Video news story showing struggles of separated couples

[VideoNews 0]

Hello everyone,

I am from an international news service and am interested in doing a video story on struggles in immigration. I have been reading some of your posts and am very interested in doing a feature story showing what people go through to get their loved ones entrance into the U.S. Is there anyone in the Washington DC area who would be willing to share their story? Also any ideas on how I could better focus this story would be much appreciated. Thanks so much for your time!

~Rebecca

[TracyOz 0]

Well Rebecca - the first thing would be to do the story justice and realise the pain and heartache that most people are going through - I have seen many stories written that focus on immigration - but not necessarily on LEGAL immigration - so there are many who do not realise what we actually go through - emotionally, financially, and just plain "go through" due to being separated from our loved ones... Spend some more time reading through the various posts and you will discover many people who you could contact - they might not be in your area though.

we would LOVE to see what angle you would like to take this - Vj'ers have been burned in the past through articles appearing, and some rather nasty comments being made about how lovelorn we are so most are quite wary.

come on VJ'ers if given the right information who knows how this might help..

have a GREAT day

Tracy

:-)

[natasha peter 0]

Hello everyone,

I am from an international news service and am interested in doing a video story on struggles in immigration. I have been reading some of your posts and am very interested in doing a feature story showing what people go through to get their loved ones entrance into the U.S. Is there anyone in the Washington DC area who would be willing to share their story? Also any ideas on how I could better focus this story would be much appreciated. Thanks so much for your time!

~Rebecca

Hi rebecca,

would love to help ya but not in that area,in other ways ..sure ,for ideas i have many.you can pm me.Hope we on VJ inspire you for much great work.

natasha

[Jesse and Hema 2]

I'm sure VJ'ers would be plenty willing to help. If you want the "look at how horrific this is" perspective, there's lots of people who would be willing to contribute their horror stories. Not going to name names, but there's people on here who:

• Have been waiting years to receive a green card after marriage
• Hired lawyers who made horrible mistakes and delayed their case further
• Left the U.S. for an emergency (family member death) without AP, after waiting 9+ months for a K-1/K-3 visa, and having to start all over again.
• Received requests for evidence for things they have already submitted
• Had their case or important paperwork just plain lost (like the medical exam results which they must surrender at the port of entry)
• Could not afford the high filing fees, or did not have the financial resources to sponsor their fiancé(e) or spouse
• (other, more horrid, experiences)

Not to mention the statistical outliers who had to wait many months for a K-1 visa (or a green card) since the process started. The average is 8-9 months, which isn't pleasant to begin with. Some have waited much longer.

The process involves a lot of paperwork, money, and time.

An article about marriage-based or family-based immigration might be helpful at least to increase awareness of what's involved. From personal experience, I think many people have the misconception that all you need to do is get married, and that everything else is "pretty much automatic," and you will have a green card in your lap.... Not so....

Good luck with your article. I'd be willing to share my opinions/experiences if you are interested, but I am not in the D.C. area.

Cheers

--JG

[MissLove 0]

Well Rebecca - the first thing would be to do the story justice and realise the pain and heartache that most people are going through - I have seen many stories written that focus on immigration - but not necessarily on LEGAL immigration - so there are many who do not realise what we actually go through - emotionally, financially, and just plain "go through" due to being separated from our loved ones... Spend some more time reading through the various posts and you will discover many people who you could contact - they might not be in your area though.

we would LOVE to see what angle you would like to take this - Vj'ers have been burned in the past through articles appearing, and some rather nasty comments being made about how lovelorn we are so most are quite wary.

come on VJ'ers if given the right information who knows how this might help..

have a GREAT day

Tracy

:-)

TracyOz - thank you for pointing out legal. Our paperwork was lost between the embassy and the NVC back in November.... the hoops we are jumping through just to get it resent, I can't even explain in a post ... my family and friends say we are the poster children for bureaucracy and red tape. We are two people trying to do it the right way, I'm being a law abiding citizen and getting smacked for it.

Please Rebecca, focus on the pain we go through trying to do it the right way, the legal way. Because even my mother asked me if it wouldn't make more sense to apply for a tourist visa, get married and reapply as a married couple - cause it would be easier... my mother, who barely gets a traffic ticket... And, why do work visas get through so quickly in comparison? Why do they have the option of expediting their cases for a little extra money? (Sorry, I'm a little upset with this process this week)

Edited February 11, 2008 by MissLove