty decisions, or inadvertent missteps by family members in the labyrinth of federal paperwork. In some cases, immigrants who spent years completing advanced studies here and had job offers lined up instead left the country because of quotas on employment visas.
The readers described shuttling between United States Citizenship and Immigration Services and the State Department, two agencies that divide immigration tasks in confusing and sometimes conflicting ways. Both bureaucracies, they said, seemed overwhelmed, hobbled by inadequate resources and by a limited supply of legal visas compared to the numbers of immigrants seeking them.
“I think more Americans need to understand how the current system is making things difficult for people who are trying to do things the legal way,” wrote Kelly Phillips, a Coast Guard seaman from California whose husband is Mexican. “I feel that more individuals would do things legally if the manner for doing so was more reasonable.”
Below are stories I compiled from e-mail and interviews of six people, including Ms. Phillips, who are representative of many more Times readers. Below that are more stories submitted by readers.
**** *
KEITH HARRIS, United States citizen, North Carolina
In early March Mr. Harris’s wife, Claudia Solano-Lopez, and their three small children left their home in Raleigh, N.C., to move to Mexico City. To comply with immigration law, the family now must live apart for two years.
Mr. Harris, who is 37 and a veteran of the first Persian Gulf war, met his future wife in 1997 when they both were studying for doctoral degrees in food science at Ohio State University. They married in 2001. They completed their Ph.D.s, and last year Mr. Harris became an assistant professor at North Carolina State University.
Ms. Solano-Lopez, 45, had come from Mexico on a visa for advanced studies (its official name is J-1) that requires immigrants to return to their home countries for at least two years after completing their academic work. Distressed by the prospect of separation and its impact on their children (3-year-old twins and a toddler), Mr. Harris and his wife consulted several lawyers. On their advice, they applied for a hardship waiver from the two-year foreign residency rule, as it is known.
“We understood that we were doing the correct thing, and this waiver was the way we would keep our family together,” Mr. Harris said. But the letter they received from Citizenship and Immigration Services denying the waiver said the family’s separation would not be “exceptional hardship.”
“If they think this is minor emotional anguish, they don’t know what they are talking about,” Mr. Harris said.
With his first-year professor’s schedule and salary, he felt he could not care for their three children alone in Raleigh. The couple did not appeal the waiver denial, because their lawyers said their chances of success were small.
Noting that many Mexicans live illegally in North Carolina, Mr. Harris said, “I feel this is almost a punishment for following the rules.”
**** *
RONALD PERKINS, United States citizen, Illinois
After his first wife died five years ago, Mr. Perkins, a 63-year-old postal worker in Champaign, Ill., met a woman from the Dominican Republic and married her there in June 2005. He is still waiting for his new wife, Ana Perkins, to be allowed to come to the United States.
In general, residence visas should be easier to obtain for spouses of American citizens than for other immigrants because there are no annual limits on spouse visas. In November 2005, Mr. Perkins applied for a conditional visa for his wife that would make it relatively easy for her to get a permanent resident visa, known as a green card, after she entered the United States. By July 2006, visa authorities confirmed that Mr. and Mrs. Perkins had submitted all the required documents and their file was complete.
They were placed in line to wait for a required consular interview at the United States Embassy in Santo Domingo — behind more than 26,000 other people. By October 2007 they had inched forward, but more than 7,000 people were still ahead of them.
“Then,” Mr. Perkins wrote in an e-mail message, “they changed the rules.”
The embassy announced it would no longer manage scheduling of its consular interviews. Instead, the scheduling would be handled at the National Visa Center, a State Department site in Portsmouth, N.H. Mr. Perkins was told that their file would be sent there but that it might no longer be complete. Since the file would now be examined by officers in New Hampshire and not Santo Domingo, Mrs. Perkins’s Dominican documents would require certified translations from Spanish to English.
That turned out to be a lesser problem. Recently, their file seems to have been lost in the system. The National Visa Center currently reports it has “no record” of their case.
“I am told to be patient,” Mr. Perkins wrote. He looks at the immigration agencies’ performance with the eye of a citizen who is also a federal employee.
“Someone has created a monster here,” he commented by telephone. “There are so many places that could be streamlined, I don’t even know where to start.”
He tries to keep his sense of humor. “If you only see your wife three times a year, you have three honeymoons,” Mr. Perkins said. “But that doesn’t make up for the time apart.”
**** *
KELLY PHILLIPS, United States citizen, California
Ms. Phillips met her future husband, a lawyer and officer in the Mexican Navy, when his ship paid a California port visit in the summer of 2005. They married in Mexico in March 2006. They are currently going through the routine procedures to obtain his permanent resident visa. So far it has cost them about $2,800 in fees and travel expenses, and he may still be years away from receiving the green card.
At first Ms. Phillips, who is 29, and her husband, Juan José Castillo Zarate, 40, intended to live in Mexico. But her husband’s naval unit, based in Baja California, faced threats from drug traffickers, she said. A friend of Mr. Castillo, another Mexican naval officer, was abducted and beheaded by a drug gang, and his head was sent to his family, she said. Ms. Phillips and Mr. Castillo, fearing for the safety of their infant child and also struggling financially, decided to move to the United States. He resigned from the Mexican Navy, and she joined the United States Coast Guard.
In October 2006, they began the process of filing for a type of visa (known as a K-3) that would allow Mr. Castillo, as the husband of a citizen, to live and work in the United States while pursuing his green card. It was the beginning of a dizzying bureaucratic journey, with one form leading to another (I-130 to I-129F to G-325A to AR-11 to I-131 to I-864 to I-485, etc.), and many forms bringing their own filing fees. Since fee increases last year, the most important form, the green card application, now costs $1,010.
Last August, Mr. Castillo flew from Baja California to Ciudad Juárez ($380 round trip) for an interview at the only United States consulate in Mexico that processes K-3 visa applications. The appointment nearly failed because Mr. Castillo, following instructions on the forms, had filled them out by hand, but the consulate accepted only typewritten forms. After paying $50 to have the forms typed on the street and $50 for an extra night in a Ciudad Juárez hotel, in addition to $135 for a required medical exam, Mr. Castillo passed the interview.
Last fall he was admitted to the United States. From her Coast Guard salary, Ms. Phillips has been supporting the family and paying the immigration fees — just barely. In February, after more trips and fees, Mr. Castillo received his authorization to work.
“I did everything that was expected of me legally, and at times it was very hard and almost out of my reach financially,” Ms. Phillips said. “You get in line with everyone else, but you have no idea how long that line is and how many fees there are.
“It is worth it to do it the right way; it really is,” she said. “I just think more people would not resort to sneaking if it were easier and more affordable to do it the legal way.”
**** * 70.April 14th,
2008
5:38 pm I am from Denmark, I came to the U.S. to study in 1995 at age 15. In 2003 I graduated from a top university and was hired on an H1B visa. I have no hope of getting a green card for another 10 years.

