Already deported with wife living in South Africa

[Sooz 0]

Hello,

I'm frustrated but still plowing through.

Here's my story I hope someone has an answer...

I met my husband in 1986 (I am a US born citizen) we have been together ever since. We married in 2008 in the sierras after 22 years. We have two son's both citizens of the US whom are now adults in their 20's. Back in 1988 my husband was given a "voluntary departure", he never left because of me.

So moving to October 2009, after living and making a life in the US for the past 23 years all of a sudden the INS shows up and puts my husband on ICE.

He was deported to South Africa a month later. We have packed up our whole life and are now living abroad in a country I don't want to live in. I've been here since January 2010.

I'm not a lawyer, we couldn't afford one and the one's we did speak to said he had no chance because of 214(a) inadmissibility and they never offered any advice on which forms to file, so we only filed the I-130 so far and that was over a year a half ago.

I recently found out that we need to file the I-601 along with the I-212 and it asks questions like "if were to move to your "home country" etc. all the questions are like that. WE ALREADY DID MOVE AND IT COSTS US OUR LIFE SAVINGS!!! Geezz...anyways, I feel bad for not knowing what to do, but like I said I'm no lawyer, thank god for these forums.

**I just want to add my husband has lead a clean life with NO criminal records anywhere. The only crime was not leaving the USA.

So my question is...

I'm getting all the required papers, photos, evidence, etc. together right now and SO do I have to file the I-212 and the I-601 in the same package (they want everything file in duplicates). I send all copies and no originals correct??

AND if I go to the South African Consul here should I file it with them or send it to USCIS California Service myself?

And last question, How long do you think it will take and does it also take time to get a VISA after approval?

Please someone help...I'm so sick of it here, I miss my SONS, family, my friends and living my California life style that I've know all my 45 years.

[Penguin_ie 5,985]

Welcome to VJ! I am sorry about the circumstances which brought you here.

How did your husband enter the USA? Did you try to file for Adjustment of Status (AOS) after his marriage to you? Is there anything written in his passport (likely a series of numbers and letters)? The difficulty of the waivers will depend somewhat on the circumstances, so the more you can tell us about that, the better.

Has your husband had a visa interview for his IR-1 spousal visa yet? Normally, the waivers are filed at the embassy after the visa is denied; as you petitioned for him a year and a half ago, he should definitely be at interview stage by now. The problem I can see is that to get approved, you need to show that it would be a hardship for you- the USC- to live in another country, and as you already live abroad, that could be difficult (not liking it there doesn't count as hardship). Hopefully, having sons in the USA will help with that.

Getting a waiver approved (which is NOT easy) can take anything from a couple of weeks to a year- usually a few months. If he gets approved, the visa should be issued within a couple of weeks after that.

[Jomari 1]

I'm sorry you hate our country so much, I love it here, but hate being apart from Joe so much more. Good luck with your process.

[Sooz 0]

I'm sorry you hate our country so much, I love it here, but hate being apart from Joe so much more. Good luck with your process.

I don't "hate" it here, I'm not in the USA anymore that's all. It's the same if you like it here and had to live someplace else that wasn't by choice. It's the lack of freedom. Plus SA is screwed up, the country is beautiful the system and people suck. (I actually like the blacks more then the whites, they're nicer).

[Sooz 0]

Welcome to VJ! I am sorry about the circumstances which brought you here.

How did your husband enter the USA? Did you try to file for Adjustment of Status (AOS) after his marriage to you? Is there anything written in his passport (likely a series of numbers and letters)? The difficulty of the waivers will depend somewhat on the circumstances, so the more you can tell us about that, the better.

Has your husband had a visa interview for his IR-1 spousal visa yet? Normally, the waivers are filed at the embassy after the visa is denied; as you petitioned for him a year and a half ago, he should definitely be at interview stage by now. The problem I can see is that to get approved, you need to show that it would be a hardship for you- the USC- to live in another country, and as you already live abroad, that could be difficult (not liking it there doesn't count as hardship). Hopefully, having sons in the USA will help with that.

Getting a waiver approved (which is NOT easy) can take anything from a couple of weeks to a year- usually a few months. If he gets approved, the visa should be issued within a couple of weeks after that.

My husband lied on his "entrance visa" back in the 80's. He had a marijuana record here in SA and they asked him if he had a record in any country on the plane before it landed in the US and he said NO. So that's VISA fraud.

That's why he was given a voluntary departure in the first place. He has no other criminal record in any country now, it's been expunged since then. We filed the I-130 and the USCIS site says we are in line for an interview but that was over 7 months ago...probably not knowing that we should have filed the I-212 and the I-601...on his deportation papers it says he's inadmissible for 10 years.

I'm not expecting to get out of here for at least another year +...I guess.

[Sergi9 110]

So you are dealing with a Misrep/fruad deal. Yes you file the I601/I212 together. Where you file depends on where you are and that is changing right now so read USCIS website to keep up with it.

After August if the Consular Office you interview at has an USCIS office concurrently located, then after the interview you will file it with USCIS at that Embassy yourself. If the Embassy has no USCIS office that will forward to the USCIS office overseas that has jurisdiction over the case.

You have to wait to file the I601 and I212 after the Consular interview. Read up on preparing this because it is very difficult to get approved.

I would not agree with Penguin about the living situation. For the I601 you have to prove both it would be an extreme hardship for you to live in the Foreign Country and also that you cannot live in the US without him/her. In the meantime you have to live somewhere, so where you live during the process is really not material to approval.

They key is establishing hardship in the documentation and then proving it with evidence and coming up with mitigating circumstances to outweigh the aggravating ones.

good luck

[Justine+David 218]

What is your basis for your hardship for the waiver? I think it would be pretty hard to prove since your children are adults and you are currently living in South Africa. Misrep is really hard to overcome; you really need a lawyer (the best one you can afford) to walk you through and give you an estimate of your chances.

[canadian_wife 1,791]

You need a lawyer, you have a misrepresentation, a drug offence, and maybe a deportation absconder. Your case is complicated.

You should never attempt any waiver case alone, let alone yours.

Laural Scott offers free immigration chats on Wednesdays at scottimmigration.com. Also immigrate2us.net is a great site for inadmissable aliens

Good luck