What is the most difficult part of immigration for you?

[Nicoco 26]

I'm writing a paper about immigration, specifically problems with family-based immigration. What kinds of struggles that you have faced do you consider the worst for you? Some things I've seen on the forum is abnormally long waits, kids beign separated from parents, stuck in AP for months, and more.

[sachinky 465]

Waiting for the NOA2. That bit drove me batty. Everything else was pretty smooth sailing, except for an I864 RFE because my husband can't add properly.

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

I think you should be less worried with the problems of immigration (ie people getting here) and more worried about how immigrants/families do once they are together in the US.

[cdneh 3,112]

It's the lack of transparency that makes me nuts. Once you put the packet in the mail, and send them the bits of paper you are required to, there are long silent waits. And should you brave the USCIC or NVC misinformation lines, sometimes the things people are told are untrue and border on illegal advice.

We did reasonably well until NVC. Petitions were flying through there in just a couple of days at the time, but not ours.

We were told variously, and in the following order, that they had it and were sending it out right away (two letters stated this dated two days apart), that they didn't have it yet, that it was lost and they had never received it, that it was there but no one seemed to have it, that we were not being held up. In fact, we fell afoul of something they had only just begun to do back then at NVC, which was subject K1's to extra scrutiny at NVC. From the first time we called them they knew that, and when we finally escalated the call to a supervisor we were told that we were in AP, and that she couldn't understand why the Tier 1 people didn't notice that it was flagged as such and simply say so.

Even after that, we were told it would be only a few days, a couple of weeks, back to a few more days, and then we were told that the process is indefinite and no one could say. We kept track of other people in the same boat, and as there was no information here on VJ at the time, we gathered together in the NVC forum and posted with others as they found out they too were stuck there. That sort of carry on led us, and others in the same situation to worry unnecessarily, to speculate endlessly. Is it me they are worried about or is it my USC? Did we not have enough pictures, or did we submit to many? Are we too old, or are we too young? Is it where we are from? Did we not send enough evidence, or are they annoyed that we sent too much? We compared notes, we had a spreadsheet documenting the length of AP of everyone on the thread. We celebrated every time some poor couple were sent on to their respective consulates, and every time that interviews were successful. We didn't have a single person denied at interview.

They held our petition there for 53 extra days. We have filed a FOIA request to find out why. I was told at interview that it was random, but I for one am not satisfied with that. The person that interviewed me at AKL was just as puzzled as we were. They told me that no one is held there for AP on a K1. Even their own consulates were unaware of the possibility, you would think someone would have shot them a memo or something of the sort. It says a great deal about the USCIS and it's lack of communication skills if even their consulates are unaware of changes in policy.

I went ahead and had packet 3 sent out from the consulate, on the basis of having the AKL number, and had the medical and every other thing done by the time we were released. That kept me occupied and relatively sane. The consulate people were great there, I had an ongoing email conversation with them, and they were on the point of checking with NVC when we were cut loose.

NVC cannot deny a petition. They told us that themselves. We had already gone through the initial process at VSC and approved. I still want to know on what whim, and for what reason, so many people were held up, and kept apart.

It's left me with quite a bad taste for all things immigration. We all have to prove ourselves all over again with AOS, and now again for us with ROC. It's needlessly repetitive, time consuming and costly. I have actually got to leave the State when I go to have biometrics done next month.

Who can tally the personal cost to people in bonafide relationships denied, held up, who are waiting still. There needs to be a great deal more transparency and accountability than there is at present. It ought to be made easy to do the right and legal thing, and difficult to circumvent the process. They need some sort of shuffle around, an overhaul. The process is cumbersome as it stands, needlessly duplicates what it does, and keeps the petitioners waiting far too long in some circumstances.

[EAbbas 213]

We aren't together yet.. i think that for those of us pending AP is the most difficult.. we knew USCIS would end.. that NVC would forward the petition and that we would have interview but now its not knowing anything... will he get visa before thanksgiving? will he be here by Christmas? or the NEw year? will it be valentines day? we've already missed our first year of marriage being together.. and celebrated our 1st anniversary apart and missing many first holidays of our marriage... i dont want it to be happening for a second time.

[PantomimeGoose 59]

It's a combination of the separation and the lack of control.

A long distance relationship has it's own set of challenges, but let's face it; in most, if a spouse ended up in the hospital, or pregnant, or financial straits changed, or if your loved one was really suffering from the distance, you'd come back or bring them to you in a heartbeat. In our situation, we're deprived of that choice.

In place of that choice, we're forced to pay the government money, fill out a convoluted application to prove our love is good enough, and then wait until they see fit to have a life. It makes it difficult to do normal things, and by extention to feel normal. (This is a wild understatement: much of the past year has felt like a chapter from Kafka's 'The Trial', or Sartre's 'No Exit')

Some days it feels like if I don't have freedom to choose my life, to choose my family, without justifying it to the government, I must not have much freedom at all.

