Is it really worth it

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I think a couple of you are mis understanding what I mean. My fiancé is definitely worth it, I wouldn't be going through the process if she wasn't. I'm not whining at all, I'm just was expressing my thoughts. Regardless what your personal political views are, because both side have they're faults. But the lack of common sense this country lacks will be its downfall. Going back to if she's worth it, I won to successful companies, I would give those up for her.

The nightmare in Europe, will send its effects over the Atlantic in the next 6-18 months. The president is making it difficult to proper here. That piece of paper they call the Constitution is being destroyed and disregarded, and rights re being taken away. Like I was expressing before, I would rather move somewhere where I know the government is going to screw you, than think I'm a free citizen with only the freedoms our forefathers fought for are taken away.

Also I'm not going on a tangent because I'm fed up of waiting. I realized that part, when I filled. I now find it sad, all of the people on this forum have to wait the decision of somebody in a cubicle to decide the fate of a life together. But it gets upsetting when I see ILLEGALS, get a path to quick immigration, ILLEGALS get financial aid assistance for college, ILLEGALS get healthcare in hospitals, meanwhile Natural born citizens stand in line and get treated like #######, just because you make a certain amount you do not get the benefit others do, and coming soon... If you don't purchase healthcare your are subject to fine.

Hispanic citizens vote for Democrats. If they voted for Republicans, Obama would build a fence to keep illegals out.

All they need to do is punish severely, with taxes, anyone that employs an illegal alien. After all, the illegals are not receiving protections that are intended for workers. Instead they complain about Walmart being "unfair" and allow employers to exploit illegals.

You make the mistake of assuming any of this has anything to do with the legal process of immigration. It is like complaining that you had to wait months for a mortgage while bank robbers just steal the money. One is a legal process, the other is a crime.

By marrying/being engaged to a foreign woman and wishing to offer her the legal benefits of living in the US you enter this process voluntarily. Enjoy!

[rascalcat 28]

I think a couple of you are mis understanding what I mean. My fiancé is definitely worth it, I wouldn't be going through the process if she wasn't. I'm not whining at all, I'm just was expressing my thoughts. Regardless what your personal political views are, because both side have they're faults. But the lack of common sense this country lacks will be its downfall. Going back to if she's worth it, I won to successful companies, I would give those up for her.

The nightmare in Europe, will send its effects over the Atlantic in the next 6-18 months. The president is making it difficult to proper here. That piece of paper they call the Constitution is being destroyed and disregarded, and rights re being taken away. Like I was expressing before, I would rather move somewhere where I know the government is going to screw you, than think I'm a free citizen with only the freedoms our forefathers fought for are taken away.

Also I'm not going on a tangent because I'm fed up of waiting. I realized that part, when I filled. I now find it sad, all of the people on this forum have to wait the decision of somebody in a cubicle to decide the fate of a life together. But it gets upsetting when I see ILLEGALS, get a path to quick immigration, ILLEGALS get financial aid assistance for college, ILLEGALS get healthcare in hospitals, meanwhile Natural born citizens stand in line and get treated like #######, just because you make a certain amount you do not get the benefit others do, and coming soon... If you don't purchase healthcare your are subject to fine.

What do you mean by freedoms of forefathers? Many of the Founding Fathers of the United States owned African American slaves. It was First Nations people that really discovered America, as they were there before any settlers arrived. Of course back then there was no such thing as immigration control, and they didnt have visas or passports lol. They didnt ask permission from First Nations to migrate, they instead wages war upon them. The U.S. Government has broken every treaty made. The only natural born citizens of the U.S. are First Nations. Most American really are descendants of European immigrants. It is those descendants that decide on who else migrates to the U.S. It all comes down to money and greed to be honest. Every treaty made has been broken and violated in some way. For example, the Fort Laramie Treaty promised no mining on Indian land this treaty was broken with the mining in the Black Hills. This treaty is a live existing document. Its all in black and white.