First, I would need another degree and several years more work experience to rise high enough on the career ladder so that an employer could prove to the DoL that I am an indispensable employee.

While the green card is pending, I would be tied to the employer, and not be able to take time off from work while raising a family.

During the years you are waiting, unexpected legal hurdles fly at you from every angle: family separation issues, risk of children “aging out”, problems with traveling, spouses who are being forced to stay home on H4 visa… These are not minor inconveniences, issues like prolonged family separation have a profound negative effect on your life.

With the entire European Union job market open to me, I have to ask myself, what good reason do I have to go through all the emotional and career sacrifices. An ever larger share of highly skilled immigrants are Indian and Chinese, who have less opportunities back home and are more willing to tough it out (and USCIS is making it ever harder for them, with 10-15 year wait times). Employment-based immigration from Europe has slowed to a trickle, with only a few brave souls able endure the process.

— Posted by Impatient Dane
71.April 14th,
2008
7:02 pm Dear Miss. Preston: Reading your story on Saturday about Brad Darnell really jolted me. I am regretting my decision to apply for the citizenship. After consulting with a lawyer who, emphatically, assured me that, “You cannot be deported.” I have a similar conviction from back in 1991. I got into an altercation with a stranger, while drunk, and foolishly pleaded guilty. I was only 17 at the time. Assault change to a misdemeanor.

Can I retract my application? Please help. Thank you very much.

— Posted by Ismail Ahmad
72.April 14th,
2008
9:14 pm I applied more than 8 years ago for an employment-based green cards. Got the approved DOL, State acceptance, NVC acceptance and even two interviews at the US consulate but my case was sent back to the USCIS for more administrative processing and still after more than 8 years the case is pending without any reply! I paid more than 9000$ for the medical exam,lawyer, trips, hotel and so on and got nothing back! I am not even in the country!What should I expect from the system and legal immigration!?

— Posted by Sam
73.April 14th,
2008
9:14 pm US Citizens should married to foreign nationals should get first priority on processing and not be ‘presumed fraudulent” until proven otherwise.

Stateside marriages do not require a “bona fides” test, its an unreasonable intrusion by government into private family matters for any “test of validity” for a marriage involving a US Citizen.

When “timing problems” arise or overstays or other civil immigration infractions arise for these family members in navigating the “system” like other civil penalties, it should be overcome with a fine, not ridiculous and unconstitutional cruel punishments like 3/10 year bars for spouses of US Citizens.

