AnneA

FOR THE RECORD: 
 
I'm not asking for sympathy nor looking for attention. Im sharing my story to give warning it can happen to anyone if you are not on point with immigration issues.  

my bad i got stucked  with a crazy inmate that we have to sedate him. (i worked in prison)😝
 
LOL i can't edit my first post so here comes part 2:
 
Continuation: 
 
July  2011 that we flew back to Philippines with the plan to have our children go to school and my wife stays with her parents in Davao. ICE gave her a piece of paper to board PAL and needs to be certified in the US Embassy  when  she arrive to her home country. After we arrived in Manila, we went straight to the US Embassy and i dreaded that we have to stay for a long line to get in. Mind you, we have 2 kids in tow and the youngest is barely over a year old. Fortunately, i have my green card and CA drivers license with me that the guard in the embassy let us in reserved for US Citizens only. My wife was told to go one of the interview room and she gave the ICE paper to the lady in charge.  We left Manila and flew to Davao the next day. It's was a surreal experienced for us since we never thought it could happened. Both of us come to the US legally, both professionals, no records of arrest or any shady dealings. And yet, we are being punished for an error made by her employers. But it is what it is, we have to moved on and adapt to the situation. 
 
After spending 4 weeks in Philippines, i have to go back to California  and leaving my family was one of the hardest things ive experienced in my life. It was really hard specially for my 4 year old and he keeps crying it was unfair and why i have to leave. It's a bittersweet goodbye but i choose not to give up but keeps moving forward. After i arrived in Stockton, alone in the apartment.. it just hits me that i'm pretty much by myself with my family thousands of miles away. Talked about my faith was tested that it almost reached to its  breaking point. I only have 2  options, give up or fight back. It's gonna be long fight since the incident triggers the 10 year bar. Still a lot of unknowns and i have to be strategic with my approach.
 
First, fired my worthless lawyer and hired a very well known immigration attorney. Retainer fee is $15,000 up front and a payment plan for another $15,000 but they have to asked me several times if there was fraud involved. I told the attorney, no.. it was just mistake of wrong filing of paper works from her previous employer.  My wife was just out of status for 3 months but for some reasons it triggered a deportation hearing. So they accepted the case and i have to submit all the necessary documents and have to pay all the fees filed through the INS. Needs to file those waivers I 601 and other stuff necessary to win the case. 
 
Fast forward: 
 
I dreaded the week end, being alone can easily consumed someones mental health. One of my lawyers paralegal recommended to see a psychiatrist to checked   if i suffered depression, that will help the case. I told her NO.. i refused to be a VICTIM. Im sure there are other positive ways to get it  done besides that diagnosis will be permanent on my medical records. So i have to send pictures and other documents that showed  im rooted in my area. 
 
2013 I received my US citizenship and went to Fresno ALONE for my Naturalization. 
 
Fast forward:
Albeit the distance between us, my family were thriving in Davao. My kids get high honors and were into sports. I come home once a year for 4 weeks that's our bonding moments and we treasured every time we were together. Coming back to CA was always bittersweet. 
 
Late 2016 when i was notified by my lawyer I 485 was approved and my wife was scheduled to be interviewed in the US embassy. 
 
Late 2017 when my wife was given an immigrant VISA. After she had the passport and visa in hand and i scheduled a flight ASAP. I arrived Friday in Philippines and flew back on Sunday with my whole family in stow. 
 
Fast forward:
My wife is back working and had her green card. In 2020 she will be eligible for her citizenship. 
 
Hard Lessons:
1. It was costly lesson for us. We lost our house and got hit big time financially from lawyers fees, lost wages, travel expenses etc. But in the end, Family matters most.
2. Take seriously and be on point with your immigration issues.
3. The US Government is not your friend but i still love this adoptive country and im a PROUD AMERICAN. 
4. Resiliency and mental toughness. Go get it. 
 

Those getting vaccination waiver, please do let us know where you intend to live.

If they had a sufficiently modernized and efficient interview booking system, it would allow people to voluntarily put them name down to be assigned to an interview anywhere in the country as long as the person was willing to travel and pay to go there. I'd sign up in a heartbeat to get this process over and done with! Restricting people to a local field office seems so archaic. 

Probably congressional pushing from within forced them to make this change.  Why would USCIS have motivation from within to change their processing times?

That would be great. We have similar booking systems in Denmark and everything is digital. However I'm not impressed with the digital system in US that I have met so far ... or rather the lack of it. I have even stopped complain about faults and slowness in the Danish system 😂

That would be great. We have similar booking systems in Denmark and everything is digital. However I'm not impressed with the digital system in US that I have met so far ... or rather the lack of it. I have even stopped complain about faults and slowness in the Danish system 😂

That would be great. We have similar booking systems in Denmark and everything is digital. However I'm not impressed with the digital system in US that I have met so far ... or rather the lack of it. I have even stopped complain about faults and slowness in the Danish system 😂

I'd fly to Nebraska if it made it faster 😁 
EDIT: In the winter ⛄

I couldn't find more than a few movements, even in the article posted just yesterday they say in the first line USCIS will begin to implement the changes. I don't think it has really started. We will see a serious increase in postings when it begins. They will be moving 1000's of cases, and with only a small percentage of people registered here on the forum, we will see hundreds of postings, and I'm sure some actual letters received posted.  I hope it has started, but moving a few hundred even of the over 300,000 plus that need moved doesn't mean a full rollout of this. It's USCIS, look at their track record, nothing is happening fast. I hope I'm wrong and I have an interview notice in my mailbox now saying we need you and your wife in Cleveland tomorrow morning for your AOS interview. I'm on the way to the airport now to catch the red-eye.

