Anastassia

Thank you !

Hello All

I came to the US in 2005 on K-1 visa, my conditions were lifted in December 2008. I am getting ready to apply for citizenship now. Do I apply for marriage based naturalization or based on the fact that I have been a permanent resident for over 5 years, or can I choose ?

What is a difference in the process between the two options ?

Thanks for any input

Widze, ze polski watek wymarl, nikt tu juz chyba nie zaglada. Co slychac ?

Thanks for your input everyone. Food from NYC or Chicago won't work. I lived in Chicago once, it's made locally and although it is very similar and some items are very good, it's just not the same. I guess they don't bring cheese over because they make it here. But honestly it only has the same name, all the rest is different. I found a wonderful source of sausage in MD but still hoping for cheese...

Thanks for your help

You know, I have not tried this one yet, but I tried so many Polish cheeses made here and they just don't taste the same. Funny thing, my husband can't tell the difference, but I won't even eat american made.

I am in Virginia, I don't think I crave it enough to travel to Canada, thanks for info though.

Hello,

I have been here for over 4 years and all that time I have worked really hard to get adjusted. Certain things I worked through, certain I gave up, but I still miss some food and I already know I can't buy it here.

I have always thought you can't bring food from overseas. But I met this couple at the airport coming back from Spain and they were telling me they were bringing cheese and this was allowed.

Can anybody tell me if I can get cheese shipped here from Europe ??

Thanks a lot.

Frankly, the whole idea that any kid needs toys makes me laugh. If they don't have a toy, let them play with a fuсking stick and a rock. It's worked for other people, it'll work for them.

You obviously have no children. No child will die without toys but in today's world, especially here in the US, where people buy so many toys, most of them can afford to donate one for an underprivileged child and if you play Santa you should not bring Immigration with you. If ICE wanted to detain illegal aliens, they could do that. They obviously don't want to.

Lucyrich,

I have a lot of respect for your knowledge. Are you an immigration lawyer by any chance ?

Thank you very much for your input. I always wondered how those people got their green cards, but I don't know any details, I was just told they had a very good lawyer, and yes they have been here a very long time (definitely over 10 years), not sure about relatives. I know they have a son who was born and raised here but is an adult now, not sure if parting from him would cause hardship.

How about the person who came here to help with a newborn grandchild and never went back ? Somebody just told me yesterday that all she needs to do is get a good lawyer and adjust her status here. Her daughter is a resident and son in law is a citizen. Could she really stay here without a ban for overstaying ?

Hello,

"If you are illegally in the USA, all you need is money and the right lawyer and he will straighten your status out".

I face such statements once in a while, probably due to being immigrant myself and knowing other immigrants. There stories sound unreal, so eventually I decided to ask here, maybe somebody will know the answer, I hate being ignorant so this is why I am searching the answer. Several years ago I would have said "not true" but now I am having doubts. I personally know the case where someone purchased fake SSN and green card, used them for years in every day situations (employment, etc.) and then used them to take a mortgage loan from some federal institution. It came out the SSN # didn't exist, those people (married couple) were indicted for fraud and then convicted. After having served their time they were taken into ICE custody where they spent a few weeks, maybe a couple months. After that they were released with green cards in their hands. I was in shock. This is a true story, I know it first hand so now I am thinking, is all you need a good lawyer ????

Can somebody comment on the above ????

Can't wait to see what you guys know.

I can't believe this is still going on..... I was here in December 08...... LOL.... good job....

Has Steve55 found a 4th candidate yet ?

OMG what a shame !!!!

I wonder if those embassy employees would be the same Polish people who ###### how Americans treat Poles ?

Now I am embarassed to be Polish.

5 days is too long ? Is it because you can get a job and work there illegally for 5 days ?

But as to American Embassy, I picked my visa up on the same day, only maybe 5 or 6 hours later.

Someone correct me if I am wrong but this whole article is written to be inflamatory as no one is actually being castrated, rather they will be put on a medication which will zero-out the drive for sex.

If a person had a drive to be violent in general would would call medicating him "proper" course of treatment , but when we use a medication to suppress a different type of violence... oh I don't know such as raping little boys or girls.... suddenly the "human Rights" crowd gets all concerned.

Now I would be all for the actual castration of certain types of rapists but this is simply reducing the powerful urges in people who have proven they cannot control them.

Now I know some of the more "highly educated" among us will point out the problem is more mental..... and I don't doubt there is truth to that but until you Egg-Heads can cure the Mental, we shall proceed with what we have.

Say what you want but , it is hard to shoot pool with a rope.