Nothing really surprises me.the saying "rules are made to be broken" comes to mind. Dont they always get broken?! lol

[N-o-l-a 7,167]

What do you mean by freedoms of forefathers? Many of the Founding Fathers of the United States owned African American slaves. It was First Nations people that really discovered America, as they were there before any settlers arrived. Of course back then there was no such thing as immigration control, and they didnt have visas or passports lol. They didnt ask permission from First Nations to migrate, they instead wages war upon them. The U.S. Government has broken every treaty made. The only natural born citizens of the U.S. are First Nations. Most American really are descendants of European immigrants. It is those descendants that decide on who else migrates to the U.S. It all comes down to money and greed to be honest. Every treaty made has been broken and violated in some way. For example, the Fort Laramie Treaty promised no mining on Indian land this treaty was broken with the mining in the Black Hills. This treaty is a live existing document. Its all in black and white.

Nothing really surprises me.the saying "rules are made to be broken" comes to mind. Dont they always get broken?! lol

People on this site certainly go on some weird tangent rants.

FYI it used to be easy to immigrate. My British father and my mother showed up in New York in the 80s, got married, and that week my father had his greencard. Not so easy any more.

[rascalcat 28]

People on this site certainly go on some weird tangent rants.

FYI it used to be easy to immigrate. My British father and my mother showed up in New York in the 80s, got married, and that week my father had his greencard. Not so easy any more.

Weird tangent rant? What is weird about it? What i said in my last post is factual. Issues which still exist to this present day. And an important part in how immigration came about.. the start of immigration that made it what it is today. This is relevant to the topic of this forum post. When asking people in the forum if it is worth it, surely it is about asking everyone their thoughts on the matter. Discussing the process of immigration and how it has changed over the years is the basis of importance for what it has become today.

The factors i mentioned play a part of this, in changing America to what it is today. Including the political views, and law of immigration and its process.

I would like to share "The following talk was given by Mahtowin Munro, a member of the Lakota Nation and co-leader of United American Indians of New England (UAINE), at a Nov. 18 Boston Workers World Party forum entitled “The Struggle for Indigenous sovereignty and immigrant rights.” (taken from http://www.workers.org/2006/us/native-immigration-1130/) that really sums this up:

"I am going to be talking about immigration tonight from a North American Native viewpoint. Many of us who are Native to this country have been outraged as our sisters and brothers from Mexico, Central America and South America have come under increasing attack by the right wing.

We are deeply alarmed by the existence of white vigilante groups such as the Minutemen, and by the stated intention of the U.S. government to build a wall separating the U.S. from Mexico.

As Indigenous peoples, we have no borders. We know that our sisters and brothers from Mexico, Central America and South America have always been here and always will be.

The immigrant nation that is the U.S. has a short memory and is in denial of its historical facts. This government is descended from immigrants who came here and took our lands and resources, either by force, coercion or dishonesty, and banned the religions, languages and cultures of the original Indigenous peoples of this continent.

In the various discussions of so-called “illegal immigrants,” one historical fact is always overlooked: America’s own holocaust directed against African and Native people, carried out by uninvited foreigners who came to these shores and took everything they could.

Surely the deaths of tens of millions of Native and African people at the hands of marauding, manipulative European immigrants during a 400-year span should be worth bearing in mind.

U.S. history brims over with brutal, bloody instances of inhuman European immigrant actions that are far removed from the basic aspirations so often associated with today’s immigrants. The undocumented workers today in this country dream of a better life and seek to escape the poverty and repression engendered by U.S. imperialism.

Unlike the earlier immigrants and the perpetual forces they set into motion, I highly doubt that today’s immigrants are plotting to seize others’ property, kill babies and earn bounties based on body parts brought back from raids.

