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Does anyone have any experience with appeals or re-opening a case once an incorrect immigration decision has been made? Do you have to have a lawyer, and if so, who would be recommended?
My husband's case (he is from Mexico) is a little complicated. He entered the country without inspection and left voluntarily. He had attempted to enter the U.S. without papers once before and was detained, photographed, etc.
We started to file for the I-129F visa back in 2009. It was approved but the visa was denied because of illegal presence (the asked about his previous attempted entry but didn't seem to think it was a big deal - we thought that it was a throw back because of this). We were given the chance to file a I-601 waiver of hardship. During this time we became discouraged and tired of waiting and got married. A few weeks later our waiver was approved but we couldn't use the visa since we were now in a different classification as a married couple. We saved up more money and filed for the I-130. That was approved and he went to his interview in June of last year. At that interview the consular officer said that he had a permanent bar against him for claiming to be a U.S. citizen and using a U.S. passport to try and enter (this is false info. since he didn't ever say that and had never seen a U.S. passport until he saw mine - he had used a green card). We were told that there was no waiver and that our case was closed.
We filed a FOIA request with CBP to see what is actually in his file and to appeal this motion to get the correct punishment for false representation (for using a green card that wasn't his) and to remove the permanent ban.
We still haven't received the FOIA (still waiting) but we need to know what to do with the info once we get it. We shouldn't have been given the option of a waiver - and it shouldn't have been approved if he really had a lifetime ban.
Any good lawyers or ideas of what to do next?
Any and all ideas would be very helpful.

Answer the form as it pertains to you both at the time of filing. He is not in the US, list the consulate he'll interview (he'll need to interview for either visa) in Mex.

{Ps - the K-3 simply wastes time and money, leave it alone)

Why do you say that the K-3 is not a good idea? For all I could see on the forum it should be better to file for that with the I-130.

I am filling out this form for my husband and we aren't quite sure what to put for number 22 where it asks if the intended immigrant will be filing in the USA and adjusting status there. He technicaly is not here in the USA right now... but with the K3 visa the idea is to get him to the USA and to file for a change in status.

What do I put in this part of the form???

Thanks!

My situation is a little complicated right now. I filed for a K1 visa that was denied, we filed for a waiver... and we thought, based upon all the evidence and what others in our situation told us about our case, that it would be denied.... got married with the idea that we would file for the married visa in a few years when I had more to add to a waiver case, and found out that the waiver had been approved (only 12 days after we were married).

Now we are kinda depressed, frustrated, and unsure of what to do... Well, I was told by many that I need to file for a different visa as a married couple. After browsing the forum a little I am still not quite sure what the difference is between this visa and the K3.

Can anyone explain the difference or send me some information that I can look up?

I'm kinda deflated... but, what can I do?

Thanks for your help.

Its probably legally valid in Mexico so its legally valid in US. You can ask a family law attorney for his advice on an annullment. If thats possible and fast do it, then you will legally be single and go ahead with the K1. Otherwise you need to file for spouse, this time around your approved waiver should go the 5-10 day route if they don't change the processing structure in CDJ.

An Annullment? I hadn't even thought of that. However, I have no idea how that works either. Would we really be okay if we got our marriage annulled? is it that easy to do? How would this affect the visa?

Okay,

So it's been a while since I've been on here. well, I filed for the K1 visa in Mexico and it was denied based upon 212(aXe)(B). Well, I found a lawyer and we filed the waiver I601 but it wasn't very strong at all. almost everyone I talked to about my case gave me not so positive feedback as to the strength of my case. The turn over rate for waivers didn't seem so promising since ours got backlogged. The average turn over rate of things that we could see based upon others cases was about a year. Because of religious reasons we have maintained our distance and living together outside of marriage is not an option. So, since we had been together for over 4 years and engaged for 2 and a half years of those four, with him in Mexico during the entire engagement, we decided that we were gong to get married. We got married here in Mexico about 20 days ago.

Complications started today... in a good way... but we are really unsure of what to do.

I am currently in Mexico with my significant other. My dad called me today from the USA and told me that a letter had arrived from the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security and I had him read it to me. It was the approval notice of the waiver! We were stoked, shocked, and now really unsure of what to do next.

We already checked through email with his country and their immigration offices in regards to marriage documents. From what I have gathered from other people is that the marriage licsence in Mexico is not recognized without revalidation here to be recognized in USA.

My biggest question and worry now is that things are really messed up.

We don't want to do anything wrong, but would it be bad or even possible if we just go through everything as if we were still unmarried (the big question is if the U.S. will still recognize me and still considers me to be single) and just get civilly married as soon as he gets to the U.S.A.

Really unsure of what to do, think or plan.

If you have any input or ideas... or references.. I would REALLY appreciate it!!

Thankyou!

Thanks so much for all of your information! It is really helpful. Well, we've been trying to get all the money and papers together but when my fiancee went to his local Banamex bank they said that he needs to have an account number for paying the fee.

Does anyone know anything about this?

