Hello everyone!!
Thanks for reading, and I hope I can maybe get some words of advice, and, dare I say, encouragement.........
Forgive the length of this post, I just want to explain everything in full.
I'll do a timeline of the facts in my case.
In May 2004, I met my, now ex, USC citizen wife, online. I was living in Great Britain and I visited her in June 2004 for the first time. After the usual questions at POE in Minneapolis airport, I stayed with her at her home. Things developed, pretty rapidly, and we were married in August 2004! I was there on a Visa Waiver, totally standard, but did not intend to propose and get married on it. It expired in September 2004. Knowing that I needed to leave the US, I got a flight back to London. Stayed in Great Britain for a little over a week, and got a flight back. We didn't think I'd be allowed in, so I took paperwork and documents with me, proving my ties to the UK and non-immigrant intent, basically amounted to 2 job applications........again we were 98% expecting I'd be turned around at Minneapolis airport, I explained to the CBP Officer at POE that I just wanted to stay with my wife for a while, that we didn't want to be apart, etc. etc. and we wanted to move to Great Britain in a few months. To my complete surprise, the guy didn't even care about any of those things....I was wearing a Notre Dame baseball cap and all he wanted to do was talk about college football, no questions, no concern of anything else. So, passport stamped, entrance approved by CBP Officer. In I go, staying with my ex-wife again at her mother's house.
Flash forward 3 months, it's clear that it will be easier, and cheaper, more convenient, to just adjust my status and to live in the US. We thought that would be easy, after reading a cursory amount of information online that made it seem so. A lot of laziness and several months later, none of that was done, and I'd overstayed Visa Waiver expiry by about 8-9 months, not over a year. I was arrested in Fargo on a misdemeanor charge, charges later dismissed, and on the admission I had no Social Security details I was 'handed' over to ICE. Two guys visited me in the county jail where I was held for a weekend.
They seemed pretty confused by the situation, very friendly and professional, but it was clearly unusual to be dealing with someone form Britain, we sat in an interview room for a while, I had no legal counsel, no idea what was going on, anything like that, and they start explaining things to me about what will happen next. It wasn't a deportation process, just the two ICE guys. I get taken to a detention facility in Minnesota. I'm there for a month, all I know is I'm gonna be sent back at some point. My ex-wife could not get any information from anyone, totally limbo bimbo. I was in the detention facility from August 31 to September 27th. Then taken to Minneapolis airport, not handcuffed, not mistreated, the guys took me to the airport, one of them bought me pizza, really nice guys, didn't even really keep an eye on me, I got on the plane, and to be honest, was done with any idea of going back to America. My ex-wife moved to Great Britain about 9 months later with a month long visit during that time. We lived in Great Britain together from June 2006 until June 2010, when we separated and she returned to America. We were estranged for a good while. Divorcing earlier this year, I have the divorce decree and all the paperwork.
In May of 2011 I went to the US Embassy for what I thought was just an advice appointment, but, it was actually a B2 application. Yes, I was unprepared, unplanned, and frankly stupid. I did the whole ACPO thing, no record, did the whole day wait at the Embassy thing, spoke to the Consular Official, looked like a complete idiot blabbering about my ex-wife, wanting to visit, but not her, to visit my brother and his wife and their kids, I had no proof of ties to the UK, nothing, total Mr Bean stuff!! Probably the worst B2 Visa interview ever. Mostly cos I didn't know it was a Visa interview. So, she says, rightly so, I don't believe you're gonna return if you visit the US, come back when you can prove stronger ties to the UK.
Fast forward 2 years later. I meet a girl online, yes, you guessed it, from America.......so, it's her birthday in August, I would like to visit, and combine it with a visit to my brother and his family. A couple weeks all together vacation time in the US. I will apply for the B2 Visa sometime early-mid July. My ties to the UK are that I'm registered as my father's carer due to his Alzheimer's, all documentation relating to this, I have a new rental lease on a place, I can prove financial self reliance and have looked through all the requirements in proving non-immigrant intent and feel I can evidence it very compellingly on several grounds. I will take evidence of the last 8 years of my life in if it will help contextualize things, including the fact we never applied for a Waiver of Inadmissibility, and just went straight ahead with residing in Great Britain, I doubt that matters, but clearly I wasn't 'desperate' to move back to America.
So, I've confirmed with ICE at the regional branch in Minneapolis/St Paul that what I had was an Expedited Removal with a 5 year time bar, expired September 27th 2010. I have no problem with that, it is the punishment for not doing things the right way and abusing the system. However I would now like to visit on the B2 Visa as I can't get an ESTA for the VWP, I tried, and giving the honest answers, I was refused. So now I can only give the B2 a shot and hope I can prove the truth that I will be coming back to the UK after two weeks. Especially considering I now know exactly what happens when the system is abused, insulted, or misused. I wouldn't even dare risk anything like that after a month in a high security facility sharing a cell with a multiple murderer. It's really not worth it.
So yea, what do people feel are the chances?! I know the answer is, 'you can only try and see', or, 'hope for the best, but expect the worst'. The girlfriend thing is a red-flag I know, but again, I know the right way of doing things now, and should things develop with her and us, it will be done the right way, the only way to do it. K1 visa, etc. immigration lawyer, what have you, no mistakes. Not that that is even certain to happen, but, who knows....... In the present tense at least, all I want is to visit, come back to my life in the UK, that's all.
Again, many thanks!! Sorry for the obscene length of this post.