Consider that, in the late 1630s, the British wiped out nearly every man, woman and child of the powerful Pequot tribe of southern New England in retaliation for conflicts arising out of fur-trade struggles. A few years later, Dutch authorities in charge of the settlement of “New Netherland” on the island of Manhattan carried out nighttime raids against the local Indigenous people, where infants were torn from their mothers’ breasts and hacked to pieces in the presence of their parents.

Legislation approved in Massachusetts and elsewhere in New England in the 1700s authorized bounty payments for scalps or heads of Indians, young and old.

As it turns out, the immigrant authorities were just beginning their efforts to obliterate “the savages,” as American history chronicles.

Some of the best-known names in American history are dripping with prejudice and arrogance aimed at Native people. Not only did Thomas Jefferson—a holder of hundreds of Black men, women, and children—live a life of ease on his great plantation as a result of that slave labor. He also was convinced that the best solution in dealing with Native peoples was to drive all of us west of the Mississippi.

The war-hero president, Andrew Jackson, was one of the most despicable Indian-haters on record. He made no bones about his racism and championed the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which forced the Cherokee and other southeastern Native peoples from their homes and caused thousands of them to die on the Trail of Tears to Oklahoma.

The 19th century in particular is rife with accounts of the foreign intruders’ invasions of Indian country, especially in the Southeast and West, and the carnage that resulted. The December 1890 Massacre at Wounded Knee of over 300 unarmed Lakota children, women and men by the U.S. Army is perhaps the best-known of what were countless massacres carried out by the immigrants and their army.

The wholesale abuse of Native peoples continues to this day, and it springs from the same destructive capitalist practices that were brought here by foreigners long ago.

As I listen to some people call other people “illegal” immigrants, I often wonder: How could it possibly be that their ancestors were considered to be “legal” while so many immigrants now are considered “illegal”?

These comparisons between past and present miss a crucial point. So few restrictions existed on immigration in the 19th and early 20th centuries that there was no such thing as “illegal immigration.”

For instance, the government excluded less than 1 percent of the 25 million European immigrants who landed at Ellis Island before World War I, and those mostly for health reasons.

We begin with a simple fact: We Native peoples had no immigration policies. When the Europeans began arriving and stealing our land from us and massacring our people, we did not have them take a citizenship test. We did not have them pass through Ellis Island. We did not have quotas for how many could come into the country.

So, when did the U.S. begin to have immigration policies, and what were those policies?

For many years, whiteness was the prerequisite for citizenship. The first naturalization law in the United States, the 1790 Naturalization Act, restricted naturalization to “free white persons” of “good moral character” once they had resided in the country for a specified period of time.

The next significant change in the scope of naturalization law came following the Civil War in 1870 when the law was broadened to allow African Americans, whose ancestors had been forced to immigrate here in slave ships, to become naturalized citizens.

During the 1800s, male Chinese immigrants were excluded from citizenship but not from living in the United States, because their labor was needed by the big railroads. Female Chinese immigration was severely curtailed. Congress in 1882 passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which was a virtual ban on further Chinese immigration. The Chinese immigration ban was not repealed until the 1940s.

In the early 1900s, Japanese immigration was limited as well, but the Japanese government continued to give passports to the Territory of Hawaii, where many Japanese resided. (At that time, Hawaii was not yet a U.S. state.) Once in Hawaii, it was easy for Japanese to continue on to settlements on the West Coast, if they so desired.

An 1882 law banned the entry of “lunatics” and infectious disease carriers. After President William McKinley was assassinated by a second-generation immigrant anarchist, Congress enacted in 1901 the Anarchist Exclusion Act to exclude known anarchist agitators. A literacy requirement was added in the Immigration Act of 1917.

During the 1920s, the U.S. Congress established national quotas on immigration. The quotas were based on the number of foreign-born residents of each nationality who were already living in the United States.

In 1924, the Johnson-Reid Immigration Act limited the numbers of southern European immigrants. Italians were considered not “white” enough and an anarchist menace. The numbers of Eastern Europeans were also limited because Jews, who made up a large part of those leaving that area, were not “white” enough and were considered to be a Bolshevik menace.