They could switch to an interview booking system that provides paired options of time-to-interview and travel distance, and let applicants choose. The further the travel distance you choose, the sooner the interview date. Let the market decide.

I have no problem traveling to the other side of the country to speed up the process, problem is this is still a government operation, so it will take 12-18 months for this to even begin. So anyone that files starting late 2020, or so should see this as a possibility. If it's one thing we all know, nothing with the US government is going to happen quickly, and this is a pretty big change to the process, this isn't a simple form update or change, this is shifting whole applications to different offices. Not to be the neysayer of the group, but don't hold your breath. I hope it starts next week, but that is a fantasy. Time will tell, but I don't think we will see a post for at least a year from now saying I'm in Houston, and have to interview in Cleveland?

Thank you .. always make sure to have several plans otherwise I would not have managed being a single parent with 6 kids - all adults now and doing great even though 3 has aspergers syndrom 😊

I had my medical today and it was no problem not getting vaccinations .. as previously mentioned it is not required for K1.
I was told to do the waiver at the new medical for AOS in the US

I'm slightly terrified that they were willing to lie to get what they want.  I hope they realize that him telling border officials that he was there to visit friends, when it's now clear he was trying to visit his wife and adjust, has been recorded.  And that that has established your friend as a dishonest individual who will need to be subject to far greater scrutiny than other applicants.
 
I wish them luck.  I also wish them the gift of honesty. 

Certainly! I do not mind answering questions, I just do not want to get into a debate on whether people should get vaccine. Or a debate on religion. That would get heated quick, on all sides. Just looking at the legal options available. So, having said that...
 
She is messianic. So am I. This means she follows the entire bible, beginning to end. She believes that Jesus (Yeshua) is the messiah, but does not believe he did away with the old testament. So she practices the Saturday Sabbath, eats biblically clean (no pork, shrimp, etc.). The religious issue with vaccines are all the unclean things in them that we are not supposed to put in our bodies. The tough part for her is that she converted roughly 2 years ago, so she's relatively new. She was a baptist before that.
 
I have done a bit of reading so far, though not near enough. It seems that a person does not *need* a church statement or stance to claim a religious waiver. A person can have personal views but they *must* be sincerely held. Having a pastor statement and other people to attest to the belief helps. That is easy to get. It also costs almost a thousand dollars to submit the vaccination-waiver form, so it's pretty pricey with no guarantee.
 

You are free to disagree with our reasons and our religious beliefs, but that is not the issue here. Going that route could quickly turn this into an uncivil discussion, so I respectfully ask to keep that out of the thread.
 
We are legally able to request a waiver, and there are many reasons why a waiver might be needed. Therefore, this question could help people. The previous thread ended up focused on whether anyone had success with a waiver, to which the end result is that I'm risking a lot. That's ok, that's my right and my risk.
 
Anyway, this post is specifically asking the timing of when to send the I-601 and how that process works. It looks like it's after the initial denial, but before she goes home - we will have time to submit the waiver and get that ultimate approval/denial before she is sent home? So far, no one seems to have first hand knowledge.
 
Thank you.

I've known others that have fired their lawyer.  This is a decision you may want consider. 

Greenbaum,  Esq. Man that has a nice ring to it. 
 
Thanks for the shout out.

Fingers crossed you get an expeditious and positive answer.
 
Lawyers are SO frustrating and (in my opinion) a waste of money most of the time for these things - I don’t think they are really vested in the cases they take, money is what they care about. If I were you, I’d stop utilizing the lawyer and start an open line of communication with the necessary avenues yourself.
 
In our case, we were THIS CLOSE to filing a Writ of Mandamus - and spent a ridiculous amount of money. They did nothing.
 
We were approved shortly after reaching out to the senators office who facilitated a congressional inquiry - which produced an RFE which led to our subsequent approval.
 
I’ve received the most beneficial information right here, on VJ. In hindsight, I would have gladly handed over my money to @Greenbaum who has provided me (AND SO MANY PPL) with the most useful, experienced advise rather than to a high powered immigration attorney who just saw me as a cash cow.
 
wishing you the best of luck! you are in the right place!

This reminds me of UFO stories, why do they always seem to happen in certain remote areas, why are the pictures so fuzzy, why do they not happen in downtown LA with full TV coverage.
 
Where is my bucket full of salt?

So, we can either accuse OP of lying to us in his original and follow up posts and speculate about what actually happened, or we can take what he says at face value and offer solutions.

I'lll admit his english was not that great, but I could understand what he was trying to say. Wife attended GC interview, was tripped up by language barrier (should have had a translator) and said the reason she came was to live with husband and kids. But his whole point of posting was that she misspoke, and that it was not her intent. Lots of people seemed to ignore this, and just focused on the letter, and also accused her of intent. They are asking for advice on how to address this, as it was not her intent.
 
That is what I understood from the first reading of his original post.

I just had a mental image of Mohammed and Danielle........