Lost Visa

[JohnETuft 0]

My future mother in law was supposed to be visiting us and when she arrived in LA, they detained her, took away her Visa, and sent her back to Costa Rica.  We can only assume it was because she stayed for her last two visits for almost her max allowed time...and this time she bought a plane ticket for four months to help us out with her grandson.  She has all of the rest of her family, her mother, all her other grandchildren, and her part time job in Costa Rica.  She is not trying to live here, she is just trying to spend time with her grandson and her daughter...both of which she didn't see for more than two years before this most recent two year run of visits.  Is there any way for her to get her Visa back?  Is she allowed to reapply?  Are there any recommendations/rules that she needs to follow when doing so?  Is there anything I can do on my end to facilitate the process?  It seems cruel to not allow a 60+-year-old woman to not enter the country to visit her daughter/grandson...with all the crime and drugs that come over the border, you wish they focused more on 'threats'.  My fiance feels she may never see her mother again and is devastated.  My fiance only has a green card and is not terrified to leave the country for fear the Trump 'new rules' can deny her re-entry at any time like has already happened to people with green cards...please advise.  Everything is welcome.   I would like to get my mother in law her visa status again.  Thank you.

[Jordan8768 107]

Unfortunately in the eyes of immigration officers it seems like to them that she's living here but on tourist visas. To have more chance of being admitted she should wait 9-12 months. Gaps between trips are important

[JohnETuft 0]

1 minute ago, Jordan8768 said:

Unfortunately in the eyes of immigration officers it seems like to them that she's living here but on tourist visas. To have more chance of being admitted she should wait 9-12 months. Gaps between trips are important

So if she waits a year to apply they may give it back?  We have heard that once you lose it they never approve it again...ever.   If there is a chance then at least we have hope.

[cd37 229]

5 minutes ago, JohnETuft said:

So if she waits a year to apply they may give it back?  We have heard that once you lose it they never approve it again...ever.   If there is a chance then at least we have hope.

you can always reapply unless they put a ban

[geowrian 22,336]

She won't get her visa back...it's almost certainly been cancelled/revoked. She is free to apply for a new visa, albeit it's unlikely to be successful anytime soon.

 

Furthermore, was anything written on the visa when she was denied entry? Did she receive or sign any other papers? It's possible she received an expedited deportation for either living in the US or for unauthorized work, which includes a 5 year bar on any visa. I think that's quite unlikely, but it would not be the first case.

[JohnETuft 0]

2 minutes ago, geowrian said:

She won't get her visa back...it's almost certainly been cancelled/revoked. She is free to apply for a new visa, albeit it's unlikely to be successful anytime soon.

 

Furthermore, was anything written on the visa when she was denied entry? Did she receive or sign any other papers? It's possible she received an expedited deportation for either living in the US or for unauthorized work, which includes a 5 year bar on any visa. I think that's quite unlikely, but it would not be the first case.

She said that they kept trying to confuse her and tell her that they know that she is coming to work and clean houses, and that they talked to her daughter and her  daughter already told them that she was coming to clean houses...and she said that only house she ever cleaned was her son-in-laws (mine).  I do not know if she signed anything, or if they  wrote anything on her visa yet...she just arrived this morning back to her  country. 

[JohnETuft 0]

Just now, JohnETuft said:

She said that they kept trying to confuse her and tell her that they know that she is coming to work and clean houses, and that they talked to her daughter and her  daughter already told them that she was coming to clean houses...and she said that only house she ever cleaned was her son-in-laws (mine).  I do not know if she signed anything, or if they  wrote anything on her visa yet...she just arrived this morning back to her  country. 

She literally stepped foot in Los Angeles from Costa Rica...would that count as 'expedited deportation for living in the US' if she was  only here an hour?   And she didn't work or do anything like that here...she literally just helped watch our son/her grandson and teach him Spanish/culture of Costa Rica. 

 

[p-ana 933]

1 minute ago, JohnETuft said:

She literally stepped foot in Los Angeles from Costa Rica...would that count as 'expedited deportation for living in the US' if she was  only here an hour?   And she didn't work or do anything like that here...she literally just helped watch our son/her grandson and teach him Spanish/culture of Costa Rica. 

 

This is considered working though

[geowrian 22,336]

8 minutes ago, JohnETuft said:

She said that they kept trying to confuse her and tell her that they know that she is coming to work and clean houses, and that they talked to her daughter and her  daughter already told them that she was coming to clean houses...and she said that only house she ever cleaned was her son-in-laws (mine).  I do not know if she signed anything, or if they  wrote anything on her visa yet...she just arrived this morning back to her  country. 

The first step, once she's in a good/calm state of mind (it's nerve-wrecking, I know), would be to get the details of exactly what happened. That's the only way to know what options may be available in the future. It does sound like they suspected her of engaging in unauthorized employment.

 

6 minutes ago, JohnETuft said:

She literally stepped foot in Los Angeles from Costa Rica...would that count as 'expedited deportation for living in the US' if she was  only here an hour?   And she didn't work or do anything like that here...she literally just helped watch our son/her grandson and teach him Spanish/culture of Costa Rica. 

She was never actually admitted into the US....she was denied entry at POE. That could be a voluntary withdrawal of her application, or they could have issued an expedited deportation if they think she was violating her visa's terms.

 

It's a very fine line between visiting a child and being a sitter/nanny/caretaker. The latter is considered working (even if no money is exchanged....it's considered displacing a US worker). I have no idea if they even considered this or what happened based on what you've stated (it sounds like they were more concerned about her potentially being a home cleaner than a child's caretaker).

Edited July 30, 2017 by geowrian

[Coco8 1,039]

43 minutes ago, JohnETuft said:

We can only assume it was because she stayed for her last two visits for almost her max allowed time...and this time she bought a plane ticket for four months to help us out with her grandson.  

She has to have at least the same time out of the US and in the US. When were the 2 previous visits? 

 

Also, if she spends over 6 months in the US within a year she has to pay taxes. That is a big no-no. 

 

Moreover, for each visit she has to check her i-94 to make sure she was allowed to visit for the full 6 months. Sometimes they give you until your return ticket so if you change it thinking "I will now stay 6 months", you could actually be staying more than you were allowed. I know it sounds weird but they sometimes do that at POE.

 

 

[Jordan8768 107]

As long as she didn't break the law or overstay you should be ok...

[Roel 7,191]

29 minutes ago, Jordan8768 said:

As long as she didn't break the law or overstay you should be ok...

Not really. The immigration has her already marked as "suspicious " sort of. Imo it will be impossible for her to get another tourist visa. She was clearly abusing her privileges, I'm sorry. 

[EmilyW 1,226]

What she did by watching the child is working.  In the eyes of the government, that was work a US citizen / resident could have been doing.  She abused the conditions of her tourist visa.  She will have a hard time convincing anyone that that ISN'T what she's doing coming in to do.

 

As for Trump not letting your wife back in?  Not going to happen. She can visit her mom with her GC and she will be let back into the country.  AFAIK, there has not been a single Costa Rican GC holder who has been denied at the border since Trump (unless there's a dual citizen issue).

Edited July 30, 2017 by EmilyW

[Crazy Cat 39,396]

2 hours ago, JohnETuft said:

My fiance only has a green card and is not terrified to leave the country for fear the Trump 'new rules' can deny her re-entry at any time like has already happened to people with green cards..

Completely unfounded.  If her GC is valid, she will have no problems re-entering the country.

[Auds 223]

And hopefully your fiancé/wife will get her citizenship and can apply for her mom's residency then.