I should mention that we Native people were “naturalized” and “granted” citizenship by the U.S. government in 1924.

In 1932 President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the State Department essentially shut down immigration during the Great Depression.

In 1952, the McCarran-Walter Act revised the quota system again. This act removed overt racial barriers to citizenship but solidified inequalities. Most of the quota allocation went to immigrants from Ireland, the United Kingdom and Germany who already had relatives in the United States.

This law was also particularly aimed at preventing socialist, communist or other progressive immigrants from entering the country. The anti-”subversive” features of this law are still in force.

During all these years, the entire Western Hemisphere, including Mexico, was exempted from immigration regulations. That changed in 1965 with the Hart-Cellar Act, which abolished the system of national-origin quotas.

A last-minute political compromise introduced, for the very first time, quotas for Mexico and the rest of the Western Hemisphere. This law racialized “illegal aliens.” A hierarchy of those deemed worthy and those deemed unworthy of becoming an “American” became increasingly deeply rooted.

Several pieces of legislation signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996 marked a turn towards harsher policies for both legal and “illegal” immigrants. These acts vastly increased the categories for which immigrants, including green card holders, can be deported. As a result, well over 1 million individuals have been deported since 1996.

In short, the notion of “illegal aliens” is a construct, an invention of the racist U.S. ruling class. The dominant powers for centuries codified Indigenous, African, Chinese and other people as essentially not “American.”

The revolting use of the word “illegal” as a noun is a linguistic way of dehumanizing people and reducing individuals to their alleged infractions against the law.

I do not have time tonight to discuss the details of the economic and social conditions created by U.S. imperialism and neoliberalism that have forced our sisters and brothers from Mexico and many other countries to come to the U.S.

The United States is the true culprit in this situation through the robbery of the Mexican people, which began with the theft of their land and has continued with economic policies like NAFTA, which have destroyed the economy that sustained thousands of families, forcing them into exile and particularly into emigrating to the U.S.

As an aside, I want to explain what I mean when I say that the U.S. government stole land from the Mexican people, because this is rarely discussed in school or anywhere else. First of all, the land of course belongs rightfully to Indigenous peoples. Later, the various colonial governments claimed territory.

The “Mexican Cession” is a historical name for the region of the present-day southwestern United States that was ceded to the U.S. by Mexico in 1848 under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo following the Mexican-American War.

The cession of this territory from Mexico was a condition for the end of the war, as U.S. troops occupied Mexico City and Mexico risked being completely annexed by the U.S.

The United States also paid the paltry sum of $15 million for the land, which was the same amount it had offered for the land prior to the war. Under great duress, Mexico was forced to accept the offer.

The region of the 1848 “Mexican Cession” includes all of the present-day states of California, Nevada and Utah, as well as portions of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming. Note that the United States had already claimed the huge area of Texas in its Texas Annexation of 1845.

So we see that the U.S. literally stole millions of acres of land from the Mexican people, then established arbitrary borders such as the Rio Grande, and now hunts down those who dare to cross those borders.

The U.S. government has now escalated its war against the Mexican people, whether they are in Mexico or in its Diaspora, by approving $2.2 billion to begin construction of what is to be a $6 billion apartheid wall between the two countries.

At the same time, massive raids are being carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a branch of the Department of Homeland Security. In cities across the country, ICE is trying to push immigrant workers further underground and scare them away from organizing and fighting for their rights.

Local and state governments, most notably in Pennsylvania and Arizona, have been passing vicious anti-immigrant legislation. I just read on the Internet the other night that the Bush administration and the Justice Department now claim the right to hold any non-U.S. citizen indefinitely, without the right to a trial in a civilian court.

In recent years, we have also seen how attacks against even documented immigrants, particularly Muslims, have been carried out under the guise of “homeland security.”