Thanks for reading, and I hope I can maybe get some words of advice, and, dare I say, encouragement.........
Forgive the length of this post, I just want to explain everything in full.
I'll do a timeline of the facts in my case.
In May 2004, I met my, now ex, USC citizen wife, online. I was living in Great Britain and I visited her in June 2004 for the first time. After the usual questions at POE in Minneapolis airport, I stayed with her at her home. Things developed, pretty rapidly, and we were married in August 2004! I was there on a Visa Waiver, totally standard, but did not intend to propose and get married on it. It expired in September 2004. Knowing that I needed to leave the US, I got a flight back to London. Stayed in Great Britain for a little over a week, and got a flight back. We didn't think I'd be allowed in, so I took paperwork and documents with me, proving my ties to the UK and non-immigrant intent, basically amounted to 2 job applications........again we were 98% expecting I'd be turned around at Minneapolis airport, I explained to the CBP Officer at POE that I just wanted to stay with my wife for a while, that we didn't want to be apart, etc. etc. and we wanted to move to Great Britain in a few months. To my complete surprise, the guy didn't even care about any of those things....I was wearing a Notre Dame baseball cap and all he wanted to do was talk about college football, no questions, no concern of anything else. So, passport stamped, entrance approved by CBP Officer. In I go, staying with my ex-wife again at her mother's house.
Flash forward 3 months, it's clear that it will be easier, and cheaper, more convenient, to just adjust my status and to live in the US. We thought that would be easy, after reading a cursory amount of information online that made it seem so. A lot of laziness and several months later, none of that was done, and I'd overstayed Visa Waiver expiry by about 8-9 months, not over a year. I was arrested in Fargo on a misdemeanor charge, charges later dismissed, and on the admission I had no Social Security details I was 'handed' over to ICE. Two guys visited me in the county jail where I was held for a weekend.
They seemed pretty confused by the situation, very friendly and professional, but it was clearly unusual to be dealing with someone form Britain, we sat in an interview room for a while, I had no legal counsel, no idea what was going on, anything like that, and they start explaining things to me about what will happen next. It wasn't a deportation process, just the two ICE guys. I get taken to a detention facility in Minnesota. I'm there for a month, all I know is I'm gonna be sent back at some point. My ex-wife could not get any information from anyone, totally limbo bimbo. I was in the detention facility from August 31 to September 27th. Then taken to Minneapolis airport, not handcuffed, not mistreated, the guys took me to the airport, one of them bought me pizza, really nice guys, didn't even really keep an eye on me, I got on the plane, and to be honest, was done with any idea of going back to America. My ex-wife moved to Great Britain about 9 months later with a month long visit during that time. We lived in Great Britain together from June 2006 until June 2010, when we separated and she returned to America. We were estranged for a good while. Divorcing earlier this year, I have the divorce decree and all the paperwork.
In May of 2011 I went to the US Embassy for what I thought was just an advice appointment, but, it was actually a B2 application. Yes, I was unprepared, unplanned, and frankly stupid. I did the whole ACPO thing, no record, did the whole day wait at the Embassy thing, spoke to the Consular Official, looked like a complete idiot blabbering about my ex-wife, wanting to visit, but not her, to visit my brother and his wife and their kids, I had no proof of ties to the UK, nothing, total Mr Bean stuff!! Probably the worst B2 Visa interview ever. Mostly cos I didn't know it was a Visa interview. So, she says, rightly so, I don't believe you're gonna return if you visit the US, come back when you can prove stronger ties to the UK.
Fast forward 2 years later. I meet a girl online, yes, you guessed it, from America.......so, it's her birthday in August, I would like to visit, and combine it with a visit to my brother and his family. A couple weeks all together vacation time in the US. I will apply for the B2 Visa sometime early-mid July. My ties to the UK are that I'm registered as my father's carer due to his Alzheimer's, all documentation relating to this, I have a new rental lease on a place, I can prove financial self reliance and have looked through all the requirements in proving non-immigrant intent and feel I can evidence it very compellingly on several grounds. I will take evidence of the last 8 years of my life in if it will help contextualize things, including the fact we never applied for a Waiver of Inadmissibility, and just went straight ahead with residing in Great Britain, I doubt that matters, but clearly I wasn't 'desperate' to move back to America.
So, I've confirmed with ICE at the regional branch in Minneapolis/St Paul that what I had was an Expedited Removal with a 5 year time bar, expired September 27th 2010. I have no problem with that, it is the punishment for not doing things the right way and abusing the system. However I would now like to visit on the B2 Visa as I can't get an ESTA for the VWP, I tried, and giving the honest answers, I was refused. So now I can only give the B2 a shot and hope I can prove the truth that I will be coming back to the UK after two weeks. Especially considering I now know exactly what happens when the system is abused, insulted, or misused. I wouldn't even dare risk anything like that after a month in a high security facility sharing a cell with a multiple murderer. It's really not worth it.
So yea, what do people feel are the chances?! I know the answer is, 'you can only try and see', or, 'hope for the best, but expect the worst'. The girlfriend thing is a red-flag I know, but again, I know the right way of doing things now, and should things develop with her and us, it will be done the right way, the only way to do it. K1 visa, etc. immigration lawyer, what have you, no mistakes. Not that that is even certain to happen, but, who knows....... In the present tense at least, all I want is to visit, come back to my life in the UK, that's all.
Again, many thanks!! Sorry for the obscene length of this post.
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