Jump to content

Eric_and_Corinna

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    269

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Posts posted by Eric_and_Corinna

    Will my ignorance be deemed immigration fraud?

    in Canada

    Posted · Edited by Eric_and_Corinna

    Thank you all for your responses. I know that we've been doing everything right since the denial of entry, but the longer the situation goes on, the more what-ifs start to creep into your head...

    Zyggy and Caladan, her I-275 cites SEC 212(a) (7) (A) (i) (I) and further says that she was living in the US since February (131 days) and that we were both instructed that she was not allowed to visit the US until visa was in hand. Nothing more.

    This is the section of the Code of Federal Regulations that I found pertaining to our case...

    (7) Documentation requirements.-

    (A) Immigrants.-

    (i) In general.-Except as otherwise specifically provided in this Act, any immigrant at the time of application for admission-

    (I) who is not in possession of a valid unexpired immigrant visa, reentry permit, border crossing identification card, or other valid entry document required by this Act, and a valid unexpired passport, or other suitable travel document, or document of identity and nationality if such document is required under the regulations issued by the Attorney General under section 211(a) , or

    (II) whose visa has been issued without compliance with the provisions of section 203, is inadmissible.

    I've talked to lawyers, CBP officials, and Embassy employees in Toronto that have told us that it should not affect our case since it is considered a withdrawal of application. But you still never know, right? I'd love to hear your advice, if you have any, on it.

    Fiance' Turned away

    in Waivers (I-601 and I-212) and Administrative Processes (221g)

    Posted

    My wife got one of these. There were specific instructions on the bottom telling her (and me) that she was not allowed into the US until she had a visa in hand.

    If you didn't go before a judge in an actual immigration hearing, it's kind of like a warning. If you had gone before a judge, then you would be in a lot more trouble.

    That particular CBP agent, and the officials at the US Embassy in Toronto both told us that it should not have any effect on her K-3 application as long as she doesn't attempt to circumvent its instructions before the visa is issued.

    Eric

    Will my ignorance be deemed immigration fraud?

    in Canada

    Posted

    I made the mistake of reading the link about some poor guy who has been battling with USCIS for 8 years trying to get his Japanese wife back. Apparently they filed for a K-1, didn't get it in time, married in Hawaii anyway, and then she entered the US with the K-1 visa (but already married). Anyway, the USCIS charged them with immigration fraud and banned her from entry for 10 years. TI guess the jist of this is that they knew the rules and knowlingly allowed her in without the correct visa. Here is the story that I read last night :wacko:

    http://www.usforacle.com/home/index.cfm?ev...3b-e3e9d3edddd7

    So this got me thinking about my case. And probably worrying way too much, hopefully.

    In our case, we were completely oblivious to immigration laws and rules. We both figured, that when you married an American citizen you were allowed to live in the US. I knew that we eventually had to get my wife a social security number for her to work, but had no idea about the different visas or what they meant. Stupid, I know, but we were completely ignorant of immigration laws. We didn't have a visa of any sort when we married in Hawaii last January, and didn't know we were in violation until we tried to get back into the US after visiting Canada last June. My wife was in the US for 1 month and a half after our wedding, went home to Ontario for a couple weeks to visit family, then came back to the US for three months before we were finally denied entry by CBP. We were given the I-275 form and told that she couldn't come back, even for a visit, until visa was in hand. The CBP officer who denied our entry told us that the denial would not affect our immigration approval, and that it was if we had never attempted to get her into the US. A lawyer we consulted with agreed with that and said that if we had appeared before an immigration judge, that would have been another matter.

    Since being told we needed the visa, she went back to her parent's house in Ontario, and we immediately applied for the K-3 Visa. I have commuted back and forth since June, basically visiting for a month and returning to the US for a month. Our son was born in August in Ontario and we got him his dual citizenship and US Social Security number. We are still waiting on our I-129F and I-130 approvals from the CSC (like a lot of other folks).

    After reading the terrible story of the guy trying to get his wife back, I'm very frightened that USCIS would look at our ignorance and deem that we were committing immigration fraud as well. I feel like any rational person would look at our situation and see that we are very much in love and had no intention of breaking any laws, but rational thought and the US government seem to be like oil and water sometimes. Is our situation rare, or are there other experiences that are like ours? I feel like if we're going to get denied now, I may as well start looking at moving to Canada, rather then wasting our time with a process that will most likely end up in denial. :help:

    Thanks for listening...

    Happy NHL Deadline Day :)

    in Canada

    Posted

    YA, 1 featherly love touch from Iginli wil Send Forsberg and his butt back to Sweden!!

    How about those caps!! Federov and huet!!

    http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=230624&hubname=

    Haha I was thinking more about getting Foote and Salei, at least they'll hit in their own zone now :)

    Aaaahhh...I love to see other Avs fans. But how does one cheer for the Avs when living near Detroit?

    How about the Pens? Picking up Hossa and Hal Gill. Are they legit?

    "Sicko"

    in Moving to the US and Your New Life In America

    Posted

    It's not as bad as Sicko...but it's not a great situation. My wife had a tough time trying to figure out the concept of premiums, co-pay, and deductibles. Luckily we have good insurance, for now.

    Medical premium costs have been rising double digit percentage points for years. The number of uninsured Americans keeps growing.

    Hopefully we'll see our next president worry less about war in Iraq and Afghanistan and more about uninsured children and those living under the poverty level.

