Comments on: Foreign spouses of Americans forced to immigrate to the U.S http://matadornetwork.com/abroad/foreign-spouses-of-americans-forced-to-immigrate-to-the-u-s/ travel culture worldwide Sun, 12 Feb 2012 03:35:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Scott Barrett http://matadornetwork.com/abroad/foreign-spouses-of-americans-forced-to-immigrate-to-the-u-s/#comment-101123 Scott Barrett Mon, 16 Jan 2012 21:09:00 +0000 http://matadorabroad.com/?p=1978#comment-101123 A couple of days ago my son and i went to the Savannah airport to pickup mommy. After we got there i received a call from her saying that she had been detained by immigration in atlanta. they were cancelling her tourist visa and sending her back to venezuela. my son and i are americans and now he doesn't have a mommy and i don't have a wife. they said she was living here illegally for six months with a tourist visa. my wife and i met in the us and were married here in 1998 and our son was born here in 1999. we left the us in 2002 and lived in venezuela until july of 2011. she had intended to complete the process of residency here in the us, but wasn't able to because her original birth certificate was in venezuela. the government terminated the process at the end of last year and said we'd have to start over again. she doesn't want to live here permanently and we plan on going back to venezuela when my son graduates in 2017. after reading the above story i understand better why homeland security insists on her having an immigrant visa. they assume  you want to immigrate here unless otherwise proven wrong. its unfortunate they make these kinds of decisions that break up families and cause so much stress and heartache.  A couple of days ago my son and i went to the Savannah airport to pickup mommy. After we got there i received a call from her saying that she had been detained by immigration in atlanta. they were cancelling her tourist visa and sending her back to venezuela. my son and i are americans and now he doesn’t have a mommy and i don’t have a wife. they said she was living here illegally for six months with a tourist visa.

my wife and i met in the us and were married here in 1998 and our son was born here in 1999. we left the us in 2002 and lived in venezuela until july of 2011. she had intended to complete the process of residency here in the us, but wasn’t able to because her original birth certificate was in venezuela. the government terminated the process at the end of last year and said we’d have to start over again.

she doesn’t want to live here permanently and we plan on going back to venezuela when my son graduates in 2017. after reading the above story i understand better why homeland security insists on her having an immigrant visa. they assume  you want to immigrate here unless otherwise proven wrong.

its unfortunate they make these kinds of decisions that break up families and cause so much stress and heartache. 

]]> By: Scott Barrett http://matadornetwork.com/abroad/foreign-spouses-of-americans-forced-to-immigrate-to-the-u-s/#comment-101124 Scott Barrett Mon, 16 Jan 2012 21:09:00 +0000 http://matadorabroad.com/?p=1978#comment-101124 A couple of days ago my son and i went to the Savannah airport to pickup mommy. After we got there i received a call from her saying that she had been detained by immigration in atlanta. they were cancelling her tourist visa and sending her back to venezuela. my son and i are americans and now he doesn't have a mommy and i don't have a wife. they said she was living here illegally for six months with a tourist visa. my wife and i met in the us and were married here in 1998 and our son was born here in 1999. we left the us in 2002 and lived in venezuela until july of 2011. she had intended to complete the process of residency here in the us, but wasn't able to because her original birth certificate was in venezuela. the government terminated the process at the end of last year and said we'd have to start over again. she doesn't want to live here permanently and we plan on going back to venezuela when my son graduates in 2017. after reading the above story i understand better why homeland security insists on her having an immigrant visa. they assume  you want to immigrate here unless otherwise proven wrong. its unfortunate they make these kinds of decisions that break up families and cause so much stress and heartache.  A couple of days ago my son and i went to the Savannah airport to pickup mommy. After we got there i received a call from her saying that she had been detained by immigration in atlanta. they were cancelling her tourist visa and sending her back to venezuela. my son and i are americans and now he doesn’t have a mommy and i don’t have a wife. they said she was living here illegally for six months with a tourist visa.

my wife and i met in the us and were married here in 1998 and our son was born here in 1999. we left the us in 2002 and lived in venezuela until july of 2011. she had intended to complete the process of residency here in the us, but wasn’t able to because her original birth certificate was in venezuela. the government terminated the process at the end of last year and said we’d have to start over again.

she doesn’t want to live here permanently and we plan on going back to venezuela when my son graduates in 2017. after reading the above story i understand better why homeland security insists on her having an immigrant visa. they assume  you want to immigrate here unless otherwise proven wrong.

its unfortunate they make these kinds of decisions that break up families and cause so much stress and heartache. 