So all in all, there is a calculated attempt to create a thoroughly intimidating and threatening climate for immigrant workers, especially the undocumented.

Further, racists continue to push their “English-only” campaigns and to oppose bilingual education. I feel outraged by these “English-only” campaigns. Is English the Native language of this country? Generations of Native people were beaten for speaking their Indigenous languages and forced to learn English. Instead of English-only, maybe we should be insisting that people speak Mayan or Cherokee or Wampanoag.

Well, things were looking pretty bleak for a while. It had appeared that the capitalist ruling class and its representatives in the U.S. government had the upper hand completely, and that the mass struggle was dormant.

But then came the magnificent immigrant rights demonstrations of last spring. These were led by workers from Mexico and Central America and South America, but they were joined by Caribbean, Asian, African and other allies. This development shook the ruling class. It frightened and deeply worried them. It gave a glimpse, even in the midst of periods of reaction, of the crucial struggles that are on the horizon.

Step by step, day by day, this movement will grow. The government can pass anti-immigrant laws but those laws will be repealed in the streets. It was the earlier heroic struggles of immigrants in the U.S. that led to the historic International Women’s Day as well as May Day. Without a doubt, immigrants will make that kind of history again.

Let’s ask some basic questions here: Why does the U.S. need immigrant workers? This country depends on immigrants being the most exploited workers, the ones who work in sweatshops and keep the luxury hotels running.

Without immigrant labor, the economy would collapse. So why the witch hunt? To drive immigrants further underground and to manipulate this reserve army of labor. The corporations want to super-exploit immigrant workers. They just don’t want to be responsible for paying them the value of their labor or for providing benefits, services and basic democratic rights.

The corporations and the government are using the anti-immigrant legislation to mask the truth about the crisis looming for U.S. workers and the huge financial debt of the government.

This criminalization is also aimed at the rising tide of change developing throughout Latin and South America, from Venezuela to Oaxaca and Chiapas, a tide of resistance like that of the people of Cuba to U.S. global policies.

Capitalism thrives on the scapegoating of certain groups of people, which they use to try and divide us as workers. They want to keep us divided amongst each other because they want to prevent us from uniting to fight back against their bloody-handed system.

This is not the first time that immigrants have been scapegoated. Irish immigrants of the mid-1800s were vilified. During the 1800s, Chinese workers in the western part of the U.S. were subject to the most virulent racism, including lynching, and endured the most brutal working conditions.

From World War I until the 1920s, the government conducted anti-Jewish and anti-Italian reactionary attacks, including the Palmer Raids. Former President Theodore Roosevelt and many other prominent citizens of his era proclaimed their fears that the Anglo-Saxon was an endangered species due to immigration and to higher birth rates among the immigrants.

On the West Coast, Japanese immigrants were interned in concentration camps during World War II, and there were widespread police attacks on Chican@ youth in California during the same era.

The current attacks against immigrants must be seen as attacks on all workers. This current assault on immigrants is just another tactic—like racism, homophobia and sexism—that the ruling class uses to pit workers against each other. The only winners when this happens are the bosses."

Many will argue this has nothing to do with this forum topic. However after following comments on here regarding fairness and its balance, everything is connected to immigration and makes it what it is today. Furthermore, its an interesting quote i found that i felt like sharing!

[rascalcat 28]

Freedom of speech.

Edited March 23, 2013 by rascalcat

[Sarah Elle-Même 660]

You are welcome to move to Canada but if you really hate social safety net programs then you'll hate living there more.

I agree with Gary that if the government wanted to crack down then it needs to be on employers. But that won't happen because those same companies line the pockets of politicians with their money. The US is pay to play. Period. You will find most countries in the world are the same in varying degrees. It's called crony capitalism. Don't like it? Then the time has come for a real revolution.