    Affidavat of Support

    in Canada

    Posted

    If he filed single simply because you don't have an SSN, there is a way to get an Individual Taxpayer ID Number (ITIN). It's IRS form W-7. If you decide to file jointly, you simply fill the form out and send it in with your return to a processing center in Austin Texas. I'm surprised the IRS didn't mention this option.

    Of course, if he filed separate for financial reasons, disregard the W-7.

    I'm not sure how this will affect your affadavit of support.

    Hope this helps a little

    Eric

    POE Denials

    in K-3 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures

    Posted

    Did you get your picture taken by the webcam and have your fingerprints taken? And did they give you a "Withdrawal of Application for Admission/Consular Notification" form I-275? If you did, you're in the same boat as my wife.

    I've asked numerous CBP officers on my travels back and forth to visit my wife, and they all have different answers, but none too encouraging. I called Toronto Pearson CBP, and they were really rude about it. But the majority of the people at CBP that I've talked to cautioned against trying to get back in...it basically comes down to you having strong enough ties to Canada that you'll return after visiting your spouse in the US. This would be your job, house payments, college classes, etc. But, even if you could provide that, most of the CBP officers said that it was highly unlikely that they would allow someone to go thru after being denied. I asked at the US Consulate in Toronto while we were there for our son's CBA, and they recommended we not do it either. But that CBP officer who told you that you may have luck with another officer was right...it's just a very, very low chance of actually getting that one officer who's nice enough to let you in.

    If you didn't go before a judge and have a hearing, at this point, the denials of entry won't hurt you in the long run. Or so I've been told by the CBP officers. But if you keep trying and keep getting denied, it may impact you down the road, there may be a point where it does affect your visa application. Because if you did get the form I-275, you probably were told not to try again until you had your visa in hand.

    Others may have different suggestions, but we are playing it safe and not even attempting it.

    Good luck and sorry to hear about your wedding plans :wacko:

    Do I need exact copies of my I-129F and I-130 files for the K-3 Consular Interview?

    in Canada

    Posted

    Ok...I finally got rid of my lying, cheating, thieving lawyer. I sent him a letter notifying him that we no longer needed his services and asked for half of his fee back. I also told him that I expected our paperwork back, as well as pictures and other information etc. To my surprise, he actually had my an envelope of papers waiting for me with a check. Or so I thought.

    But, as I go thru all of our paperwork here today, it's evident that he had his lazy secretary make copies of whatever she felt like and throw them in the envelope. Upon closer inspection, I see that we're missing all of our pictures, personal statements, affadavits of support, copies of our passports, marriage certificate, etc that would prove our marriage is "BONAFIDE." All he did was make return copies of our G-325s, and I-130 &I-129 applications.

    The lawyer stated in his cover letters to USCIS that he enclosed all of these things (evidence of our marriage) in our applications, but I'm wondering if he even did that. This is the same guy who lied to me about sending our I-129F in July, then to tell me that USCIS lost it and he had to resend everything (hence our large gapin filing dates), but it's evident by looking at the paperwork i have now that he didn't send it until late August. But I digress...

    To all you wonderful VJrs who have been to an interview, is it 100% necessary to have the EXACT same paperwork that was (supposedly) submitted when we go to our interview in Montreal? Or, do we update the evidence of BONAFIDE marriage anyway since we have since had a son, have taken hundreds of pictures since then and I've got a binder of travel documents going back and forth between Alaska and Canada. And, I can recreate the copies of the passports, birth certificates, photos etc from the list he supposedly sent.

    I'm willing to go and hold a gun (figuratively speaking, of course) to his (or his secretary's) head and get the files, but I'm not going to keep beating my head against a wall if we don't need to.

    At least his check didn't bounce. Yet.

    Question

    in Canada

    Posted · Edited by Eric_and_Corinna

    I finally got mine involved on Thursday. A friend of mine from high school is our senior Senator's chief of staff, and he was surprisingly knowledgeable about the entire process. I had a letter drafted, but ended up just calling the office and then emailing him the details. He told me he would call USCIS this coming week and see what the deal was with our K-3 Visa.

    I had held off contacting my reps as long as I could, but it has been over 6 months for our I-130 and rapidly approaching 6 months for the I-129F.

    We'll see if it does anything. I'm not sure if you were referring to your state representatives who work in Austin, but I doubt that your state reps can do anything as this is a federal problem. You need to contact your federally elected officials. As far as them blowing you off, I think it all depends on your representative. If I were you I'd approach my Congressman about your case, since there are only two Senators for all of Texas, and you're more likely to get better service from the Congressman's staffers.

    I'm going to DC in March for some work stuff, and have appointments with both of Alaska's Senators and the one Congressman. As an aside from my work, I'm definitely bringing up how F'd up the entire USCIS process is. But from talking to my friend, it sounds like they already know...

    Where to find the Change of Agent Form

    in Canada

    Posted

    After months of deliberation, we finally fired our lawyer. Back in September, (when we were first considering this) I had found the form I needed to send in telling USCIS of our decision to change agents, but for some reason now I can't find it. Anyone know which one it is, and where I can find it. Sorry for posting such a routine question :help:

    Lawyer

    in IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures

    Posted

    I would not use a lawyer again. I'm supposed to meet with mine the week of the 7th. After he assured me that he would take personal care of my case after he screwed it up in September, I haven't heard from him once. I'm going to do my best to drive as much business away from that idiot as I possibly can when this is over.

×
×
  • Create New...