]]> By: Shawn http://matadornetwork.com/abroad/foreign-spouses-of-americans-forced-to-immigrate-to-the-u-s/#comment-41909 Shawn Tue, 08 Mar 2011 06:43:00 +0000 http://matadorabroad.com/?p=1978#comment-41909 My wife and I got married in Ecuador four years ago and planned to stay living in Ecuador. We applied for a tourist visa to visit the states about a year after we were married and were denied. After doing a lot of research on the matter, basically you either apply for the green card and go live in the states and wait at least 3 years until your spouse can apply for citizenship and have an American passport and then be free, or your stuck going back and forth visiting the US on a tourist visa if you can get one. The residency visa (green card) can be taken away if you're not actually living in the states. If you leave the states more than 6 months at a time and do it more than once, they can take your visa away. You can get away with being gone for almost a year once, but after that you always run the risk of your spouse loosing their green card. They tend to give tourist visas to people have been married for a few years or more and have decent paying jobs, or jobs for that matter. It's horrible how the system is, it's sick really and discriminates, it's predudiced really. I'm a religious person and believe what the bible says at 1John 5:19 "The whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one." My wife and I got married in Ecuador four years ago and planned to stay living in Ecuador. We applied for a tourist visa to visit the states about a year after we were married and were denied. After doing a lot of research on the matter, basically you either apply for the green card and go live in the states and wait at least 3 years until your spouse can apply for citizenship and have an American passport and then be free, or your stuck going back and forth visiting the US on a tourist visa if you can get one. The residency visa (green card) can be taken away if you’re not actually living in the states. If you leave the states more than 6 months at a time and do it more than once, they can take your visa away. You can get away with being gone for almost a year once, but after that you always run the risk of your spouse loosing their green card. They tend to give tourist visas to people have been married for a few years or more and have decent paying jobs, or jobs for that matter. It’s horrible how the system is, it’s sick really and discriminates, it’s predudiced really. I’m a religious person and believe what the bible says at 1John 5:19 “The whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one.”

]]> By: Mimi http://matadornetwork.com/abroad/foreign-spouses-of-americans-forced-to-immigrate-to-the-u-s/#comment-38191 Mimi Wed, 17 Nov 2010 18:50:45 +0000 http://matadorabroad.com/?p=1978#comment-38191 Sara - You basically have two options, but first you have to ask yourselves 1) where you want to / can get married, and 2) where you want to live. If you marry outside the US, you will apply for a spousal visa, which gives him the right to enter the country and apply for residency (green card) he is under no obligation to get US citizenship and can keep his Algerian citizenship. If you want to marry and live in the US, you apply for a Fiance visa (takes about six months...we did it) and he enters as your fiance, has 90 days to marry and then apply for change of status to become a resident. Again, he gets a green card but has no obligation regarding citizenship (though if he changes his mind he can apply after about five years in the country...). Check out Visa Journey website for loads of information and helpful advice. Sara – You basically have two options, but first you have to ask yourselves 1) where you want to / can get married, and 2) where you want to live. If you marry outside the US, you will apply for a spousal visa, which gives him the right to enter the country and apply for residency (green card) he is under no obligation to get US citizenship and can keep his Algerian citizenship. If you want to marry and live in the US, you apply for a Fiance visa (takes about six months…we did it) and he enters as your fiance, has 90 days to marry and then apply for change of status to become a resident. Again, he gets a green card but has no obligation regarding citizenship (though if he changes his mind he can apply after about five years in the country…). Check out Visa Journey website for loads of information and helpful advice.

