Bringing my wife to the United States

[yellow074 0]

Hi all,

I have been married almost 5 years to my wife, a British citizen. I am a US citizen. We are a same sex couple. Until DOMA was eliminated, we had been living in Canada and Mexico as she historically has started companies and sold them - meaning she doesn't work for other companies where an H1-B would be an option. I had to return to the USA at the end of 2013 for my job in LA and currently, I am in the process of relocating to Atlanta. This means we are living apart which is putting huge strain on our marriage.

We did go ahead and file for her as my spouse in October of 2013 but ended up filing for divorce due to the pressure of being apart in February. I requested the petition to be cancelled but heard nothing from UCSIS. We reconciled and decided to continue with the petition and requested an update from UCSIS as we hadn't heard anything from them. They confirm in two status updates that things were proceeding and security checks were being performed. However, at the end of September, they suddenly said "hey we have a letter from February telling us to cancel the petition! We have cancelled it now!"

We contacted them immediately to explain the cancellation was no longer required and well.. this is 7 months later and post two updates from them telling us all was fine! I was advised to Fedex a letter immediately, explaining I didn't want the application to be cancelled which I did so but I suspect to no avail.

So.. frustratingly, we are back at square one with a lengthy waiting time. I love my wife, we are much happier than we were but it is heart breaking, let alone expensive to live apart like this. We can't start a family, we can't have dinner together.. we can't enjoy all the simple things taken for granted - as I know most of you here cannot either.

As we married in Canada, the marriage is recognized in the USA which means no fiance visa which would appear to take way less time to get her here. We even talked about getting divorced just to be able to file a K1! But it was a heart breaking thought and one we weren't prepared to do.

If anyone has any advice at this point, I would love to hear it. Hardship waiver, K1, I-130 again.. even appealing the current decision (are we able to?!) would be great.

Just so sick at this point. For my part, I am a CPA and financial executive. My wife is the CEO of a tech startup (US company) with a team of 25. She is currently in Vancouver again.

Not sure any of that helps but we are pretty productive people - especially her who has Americans on her team.

Thanks!

[Sukie 1,439]

Please contact immigration attorneys at www.masliah-soloway.com and speak with Noemi Masliah or Lavi Soloway. They will do a free initial consultation. While I don't see any easy way out of your predicament, they do specialize in same-sex couples. Full disclosure: Noemi Masliah was our attorney.

Best of Luck.

Sukie in NY

[Boiler 43,429]

Can not see why same sex is relevant.

Start again with the I 130 and go for an IR1.

[shippingforecast 126]

I agree with Boiler here. Although the K1 (at least, to me) appears to be a faster process than the IR-1 path, you'll probably negate that difference in time by going through divorce proceedings.

Edited December 6, 2014 by shippingforecast

[yellow074 0]

I don't think same sex is different either. So no one has heard of being able to appeal a decision where UCSIS have failed to update a file for months on end while providing inaccurate info? I'd love for them to just re-open the case.

Thanks Sukie!

[lost_at_sea 995]

We contacted them immediately to explain the cancellation was no longer required and well.. this is 7 months later and post two updates from them telling us all was fine! I was advised to Fedex a letter immediately, explaining I didn't want the application to be cancelled which I did so but I suspect to no avail.

You suspect or you know? When did you fedex? I'd call and ask for Tier 2 to find someone can check the status or make an infopass at your local USCIS office and check the actual status of your petition. What does your case status report on the USCIS website, also?

If it's closed, I'm going to guess they will make you refile the I-130. Best way to find out is to talk to someone there, though.

https://infopass.uscis.gov/infopass.php

Edited December 6, 2014 by lost_at_sea

[Boiler 43,429]

Seems to me time is more than important than money.

From similar sorts of cases you could waste a lot of time.

If you get lucky great.

[lost_at_sea 995]

Seems to me time is more than important than money.

From similar sorts of cases you could waste a lot of time.

If you get lucky great.

Do you reckon someone could file a new I-130 and chase the closed one concurrently (and if they find and reopen the original, close the new one)?

TBH, I'm with you generally, though... chasing the old one is likely to be more time than just starting over.