A recent article in the LA Times on an English school Immigration Scam, illustrates the problems that arise when USCIS attention is diverted to inappropriately “punishing” the family members of US Citizens and not paying attention to actual criminal behavior by “professional scam artists”.

— Posted by Fix Family Immigration First
74.April 14th,
2008
11:22 pm 2 stories - both equally dispiriting.

Story # 1: It took my father, who is married to an American citizen and has two American children, 17 years from start to finish to become a US citizen. 17 years!!! What a joke!

Story # 2: A good friend of mine ended up moving to Canada because the green card application process in the US is so onerous. She would have had to return to her country for several years, disrupting her career, her children’s schooling and her husband’s education in order to even start the application process. Here’s the kicker - this woman was not only a productive member of society, she was actually an integral part of one of the DoD’s and Homeland Security’s network of research facilities and was working on, among other things, rapid biological agent detection systems. Hmmm… Talk about a broken system. And one that hobbles itself in the process. That’s not only a joke - it’s a sick joke.

(P.S. - Canada, not surprisingly, welcomed her with open arms. Guess they knew a good thing when they saw it.)

— Posted by Jessica
75.April 15th,
2008
1:26 pm Thank you for this blog! My husband, who is from Argentina and I were married in 2005. He was deported immediately as it is immigration status and not marital status that matters. It took us 2 years (in which we lived together in exile in Argentina)for him to approved for a green card.

I have a blog “Married and Deported” (dulcedewendy.blogspot.com) which chronicles our experience. I have been contacted by women whose husbands have been deported. I am glad that I can be helpful to others and that my husband was allowed back in. I realize how lucky we are and that this is an ongoing challenge as the USA does not embrace immigrants.

— Posted by Wendy Lieberman
76.April 15th,
2008
3:35 pm This small sampling of stories posted here really illustrates how inhumane the immigration system is. It’s just the tip of the iceberg, there are hundreds of thousands of stories like this out there.

Every single day USCIS separates parents from small children and deports some legal immigrant families over what common sense would say are minor paperwork errors - cases like this are so common they’re not even newsworthy any more.

The USCIS can let it slide that there are 12 million illegal immigrants, but it will never ever let it slide if a legal immigrant checks the wrong box by mistake, or if the primary visa holder of a family dies. The USCIS doesn’t believe in tears.

What’s also surprising is that over the many years this inhumane treatment of legal immigrants has been going on, the goverment and media have paid hardly any attention to it.

Thanks to everyone who posted their stories, and good luck.

— Posted by Impatient Dane
77.April 15th,
2008
4:31 pm This subject hits very close to home. My husband came here when he was a juvenile and not by choice. His mom sent all her kids to the US to live with various relatives after the death of her husband. My husband has been here more than ten years and since then has taught himself English(he is fluent), worked hard, paid taxes(with a TIN), has no criminal record, been financially and emotionally responsible for my stepdaughter, and been a responsible, loving father to our son and a wonderful spouse. We met when we were 20, fell in love and were married. After the birth of our child we decided to look into getting his greencard only to find that it would be nearly impossible. I, like most citizens believed that our marriage was enough for him to be here legally. After five years and thousands of dollars spent we are facing the harsh reality that we may not be able to stay here. He is here legally with a work permit but his greencard was denied and now he is facing deportation.

In my experience, the illegal immigrants I know are hardworking, law-abiding people who aren’t looking for a government handout. I know many people who like my husband have been here years and years, own homes, have spouses and children that are US citizens, is it really fair and humane to make them leave? Why should people who came here as small children suffer for the mistakes their parents made?

The problem with the current system is that every case is treated the same. My husbands case is going to differ from the guy who crossed the border to sell drugs but they are treated the same. The fact that it wasn’t his decision to come here in the first place and that he was a child dosen’t matter, the fact that he has two small children and a wife that are US citizens dosen’t matter, he is just another number, another “illegal”.

— Posted by LS
78.April 15th,
2008
5:18 pm I am so happy your column was published. I thought my situation was unique but now I know that there are other people out there with the same or similar problem with immigration. I pray every day that the laws change and we obtain across the board immigration policies that will be benificial and fair to everyone.

— Posted by Gillian Etienne

[khahim]

I would like to share my problem about Laeeque Ahmed. He offered my wife **** pay stubs. He created them for him and now we are in trouble. Laeeque says he had no involvement and do not recall doing any such thing. The banks called us in because they found out. What should we do ? We do not know where to complain and lawyers cost a lot of money. This guy really sick anyway here is his contact information.