]]> By: Mimi http://matadornetwork.com/abroad/foreign-spouses-of-americans-forced-to-immigrate-to-the-u-s/#comment-40639 Mimi Wed, 17 Nov 2010 18:46:56 +0000 http://matadorabroad.com/?p=1978#comment-40639 While I sympathize with you and the others who have responded to your posting, your story is actually a bit misleading. It is true that the "burden of proof" is on the applicant for a tourist visa to show that they are not intending to immigrant, in order to qualify for a tourist visa. Without a doubt, being married to a US citizen is strike against an applicant for a tourist visa. It is not however 'the law' that foreign nationals married to US citizens must immigrant - and this is quite misleading. I myself and married to an Algerian, we live outside the US, he received tourist visas before and after our marriage, and since our wedding he was informed by the embassy (Paris, France) that Algerians are now eligible for 2 year tourist visas (multi-entry) whereas before Algerians could only get a six month tourist visa. The key is providing strong evidence of your ties abroad - in our case it was my residency permit and France and work contract here. They certainly asked about it, especially after we married, but my husband simply explained in the interview that for now we were both living in France and did not intend to immigrant. The embassy staff explained how to follow the spousal visa process if he did eventually want to immigrant, but otherwise there was not problem. If the US citizen is a tourist or a student (without residency) in another country it will make it harder to prove that the foreign spouse qualifies for a tourist visa (when they are clearly eligible for a spousal visa to immigrate). Having a good paying job (for both spouses) really helps. There is no sure fire way to get a tourist visa, and it will always depend on the mood of the embassy staff!!, but it can be done, even for foreign spouses. In any case, I'm sorry to hear the Algiers embassy spoiled your plans and I hope you were able to find a solution that was not too difficult! Check out the community on Visa Journey website for loads more stories and details... the immigration system in the US is most certainly broken, inhumane and ineffective from any angle - but it doesn't help to create undue stress and worry that isn't based on actual fact. I agree it is preposterous to force foreign spouses to immigrate - but I don't think that is the letter or the spirit of the law. Unfortunately the law does basically force you to choose - either you immigrate to the US and maintain residency there to keep your green card, or you live abroad and have to apply for a tourist visa any time you go to the US... it's certainly not ideal, and puts a lot of stress on couples to plan their lives out far in advance. For Sylvia - the best advice I can give is "have patience". It is do-able to have a relationship and marry and live your life as you want with your partner - you just have to learn as much about the system as you can and get yourselves organized and be very clear about what you want personally and romantically and not confuse that all with the papers and the immigration processes - cause it will drive you crazy! Have patience and take it one step at a time... Best of luck! While I sympathize with you and the others who have responded to your posting, your story is actually a bit misleading. It is true that the “burden of proof” is on the applicant for a tourist visa to show that they are not intending to immigrant, in order to qualify for a tourist visa. Without a doubt, being married to a US citizen is strike against an applicant for a tourist visa. It is not however ‘the law’ that foreign nationals married to US citizens must immigrant – and this is quite misleading. I myself and married to an Algerian, we live outside the US, he received tourist visas before and after our marriage, and since our wedding he was informed by the embassy (Paris, France) that Algerians are now eligible for 2 year tourist visas (multi-entry) whereas before Algerians could only get a six month tourist visa. The key is providing strong evidence of your ties abroad – in our case it was my residency permit and France and work contract here. They certainly asked about it, especially after we married, but my husband simply explained in the interview that for now we were both living in France and did not intend to immigrant. The embassy staff explained how to follow the spousal visa process if he did eventually want to immigrant, but otherwise there was not problem.

If the US citizen is a tourist or a student (without residency) in another country it will make it harder to prove that the foreign spouse qualifies for a tourist visa (when they are clearly eligible for a spousal visa to immigrate). Having a good paying job (for both spouses) really helps. There is no sure fire way to get a tourist visa, and it will always depend on the mood of the embassy staff!!, but it can be done, even for foreign spouses.

In any case, I’m sorry to hear the Algiers embassy spoiled your plans and I hope you were able to find a solution that was not too difficult! Check out the community on Visa Journey website for loads more stories and details… the immigration system in the US is most certainly broken, inhumane and ineffective from any angle – but it doesn’t help to create undue stress and worry that isn’t based on actual fact. I agree it is preposterous to force foreign spouses to immigrate – but I don’t think that is the letter or the spirit of the law. Unfortunately the law does basically force you to choose – either you immigrate to the US and maintain residency there to keep your green card, or you live abroad and have to apply for a tourist visa any time you go to the US… it’s certainly not ideal, and puts a lot of stress on couples to plan their lives out far in advance.

For Sylvia – the best advice I can give is “have patience”. It is do-able to have a relationship and marry and live your life as you want with your partner – you just have to learn as much about the system as you can and get yourselves organized and be very clear about what you want personally and romantically and not confuse that all with the papers and the immigration processes – cause it will drive you crazy! Have patience and take it one step at a time… Best of luck!

]]> By: Sara Tache http://matadornetwork.com/abroad/foreign-spouses-of-americans-forced-to-immigrate-to-the-u-s/#comment-38190 Sara Tache Sat, 01 May 2010 02:47:52 +0000 http://matadorabroad.com/?p=1978#comment-38190 I have an Algerian boyfriend and we are trying to figure out the best way for him to enter the country. We want to get married but he doesn't want citizenship. How do we go about this? I have an Algerian boyfriend and we are trying to figure out the best way for him to enter the country. We want to get married but he doesn’t want citizenship.
How do we go about this?