Danno, this is correct.

I work for a law enforcement agency here in USA and those who deal with pedophiles claim this (chemical castration) doesn't work - exactly for the reason you mentioned, this is probably why it's not done here.

Nie slyszalam o takim prawie, ale przeciez nikt dzidziusia malego nie bedzie legitymowal, a jak bedzie sie sam poruszal i jezdzil do Polski to sobie wtedy moze wyrobic, bo w kazdej chwili bedzie mial takie prawo. Jak pojedziesz do Polski to mozesz sie o PESEL postarac bo to akurat moze sie kiedys do czegos przydac (nie wiem do czego ale im jestem starsza tym bardziej wierze w zalatwianie spraw "na wszelki wypadek ).

Zdarzaja sie jednak sytuacje nieprzewidziane i moze napisze na wszelki wypadek bo nigdy nic nie wiadomo, moze sie komus przydac.

Ja sie wyprowadzilam do Polski z 3 letnim obywatelem amerykanskim i nigdzie go nie zarejestrowalam. Do lekarza chodzilismy prywatnie a do przeszkola panstwowego na lewo bo mama zalatwila. Paszport mial tylko amerykanski. Ja pracowalam w amerykanskiej firmie, gdzie bylo strasznie duzo expatow, ktorzy wyjezdzali non stop, sluzbowo, przenosili sie z kraju do kraju, itp. Niby byla specjalna osoba od wiz i pozwolen na prace, ale przeciez wiadomo, ze taki manager ma gdzies takie formalnosci, kupuje bilet i jedzie. A w Polsce, co tu duzo gadac, tez sie specjalnie nie garna do egzekwowania wszelkich praw i przepisow, chyba, ze sie komus przypomni albo akurat sie nadgorliwy trafi. I tak sobie wszyscy jezdzili az do momentu, kiedy jeden zadzwonil z lotniska, ze zostal zatrzymany przez sluzby graniczne za nielegalne przebywanie na terenie Polski - juz przy wyjezdzie. Byl to Amerykanin, ktory sobie wjechal bez wizy i nie wyjechal w przeciagu 90 dni i jeszcze sie przyznal ze w Polsce pracuje a nie mial pozwolenia na prace. Nic mu nie zrobili, ale go tam trzymali chyba z osiem godzin az mu samoloty wszystkie uciekly i ktos tam w koncu pojechal przepraszac w imieniu firmy i przysiegac ze to sie wiecej nie zdarzy.

Nastepnego dnia po tym wydarzeniu zaczelam zalatwiac polskie dokumenty dla syna. Niby takie nic, ale moga czlowiekowi wakacje popsuc, jakby kogos akurat przy wyjezdzie zlapali. A w zyciu bym nie pomyslala, ze moje rodzone dziecko moze przebywac w Polsce nielegalnie (chociaz on mial prawo przebywac, ale dokumentu nie mielismy zadnego zeby to udowodnic).

Niki, co bedziesz miala, dziewczynke czy chlopca ?

Ooooo Pilot's Girl, gratulacje !!!!

Jezeli jeszcze nie zglebilas tematu to moge napisac jak ja zrobilam. Dziecku wyrobilam tylko paszport amerykanski i tyle. W Polsce musisz umiejscowic akt urodzenia (mysle ze teraz procedury sa uproszczone teraz bo ja to robilam 14 lat temu) i nie pamietam juz czy o PESEL wystepujesz osobno czy sami Ci go daja z polskim aktem urodzenia. Wtedy mozesz tam wyrobic paszport, tylko zastanow sie czy na pewno Ci bedzie on potrzebny. Nie mowie o kosztach, bo w Polsce paszport grosze kosztuje ale dzieciom daja chyba na 5 lat i tak naprawde to wg mnie tylko zawracanie glowy. Polski paszport wg mnie potrzebny jest tylko wtedy kiedy jedziesz do kraju, do ktorego Amerykanin potrzebuje wizy a Polak nie i tyle.

Ja juz synowi nie wyrabiam, bo to tylko zawracanie glowy. Jak sie mieszka w Polsce to owszem, ma to jak najbardziej sens, ale jak tutaj to wydaje mi sie ze Polski paszport jest zbedny.

I am actually curious if ICE will do anything to remove her.....

Patita,

look here:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=319

I don't know this process but from what I heard so called hardship letter plays the major role there. You can find examples here on VJ.

Good luck

Ana

Patita,

my understanding is that you know for sure you will have a ban, right ? I overstayed but it was a long time ago so I guess it didn't count any more when I was getting my K-1. However, back then in 2005 I met a Polish person here on VJ, who already knew he would be denied and he wasn't stressing.