The hard part has been the separation from my husband for a few years. The tragic part is that I don't know if I will ever believe in the country or the inefficient bureacracy that took that time from us again.

[TBoneTX 45,550]

Read this, as an example of how U.S. citizens can be completely hosed by a consulate:

http://www.visajourney.com/reviews/view-dos-cis-reviews.php?entry=4679

[Karee 4,190]

I'm writing a paper about immigration, specifically problems with family-based immigration. What kinds of struggles that you have faced do you consider the worst for you? Some things I've seen on the forum is abnormally long waits, kids beign separated from parents, stuck in AP for months, and more.

Before I even clicked on this link I knew who wrote it.

[Nicoco 26]

Before I even clicked on this link I knew who wrote it.

Is that a bad or good thing?

[JD63 4]

I think for us the most difficult thing was waiting for the Green Card following a K1 and marriage. To me it seems absolutely insane that a person can be married to a USC, but cannot work, drive, or do pretty much anything for almost half a year, and that's the best case scenario.

For most people, the USC has to work, while the spouse is unable to do anything for a long time. This causes problems as not only is the spouse in a completely foreign situation without family and friends, but cannot do everyday things like drive to a job or apply for jobs.

[Karee 4,190]

Is that a bad or good thing?

It's a good thing.

[EminTX 131]

I'm writing a paper about immigration, specifically problems with family-based immigration. What kinds of struggles that you have faced do you consider the worst for you?

For me, one of the most difficult issues is the reference to people who enter or stay illegally being called "immigrants" instead of criminals or, in the very least, cheaters. Then to hear many political leaders, including our president to discuss offering any preference (amnesty) to them over those of us who have followed every rule to the letter. That is a direct slap in the face. No one should ever be bumped to the front of the line, so to speak.

When I am in South America and read or listen to news about immigration issues in the US, they never refer to the illegals as "immigrants"--it is always either "undocumented" or "illegal"--clearly demonstrating the difference in category in the article. Here in the US, every politically correct reference lumps us together. Exactly the same as categorizing rapists and husbands as "lovers".

This IS a black and white issue. You either are a liar and cheat or you are not. If we make a single mistake, like playfully calling each other "esposo/a" in a letter, we can be rejected completely. If someone knowingly comes here by sneaking in and hiding and giving false information for years, that is supposed to be forgiven.

No. Absolutely not.

(In the very least, any "amnesty" program needs to require that the individual return to their home country and fill out the paperwork, interview, etc, and go through the process like anyone else. If a person really, really wants to live here, then it is worth it to go through the process. All of us here are demonstrating that.)

The waiting is hard, but it is made so much harder when I am repeatedly told to "just bring him here illegally" by people who did just that with their friends/family.

Sigh. Very heavy sigh.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

I think for us the most difficult thing was waiting for the Green Card following a K1 and marriage. To me it seems absolutely insane that a person can be married to a USC, but cannot work, drive, or do pretty much anything for almost half a year, and that's the best case scenario.

For most people, the USC has to work, while the spouse is unable to do anything for a long time. This causes problems as not only is the spouse in a completely foreign situation without family and friends, but cannot do everyday things like drive to a job or apply for jobs.

That is precisely the reason the K1 exists - so that the foreigner can come to the US, marry the petitioner, and then wait while their application to immigrate is being processed. It's not for people who need the benefits of being a permanent resident from the day they arrive in the US. Those people should marry first and pursue an immigrant visa.

[sachinky 465]

That is precisely the reason the K1 exists - so that the foreigner can come to the US, marry the petitioner, and then wait while their application to immigrate is being processed. It's not for people who need the benefits of being a permanent resident from the day they arrive in the US. Those people should marry first and pursue an immigrant visa.

Precisely my point. There's a reason the CR-1 exists and that's one of the main reasons it seemed like a superior choice for us when taking those factors into consideration.

[cartaverde 12]

The worst part of me was the insane waiting for paperwork. There was no update at all in two years. I could not visit my spouse (we had been married for over a year when we started the K-3 process) during that time at all. I could not plan my life sensefully since I had no clue how long I'd stay in the country I was stuck at. How about a car, or a new job, or a new place to live? I could not really think of any of those since I had no clue when the paperwork would move on.

It took over 2,5 years to get finally the visa. At no point were any reasons for the insane delays or any apologies for that given. By the time we could finally live in the same country, most of our friends who had got married around the same time we did, were already divorced, ha ha. Just prior to the 2,5 years of immigration hell (plus a year more of immigration hell for him living in the same country than I did, and where the state would not acknowledge an American or give them a visa for being married so was not a very happy camper housewife that year, but this happened after that year) I also had a pretty bad time with post-traumatic stress disorder caused by the US immigration or ultimately by USCIS hotline's incompetent, illegal advice that ruined my life then. After getting engaged in a stressful but enjoyable job, at least the PTSD showed less in the daily life and slowly grew smaller, whereas the insane wait grew slowly to be the #1 annoyance.