I know that we need to pay the fee at Banamex for the visa processing but.... how do we do that? As far as I could tell there weren't any instruction on this in the waiver packet. I didn't see a consulate bank account number.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Maybe I'm posting this in the wrong spot, I hope not.

Well, we are almost ready for my fiance to go to his visa interview at the consulate in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. We are trying to be as prepared as possible but have been getting really confused about what kind of fees we will have to pay. I've tried looking up information in the documents provided from the consulate website but others have stated that they paid more or less at their interviews.

Does anyone know how much money we should be prepared to pay for the consular processing fee and the medical exam? Any other fees that we are not aware of would be good to know about as well. Also, what is the best way to pay for everything? Cash? Credit? Dollars, pesos?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thanks for your response. I am talking about the K-1 visa (form I-129F) expiration date. It is set to expire June 22, 2010. That only gives us a few weeks left to pull everything together for a waiver.

I didn't get my letter from the consulate stating that they had received our package until April. My fiance didn't receive his copy of the letter (same one) until May (apparently the mail takes longer in Mexico). As it is, we are a little hard-pressed for time.

I was not aware of the automatic four month extension. I am also not familiar with the DOS website. Do you have an internet link to it?

Thanks so much for your help.

My fiance and I have gotten our K-1 all the way to the consulate and are just getting everything ready for the initial interview. However, since he was here in the U.S. two times without inspection (illegally) we are expecting a denial. Consequently we are attempting to prepare the waiver I-601 (waiver on grounds on inadmissibility) to take with him when he goes to the first interview in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. In Juarez they have an expedited waiver program. Our problem comes from the lack of time. We are attempting to gather all of the information and put things together but wanted to know if anyone has any experience with Ciudad Juarez and could tell us if they are really picky about their expiration dates on applications or not.

Also, does anyone know if there is a way to extend the application time or renew an application?

Thanks in advance.

Up until now things have been going pretty well. We're applying for the K1 Fiance Visa. I filed our case late in January, it was approved in February and I got a letter from the NVC on March 4, 2010 saying that they had received an approved case from the USCIS and would, within the week, be sending it to the Ciudad Juarez, Mexico Consulate.

They said in the letter that my fiance should be expecting a package with instructions about the interview.

Does anyone know of a way to track where the application is and how it is doing?

How long does it typically take for Juarez to send out the packets? I noticed on here that there are more than one packet, do they send more than one?

If something is wrong or if it is lost we'd like to know.

Any help would be very, very welcome.

Thank you everyone for you advice. I am looking for a good immigration lawyer.

Sadly, my fiance made some bad choices when he decided to come up to the U.S. of which consequences we are starting to deal with now.

Thanks for the strait-forward information. Although I'm sure that everyone wants things to turn out and have hope that they will.... I'm still hoping.... but it is good to know how things are in reality too.

To clarify about his crossing with a false ID I asked him about it and he said that he purchased the use of an ID from a permanent resident who was in Mexico at that time.

I know that my chances of getting the visa are slim with his past and past choices, but does anyone know if I am looking at the slim possibility of being given the option to submit the waiver?

Thanks for all of your input.

Where did he cross the border?

He said that he was in Tijuana Mexico and came up in San isidro California

I just called a friend who is a border patrol agent out of San Diego , Calif and works the border crossing at Tijuana.... I left a message for him to call me back because he is at work now.. But if as you say he used a false ID ,you obviously are not filing with that false ID...... so as I see it now the only problem you might have is the index finger print if it is a problem at all.. It seems as you have no problem... But let him get back to me first..OK?

PS: Did he also have a false passport? How did he board the plane? What form of ID did he use?

Thanks so much! I am very interested to know what your friend may be able to tell us.

My fiance had a valid Mexican Passport (his own) and so he had no problem getting back into Mexico.

You did not say if he was caught here illegally or did he just return because he wanted to?..This makes a difference on what advice we can give to you........

Well, if it will help to know more.... I'll give a little more detail.

When he first came up to the US he tried to come up using a false ID and was stopped in the border. they took his pictures and his thumb prints and sent him back. The next day he tried again using the same things and he made it through. He lived in the US about a year before I met him. After we met, dated, and got engaged we decided that things needed to be done right. So, he voluntarily took a plane back down to Mexico.

He's been down there ever since.

We're just worried that his choices and illegal entrance and working may have harmed our chances of getting the visa.

Again, any help is welcome! thanks so much

My fiance and I just filed for the K-1 Visa this week. I know that we have to wait a little while to get any information... but we are really worried about a few things and just want to know what to expect.

He came to the US illegally about 4 years ago and about 3 years ago we met, dated, fell in love and got engaged.

We wanted to do things the right way so he went back to his home country, Mexico, and we started gathering everything for the K-1.

It has now been over a year since he went back and I have gone to visit him once since then.

Because of his being here illegally for more than 180 days, are we likely to be denied the Visa?

Are there any waivers or other things that we can do?

If you have any advice please share!