They will not give you a hard time about it (or at least they should not), but deny your visa and tell you what to do next. My impression about those officials in Warsaw is that they don't get personal or mean.

I am not sure what you are asking. If your question is "will they overlook my overstay ?" I am almost positive they won't. A consular officer has to follow special guidelines and it's the fact that you overstayed and there is a penalty for it, you'd better not be lying about it, and they have no choice but to deny you.

I have no idea how prompt waiver process is....

Ana

Richard,

good luck and please keep us posted because although I don't need tourist visas to USA any more, I am veeeryy curious about the results of your intervention.

I totally agree there is no reason to deny visa somebody who will go to USA to live very soon, but as I said: I believe it's a kind of lottery drawing they practise there.

Ana

But since you apply for an ID and a passport through the embassy (I'm guessing), they should be able to recognize your US marriage certificate and name change.

Agnieszka,

Polish passports are not issued here in Polish Consulate but in Poland and Polish citizens who live here have to follow the same rules as those in Poland. Consulate will recognize name change but if you want their assistance you need to pay.

Polish authorities won't just assume that she changed her name when she got married, they have to have it in writing and she has to be the one who writes it.

Ana

imagineyes,

this could be a tough one, depending where you live - the farther from Polish Consulate, the more complicated.

You can have the name changed either through Consulate or through relative in Poland. In my case the second scenario didn't work because Consulate in DC didn't want to issue the document the institution in Poland requested. I think the Consulate could have been right but I can't go to Poland just to argue with stupid clerks there and didn't want to put my parents through this hassle.

Consulate will charge about $150 for name change (at least this is what I was asked to pay 2 years ago). I chose to get my new passport in my old name.

Polish ID only in Poland, in person. If your wife knows somebody who works there, they might want to waive "in person" requirement.

I know the case where somebody got tourist visa in Poland after congressman's intervention, but this person was not in K-1 process.

I am from Poland and given who was approved and who was denied a tourist visa I would say it's rather a lottery. People with much stronger ties were denied. To me $120,000 income in Poland is a VERY strong tie, but maybe this CO thought that person was coming to US to work illegally, who knows. Also owning a flat in Poland means nothing because in certain cases people bought them from the government for $2,000 so it's really hard to tell who had money and who just lucked out.

iLoveAPolishGirl - congratulations on her visa, but I would be very concerned crossing the border - it's where even those with VWP are denied entry trying to enter USA while waiting for K-1 visa.

Federal jobs are only open to US Citizens.

Some federal jobs are open to residents. I was hired by a federal agency while only having a conditional green card. Nothing really important, but still federal job.

He still says what he thinks very bluntly. He expected to get a job at the top and not have to work his way up....

Complains about our country a lot even though I know he wouldn't give it up and go back for all the money in the world, etc.

As for softening things up when talking to people, being "nice," showing a little common courtesy, etc., it will happen.

And yes, Russian people say things bluntly as they are. That's how we are. I can't get used to American sweet talk even after 4 years here. It is just culture. What is considered rude in America is perfectly fine in Russia and American extreme tactfullness is perceived as hypocrisy in Russia.

Awsome topic. Now I know why everybody here (where I live) thinks I am Russian. I had no idea we were so much alike.

I have been here 3.5 years and had previously lived in USA. Also I worked with many Americans in Poland so I thought I knew where I was going. I guess I was wrong. I used to live in Chicago in Polish community. Huge difference between Chicago and Virginia where I am now.

I am the immigrant spouse who all that quotes above apply to. People also perceive me as "rude" because I refuse to lie It took a while for me to realize that I offend people by truthfully answering questions. Every time my husband introduced me to somebody, their very first question was: "so how do you like it here ?". Well..... I thought they really wanted to know (why ask otherwise ?) so I would answer "oh, I absolutely hate it". Just recently my co-worker of 2.5 years told me it was considered rude ?!?!?! I won't tell anyone they have an ugly baby or I hate the dinner they made, even if this is the way I feel but why how am I offending somebody by not liking the town they live in ?

I could talk/type about it for hours, but I will make it short: Good luck to you all and hang in there. Hopefully your Russian/foreign spouses will get used to the new reality and life will get easier. I see myself changing bit by bit, but I swear: I will never say I like this town unless I really get to like it

Wygryzli nas z naszej pozycji lidera ((

Szczesliwego Nowego Roku zycze Wszystkim !!!

czy ktos juz skladal dokumenty na obywatelstwo ?