Edited March 23, 2013 by Sarah and Adnan

[lozanod 4]

So while waiting now 6months and 5 days since applying for a k-1 visa and is still waiting for a NOA2 approval. Is it really worth all this hassle of applying for a visa to become an American citizen? Yes I understand there is a few rotten apples that have made the process the lengthy process that it is, but mostly in genera!l 2 people fall in love and want to get married and start a life together and possibly start a family. But you a have a government employee who could care less what happens to the people and lives they are reviewing. I am an naturally born American, I own a business, I employee 10-15 in house employees and 15-20 subcontractors, I pay a boat load in taxes, because I work hard. Isnt that the American dream to become successful, prosperous,have a good life...not in today's America.... All of the illegals in America get citizenship because of a Dream Act...blah ..blah... So because they are here illegal they have the ability to skip the..but what about the fact that they are here illegally. If my fiancé decides to board a flight, properly go through customs, enters the US...and we decide to get married... We could possibly be committing immigration fraud... Maybe if she entered illegally and then we got married it would be ok? Doesn't make any sense.

Then comes the interview, so after all of the hoops and have jumped, and you have given them pretty much your first born, you go for your interview. If the consulate representative wakes up on the wrong side of the bed that morning...he/she can just say ...Um Not Approved. What makes that person god. And decides that an American naturally born citizen cannot wed his fiancé because they just didn't feel like it. ( I understand they have to make sure they don't let anyone in) but if it is a clean cut case, no arrest records on either party, more than information and documents... Why does it take 9-12 months for what seems to be a total of 2 hours of administrative work.

So is it really worth it to be an American anymore:

;You work hard, employ people, make a good living,... Just to have the government say " you make to much, and we have to give your hard earned money to these people here, who obviously can work but dont choose to, because they don't have to"

; Oh you met a special person and want to get married to them but they are not an American... So you go through the proper process set forth by the government...and it drags on and on...just to have a decision made by someone who could less, but all these ILLEGALS, can get prefered treatment to get they're citizenship. What happened to the ILLEGAL part, haven't they committed a crime, but they government tends to persecute and hassle they group of people that go through the proper guidelines set forth so everyone is on an equal playing field.

; Now you have your K-1 visa in hand, hurry up you have 90 days to get married, thanks for allowing us so much time get married . Now comes 2 years of having to prove it is a real marriage...etc. Once again your future is in the hands of someone who doesn't care, so you have prove to them all of your personal details... Great now this person is like a priest whom you tell all of your personally intimate details as if the 2 weeks of training they just can determine whether it is legit or not.

The American dream is not about the dream of a better and prosperous life, it is how to work the system, and learn how to lie, cheat and steal..and if you don't want do those the government will give to you from those who bust their a$$.. So you don't have to.

At least in other countries, you know your getting mis treated by the government, but in America, where the government works for you, they actually work against you. My American dream is turning into a nightmare and maybe it's time to wake up from the nightmare and find a country where at least I know I'm getting screwed instead of a false dream.

I definitely hear ya buddy.

My fiancee just picked up her K1 last week, after starting the process in June of 2012.

I definitely cursed the USCIS more than a few times during the process. What really does take them so long?

I've had numerous background checks due to my profession and other licenses, but nothing has ever taken this long. Our case is obviously legit to anyone with half a brain looking.

But it's a symptom of a much larger disease in the US government. Honest to goodness, if I didn't love America so much, I would've jumped ship and moved somewhere else with her.

I can tell that you're a patriot, and that you aren't whining. You're posting a lament for your country.

I also hear you about the other part. I had some friends who overstayed their J1 visas, and then got married to some of my closest friends. No hassle for them, no waiting on USCIS.

It's horse-s***.

But, as others have said, don't give up! It was a great feeling when she was finally approved!

