rhein

Yeah, strange things happen here sometimes. Don't let it hold you back from asking for help though.
I have been a pretty active member of this site for a little more than a year. I like to help people, discuss things, and connecting with those who go through the same journey. I'm not perfect (no one is) but when my post gets removed for no reason at all, I wonder whether this place is for me or not. I have seen some moderators abusing their "power", lecturing and belittling members and being arrogant in general. There have been many threads about this, but not-so-surprisingly all of them got quickly shot down and locked. This is a problem that needs to be addressed, instead of being swept under the rug.

And how do you suppose a prospective employer will find out if you don't tell them? Are the PTSD gnomes going to send them secret coded messages?

The moral of the story is, cancel the bloody return flight by letting the airline know you won't be on it. Either that or buy a one way ticket. Don't do what you did.

I find it amazing that anyone would just up and leave, and damn the consequences of not being able to be with their loved one for, what, up to 18 months these days given the glacial pace at which USCIS is operating?

I find it amazing that anyone would just up and leave, and damn the consequences of not being able to be with their loved one for, what, up to 18 months these days given the glacial pace at which USCIS is operating?

I hear you. At the same time, I am trying to imagine a situation where your personal presence would make such a difference. No one else could have done whatever it was you did to prevent "something really bad" from happening? I'm a pretty imaginative fellow, I'm told, but I can't come up with anything, short of a lock that can only be opened by scanning your retina...or something.

She doesn't have to do anything. But it is a forum with a lot of members, some of which, you know, possess a healthy curiosity, or even an inquisitive nature, and value critical thinking. So, people will ask questions to try to put things into context.
She has every right not to share anything. By the same token, I see no harm in asking. Without the information, people will speculate, and fill in their own story in the holes.
Just because you prefer dry, boring, mechanical questions without any detail, doesn't mean everyone else does.
It's no different than if someone comes to me for a consultation. I want to know all the surrounding details. Typically, without that, something important to a case gets missed. As a 'bonus,' the 'bare-bones' stories are boring and difficult to follow.

She doesn't have to do anything. But it is a forum with a lot of members, some of which, you know, possess a healthy curiosity, or even an inquisitive nature, and value critical thinking. So, people will ask questions to try to put things into context.
She has every right not to share anything. By the same token, I see no harm in asking. Without the information, people will speculate, and fill in their own story in the holes.
Just because you prefer dry, boring, mechanical questions without any detail, doesn't mean everyone else does.
It's no different than if someone comes to me for a consultation. I want to know all the surrounding details. Typically, without that, something important to a case gets missed. As a 'bonus,' the 'bare-bones' stories are boring and difficult to follow.

Oh, stop it with the righteous indignation BS. If the OP shared what the nature of the emergency was, and if it really were an emergency as defined by a reasonable person, perhaps people would react differently. As it is, it just looks like carelessness. You also have no idea what her circumstances were, so how can you assert with any authority that "obviously if she could have done it differently she would"? Enough faux moral platitudes.

Oh, stop it with the righteous indignation BS. If the OP shared what the nature of the emergency was, and if it really were an emergency as defined by a reasonable person, perhaps people would react differently. As it is, it just looks like carelessness. You also have no idea what her circumstances were, so how can you assert with any authority that "obviously if she could have done it differently she would"? Enough faux moral platitudes.

I didn't refresh the page while I was typing my response, so I saw her response only after I posted mine. Now stop lecturing me, thank you.

I find it amazing that anyone would just up and leave, and damn the consequences of not being able to be with their loved one for, what, up to 18 months these days given the glacial pace at which USCIS is operating?

I hear you. At the same time, I am trying to imagine a situation where your personal presence would make such a difference. No one else could have done whatever it was you did to prevent "something really bad" from happening? I'm a pretty imaginative fellow, I'm told, but I can't come up with anything, short of a lock that can only be opened by scanning your retina...or something.

+1 (wish I could give more)

I hear you. At the same time, I am trying to imagine a situation where your personal presence would make such a difference. No one else could have done whatever it was you did to prevent "something really bad" from happening? I'm a pretty imaginative fellow, I'm told, but I can't come up with anything, short of a lock that can only be opened by scanning your retina...or something.

We have helped her. Her option is the IR-1/CR-1 visa. There are no tips and tricks.
I think it is plain irresponsibility . Before my then-fiance/now-husband applied for my K1 visa, I learned about the whole immigration process, from K1 visa to citizenship. I wanted to see the big picture and understand the logic behind it to avoid any delays, confusion and potentially "fatal" mistakes (like leaving without AP).
Even if I didn't know about AP and I needed to go home badly, I would still use Google before leaving the US (common sense). It would take 2 minutes of reading to figure out that after leaving the US without AP, AOS is considered abandoned and gets denied.

I hear you. At the same time, I am trying to imagine a situation where your personal presence would make such a difference. No one else could have done whatever it was you did to prevent "something really bad" from happening? I'm a pretty imaginative fellow, I'm told, but I can't come up with anything, short of a lock that can only be opened by scanning your retina...or something.

unfortunately thats the only way she can go through as of now.

It takes a very short time to get emergency AP and hopefully those who are reading this thread will think twice of just leaving.
It takes 2 min to google so even if someone is sick in the home country there is enough time to get emergency AP.
This just happens too often for people not to be forewarned and be made aware of the strong consequences.
She only has herself to blame and hopefully has learned her lesson. I would be one super ticked off spouse if that happened to me by the way.

From Tacloban City Leyte

From Ormoc City, Leyte here. ?

Agreed. My wife and I spent way too much time apart, I can't imagine either of us would ever have done anything to jeopardize being together. My goal was always to get through everything with immigration as quickly as possible to get her here, then to get that passport so we'd never have to deal with any of this çrap again. When she had to go home last summer to look after her dad after he'd had a stroke, she was able to use that blue passport, so I had no worries. (I'd have gone too, but we were in the middle of packing to move cross-country when he fell ill!)

I wholeheartedly agree with every word.

3+ years from date on initial green card. She can file 90 days before that date. So sometime in February of next year.

Agreed. My wife and I spent way too much time apart, I can't imagine either of us would ever have done anything to jeopardize being together. My goal was always to get through everything with immigration as quickly as possible to get her here, then to get that passport so we'd never have to deal with any of this çrap again. When she had to go home last summer to look after her dad after he'd had a stroke, she was able to use that blue passport, so I had no worries. (I'd have gone too, but we were in the middle of packing to move cross-country when he fell ill!)