]]> By: Sylvia http://matadornetwork.com/abroad/foreign-spouses-of-americans-forced-to-immigrate-to-the-u-s/#comment-37383 Sylvia Thu, 11 Feb 2010 10:57:54 +0000 http://matadorabroad.com/?p=1978#comment-37383 I committed the sin of falling in love with a wonderful man from the Middle East and after reading much on US immigration am just so nervous I can't sleep and I'm not even married yet. You know that feeling at the pit of your stomach well it's constant now. But I love him and will live with him until I can come back to the USA. I would just like to know why they seem to enjoy to torture us when all we want is a normal life with that person we fell in love with. Is it to much to ask? There is no reason to make this so difficult yet there are millions of illegals who just walk in. It seems we're punished for doing things the right and legal way. I hope President Obama would help us so we can live our life's. Much luck and prayers to all of you who have a loved ones from another country. :( I committed the sin of falling in love with a wonderful man from the Middle East and after reading much on US immigration am just so nervous I can’t sleep and I’m not even married yet. You know that feeling at the pit of your stomach well it’s constant now. But I love him and will live with him until I can come back to the USA. I would just like to know why they seem to enjoy to torture us when all we want is a normal life with that person we fell in love with. Is it to much to ask? There is no reason to make this so difficult yet there are millions of illegals who just walk in. It seems we’re punished for doing things the right and legal way. I hope President Obama would help us so we can live our life’s. Much luck and prayers to all of you who have a loved ones from another country. :(

]]> By: kimberly http://matadornetwork.com/abroad/foreign-spouses-of-americans-forced-to-immigrate-to-the-u-s/#comment-36871 kimberly Sat, 24 Oct 2009 22:48:21 +0000 http://matadorabroad.com/?p=1978#comment-36871 q about this .. i am married to a dutch man .. the us prosess to get here seems so long and I do not mind living in outside the u.s. I currently work from home and have a american bank account cant i just continue working online and polish up my dutch then go to school why cant we get work permits is that not allowed at all? q about this .. i am married to a dutch man .. the us prosess to get here seems so long and I do not mind living in outside the u.s. I currently work from home and have a american bank account cant i just continue working online and polish up my dutch then go to school why cant we get work permits is that not allowed at all?

]]> By: Ernie http://matadornetwork.com/abroad/foreign-spouses-of-americans-forced-to-immigrate-to-the-u-s/#comment-36165 Ernie Thu, 24 Sep 2009 03:21:45 +0000 http://matadorabroad.com/?p=1978#comment-36165 I was born in Cuba and immigrated to the US years ago. I am an american citizen, therefore I can petition any immediate relative to immigrate to the US. My father has been denied a tourist visa 2 times in the course of 4 years. His next appointment to apply for the visa again is 2 years away. Same case, he doesn't want to immigrate. He is allowed to immigrate but he won't be allowed to visit me. I was born in Cuba and immigrated to the US years ago. I am an american citizen, therefore I can petition any immediate relative to immigrate to the US. My father has been denied a tourist visa 2 times in the course of 4 years. His next appointment to apply for the visa again is 2 years away.

Same case, he doesn’t want to immigrate. He is allowed to immigrate but he won’t be allowed to visit me.

]]> By: Sam http://matadornetwork.com/abroad/foreign-spouses-of-americans-forced-to-immigrate-to-the-u-s/#comment-36273 Sam Tue, 08 Sep 2009 17:35:01 +0000 http://matadorabroad.com/?p=1978#comment-36273 I married a woman who is an Italian national. She came to the country on a fiance visa (K-1), and wasn't allowed to even visit the United States as a tourist, otherwise it would've voided her K-1 application. While she was here, she couldn't leave the country to visit her family in Europe or it would've voided her residencey status. We were able to do one trip when she filled out an "Advanced Parole" (what a warm and fuzzy title) form allowing her to return to the US legally. If we didn't have that form, she wouldn't have been allowed back in, and we would've had to start the process from scratch. We had to jump through many hoops, but that's because so many people have abused the system; overstaying their tourist visas, illegally working here in the country, entering on a tourist visa when they know they are going to get married (a huge flag, ICE can really get you on that one). We played by the rules to the letter and now she's here illegally. That's why I have even more disdain for people who try to shortcut the process. The law is the law, as a US citizen I played by them, even though I disagree with the process. Ironically, we divorced several years ago, but I have no regrets that we never tried to game the system. Down the road, my decisions won't come back to haunt me. I married a woman who is an Italian national. She came to the country on a fiance visa (K-1), and wasn’t allowed to even visit the United States as a tourist, otherwise it would’ve voided her K-1 application. While she was here, she couldn’t leave the country to visit her family in Europe or it would’ve voided her residencey status. We were able to do one trip when she filled out an “Advanced Parole” (what a warm and fuzzy title) form allowing her to return to the US legally. If we didn’t have that form, she wouldn’t have been allowed back in, and we would’ve had to start the process from scratch.

We had to jump through many hoops, but that’s because so many people have abused the system; overstaying their tourist visas, illegally working here in the country, entering on a tourist visa when they know they are going to get married (a huge flag, ICE can really get you on that one). We played by the rules to the letter and now she’s here illegally. That’s why I have even more disdain for people who try to shortcut the process. The law is the law, as a US citizen I played by them, even though I disagree with the process.

Ironically, we divorced several years ago, but I have no regrets that we never tried to game the system. Down the road, my decisions won’t come back to haunt me.

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