Edited March 23, 2013 by lozanod

[Cathi 5,616]

Just to correct a point you tried to make, you stated the Dream Act allows "all illegals" to become US citizens, that is not true, the Dream Act provides conditional permanent residency to certain illegal aliens of good moral character who graduate from U.S. high schools, arrived in the United States as minors, and lived in the country continuously for at least five years prior to the bill's enactment. The people that the Dream Act applies to is certainly not even close to "all illegals" as you stated. The people it applies to are people who are here by no fault of their own, and it certainly does't grant them automatic citizenship either. Why make the people who are eligible for this feel as though they did something wrong by being in this country? In order for them to even be eligible they must meet strict criteria, it isn't as though they send in an application and are handed a certificate of Naturalization. Before making sweeping generalizations you need to educate yourself on the actual process, and what the Dream Act actually is.

Immigration in this country is what it is, if people want to come to this here to be with their significant other, no one is forcing them to. They have to go through the process, abide by the rules, and wait their turn in line. Our immigration system isn't perfect, but we have rules and laws for a reason. My husband is from a MENA country, so not only did we have to endure the CR1 process, but he also had to endure additional administrative processing of 10 weeks on top of everything. We knew from the get go there was a good chance that he would have AP, we were prepared, we just sucked it up and took that time to prepare ourselves for his arrival here. He spent additional quality time with his family and friends because he didn't know when he would have the chance to go back to visit, and I took my kids on a vacation because I figured it would probably be the last one with just the 3 of us before my husband arrived. Never once did I come whining here about how long it was taking. There are MANY other people here who have been in AP for several months and even years, you don't have it half as bad as they do, neither did I. Honestly I am tired of coming here day after day seeing people whine and cry because they had an RFE(their own fault), because there petition is taking longer than a few minutes to process, or because their spouse was questioned more than they liked at their interview. Too bad!!!! Seriously it is like watching a bunch of high school kids who can't stand to be away from there sweetheart for more than 5 minutes. Time to act like adults and just be thankful that they even have a route to get here in the first place and stop complaining. My 2 cents

Edited March 23, 2013 by mimolicious

[agrabs 237]

Hispanic citizens vote for Democrats. If they voted for Republicans, Obama would build a fence to keep illegals out.

All they need to do is punish severely, with taxes, anyone that employs an illegal alien. After all, the illegals are not receiving protections that are intended for workers. Instead they complain about Walmart being "unfair" and allow employers to exploit illegals.

You make the mistake of assuming any of this has anything to do with the legal process of immigration. It is like complaining that you had to wait months for a mortgage while bank robbers just steal the money. One is a legal process, the other is a crime.

By marrying/being engaged to a foreign woman and wishing to offer her the legal benefits of living in the US you enter this process voluntarily. Enjoy!

Well said!

[Sarah Elle-Même 660]

By marrying/being engaged to a foreign woman and wishing to offer her the legal benefits of living in the US you enter this process voluntarily. Enjoy!

Indeed. No one forced any of us to get into a relationship with someone from outside the US. Sorry to bust anyone's bubble but immigration [and sponsoring an immigrant] is a privilege, not a right. Nothing to do but get in line and wait your turn. Fairness and efficiency are irrelevant.

[Waiting234 18]

Although it seems so unreasonable, the way things are...my answer to "is it really worth it" is....Is she worth it???? If she is, then you don't give up!!!! You find a way, and exhaust every means possible to achieve your goals in life. Makes me wonder how you reached your goal owning a company, while we barely meet the poverty level, and yet most of us keep hope, and if we fail one way, we try another!

I disagree. These statements are completely separate topics. If she is worth it, then you can forget a visa for the US and go elsewhere. So, "Is she worth it" really isn't the same thing as "is it really worth it".

