Immigration Troubles for leaving US

[moroccogirlny 100]

Newsday Video

Two months after Brett Knobloch married in 2008, his wife returned to her native Brazil to visit her mother, who was being treated for cancer.

But she did not get permission for the trip from the federal government, creating an immigration mess barring Anne Knobloch from returning and keeping the couple apart for all but four months of their two-year marriage.

Immigration experts say the Knoblochs are not alone, because even though travel restrictions are posted on the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website, not everyone sees the reference to "advance parole" - permission to travel - or understands what it is.

"Immigration is a minefield," said Hempstead immigration attorney Howard Brill. "And it's definitely more complicated, with more steps to be followed since 9/11."

Brill said more than 60 clients have sought help after leaving the country during the green card process without getting approval. "It certainly is a difficult road" to undo the damage, he said.

Brett Knobloch has learned that. After voluminous paperwork and spending $30,000 on airfare to Brazil, documents, fees and phone bills, the Seaford resident, 28, is only halfway to obtaining permanent resident status for his wife.

Even with the state's two senators and Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford) interceding, the Coast Guard petty officer second class has been told it could take at least 18 months.

"We talk every day, but it gets very hard keeping a relationship going just talking on the phone," Knobloch said. "It is extremely frustrating."

The couple's anguish intensified last week, when Anne Knobloch lost their first child a week before their due date.

Anne Knobloch, 25, applied for a green card after she arrived in Florida on a tourist visa in 2002, following her marriage to another American in Brazil. The couple split in 2004, and she began dating Knobloch.

She and Knobloch married in 2008 and she submitted a revised application. Immigration officials had approved her first application, but the State Department was still reviewing the case.

The couple moved to New York in early 2008 when Knobloch was transferred from Fort Lauderdale to Fire Island. Two months later, Anne Knobloch flew to Brazil.

"She hadn't been home in seven years, and her mother was going through chemotherapy for liver cancer," Knobloch said.

The Massapequa native said immigration and State Department officials told him his wife could remain in the country while her application was pending. But he never asked whether she could leave, and no one warned him that she couldn't without prior approval.

After her visit, "she got on a plane and got to JFK airport and they stopped her. I felt helpless," he said.

The Knoblochs were told Anne could re-enter the United States only when she had a green card.

They began filing more forms. "You have to hand-deliver everything to the consulate in Rio," more than 1,000 miles from where his wife is living, Knobloch said. Despite making appointments before several trips to the consulate, they were told when they arrived that no one could accept their documents.

A State Department spokeswoman said the consulate in Rio de Janeiro accepts documents by mail.

Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand and King are trying to speed up the case and persuade the State Department to transfer it from Rio to Recife, near Anne Knobloch's family home.

"Certain requirements must be met for an immigrant visa to be issued. The National Visa Center and our consulate in Rio de Janeiro have expedited the handling of this particular case" as much as possible, the State Department said.

[M.O 6]

tough...thats why research as much as u can before traveling outside US...

[Noel194 53]

It is sad that they are apart but if the government did not enforce the rules no one would ever follow them.

[DedicatedWife 4]

I'm so thankful I found VJ and did my own research. My heart just aches for this couple. I hope they can be reunited soon!

[sachinky 464]

When you're a foreigner, you need to make sure you research the laws of the land you're now subject to and follow the requirements that govern your status.

This couple, I bet, is not the first, nor will they be the last, to find themselves in this undesirable position.

[PaigeOsvald 2]

Speaking of AP..once filed after marriage..how long does it generally take to get approved? Thanks!

[justashooter 430]

Anne Knobloch, 25, applied for a green card after she arrived in Florida on a tourist visa in 2002, following her marriage to another American in Brazil. The couple split in 2004, and she began dating Knobloch.

She and Knobloch married in 2008 and she submitted a revised application. Immigration officials had approved her first application, but the State Department was still reviewing the case.

we wonder about the intent on her entry as a tourist, and how old she was when she married in brazil, if she was 17 when she entered as a tourist.

[engineer21 51]

Terrible situation to be in to say the least.

But yeah, I wouldn't have dreamed of doing anything immigration related without researching the consequences first.

I've always wondered though. I'm here on F-1. Have a valid I-20, but my original visa expired already..

I didn't apply for AP because I thought it would be useless for me.

I thought that I can only use AP if I also had a valid visa to use for re-entry and the AP is only there so that I don't abandon my AOS.

Is this not true? Could I have applied for AP and used it?

Not that I want to.. just wondering though

[payxibka 10,044]

Terrible situation to be in to say the least.

But yeah, I wouldn't have dreamed of doing anything immigration related without researching the consequences first.

I've always wondered though. I'm here on F-1. Have a valid I-20, but my original visa expired already..

I didn't apply for AP because I thought it would be useless for me.

I thought that I can only use AP if I also had a valid visa to use for re-entry and the AP is only there so that I don't abandon my AOS.

Is this not true? Could I have applied for AP and used it?

Not that I want to.. just wondering though

Even if you have are F-1, the moment you submit the I-485, your adjustment is based on your current or last entry status... if you leave the USA you no longer have status because you are not present in the USA as your status terminates the moment you leave US soil.... What AP does is preserves that last entry status so AOS can contiunue.

[engineer21 51]

Even if you have are F-1, the moment you submit the I-485, your adjustment is based on your current or last entry status... if you leave the USA you no longer have status because you are not present in the USA as your status terminates the moment you leave US soil.... What AP does is preserves that last entry status so AOS can contiunue.

But in order to re-enter I would still need a valid F-1 visa, in addition to the AP document, is that correct?

I can't just show AP and no visa and be allowed entry, right?

That was my thinking anyway..

[payxibka 10,044]

But in order to re-enter I would still need a valid F-1 visa, in addition to the AP document, is that correct?

I can't just show AP and no visa and be allowed entry, right?

That was my thinking anyway..

Think about it from a K-1's perspective.... A K-1 is a single entry visa... once it is used the K-1 is no longer valid (null & void as you cannot do a second entry)... A K-1 entrant with AP can re-enter even thought the K-1 visa has been used... so no you do not need a valid visa. Just an original visa that you were allowed entry on. AP alone will get you back in as long as you had it approved before you left...

[engineer21 51]

Think about it from a K-1's perspective.... A K-1 is a single entry visa... once it is used the K-1 is no longer valid (null & void as you cannot do a second entry)... A K-1 entrant with AP can re-enter even thought the K-1 visa has been used... so no you do not need a valid visa. Just an original visa that you were allowed entry on. AP alone will get you back in as long as you had it approved before you left...

Gotcha. Well that answers the question that's been 'itching' me for a while !

Thanks!