[Waiting234 18]

So while waiting now 6months and 5 days since applying for a k-1 visa and is still waiting for a NOA2 approval. Is it really worth all this hassle of applying for a visa to become an American citizen? Yes I understand there is a few rotten apples that have made the process the lengthy process that it is, but mostly in genera!l 2 people fall in love and want to get married and start a life together and possibly start a family. But you a have a government employee who could care less what happens to the people and lives they are reviewing. I am an naturally born American, I own a business, I employee 10-15 in house employees and 15-20 subcontractors, I pay a boat load in taxes, because I work hard. Isnt that the American dream to become successful, prosperous,have a good life...not in today's America.... All of the illegals in America get citizenship because of a Dream Act...blah ..blah... So because they are here illegal they have the ability to skip the..but what about the fact that they are here illegally. If my fiancé decides to board a flight, properly go through customs, enters the US...and we decide to get married... We could possibly be committing immigration fraud... Maybe if she entered illegally and then we got married it would be ok? Doesn't make any sense.

Then comes the interview, so after all of the hoops and have jumped, and you have given them pretty much your first born, you go for your interview. If the consulate representative wakes up on the wrong side of the bed that morning...he/she can just say ...Um Not Approved. What makes that person god. And decides that an American naturally born citizen cannot wed his fiancé because they just didn't feel like it. ( I understand they have to make sure they don't let anyone in) but if it is a clean cut case, no arrest records on either party, more than information and documents... Why does it take 9-12 months for what seems to be a total of 2 hours of administrative work.

So is it really worth it to be an American anymore:

;You work hard, employ people, make a good living,... Just to have the government say " you make to much, and we have to give your hard earned money to these people here, who obviously can work but dont choose to, because they don't have to"

; Oh you met a special person and want to get married to them but they are not an American... So you go through the proper process set forth by the government...and it drags on and on...just to have a decision made by someone who could less, but all these ILLEGALS, can get prefered treatment to get they're citizenship. What happened to the ILLEGAL part, haven't they committed a crime, but they government tends to persecute and hassle they group of people that go through the proper guidelines set forth so everyone is on an equal playing field.

; Now you have your K-1 visa in hand, hurry up you have 90 days to get married, thanks for allowing us so much time get married . Now comes 2 years of having to prove it is a real marriage...etc. Once again your future is in the hands of someone who doesn't care, so you have prove to them all of your personal details... Great now this person is like a priest whom you tell all of your personally intimate details as if the 2 weeks of training they just can determine whether it is legit or not.

The American dream is not about the dream of a better and prosperous life, it is how to work the system, and learn how to lie, cheat and steal..and if you don't want do those the government will give to you from those who bust their a$$.. So you don't have to.

At least in other countries, you know your getting mis treated by the government, but in America, where the government works for you, they actually work against you. My American dream is turning into a nightmare and maybe it's time to wake up from the nightmare and find a country where at least I know I'm getting screwed instead of a false dream.

I know what you mean... Forget all these other ignorants. Americans are so ignorant it puzzles me.

[N-o-l-a 7,167]

Indeed. No one forced any of us to get into a relationship with someone from outside the US. Sorry to bust anyone's bubble but immigration [and sponsoring an immigrant] is a privilege, not a right. Nothing to do but get in line and wait your turn. Fairness and efficiency are irrelevant.

I hate when people say this, because reuniting a family is not a privilege, it is a human right.

[gm33021 9]

@ (Saran and adnan) my mistake, I have should have learned in school that migration is a privilege and sponsoring an immigrant is a privilege, I should have asked my fiancé after asking her what her name was, what is your immigration status? Unfortunately our rights are becoming privileges, one by one they are being taken away. It's only a matter of time before they tell you what you can eat... Oh I forgot that's happening.

My original post was to create conversation which as a society we are moving away from. To the one person about our forefathers and having slaves... How about today's society and how people are "entitled" to things. So in a sense those who work hard and make a descent living are "slaves" to those who receive their entitlements. So they can go to the supermarket and purchase food on government assistance and then pull out a wallet full of cash to purchase beer and liquor. I was upset with common sense and actual lack of common sense.

"Also I apologize for the typos, I'm posting from my iPhone"

[PuppyLove 24]

You are taking things for granted Just visit Pakistan and spend a month here. Your American Nightmare will turned into a Dream again ! I assure you.