Voluntary Departure and Re-entry with Husband

[hopelesslyinlove 0]

Hi all,

I am new to this site. I am very excited to have found you all. What a sense of peace that I find that so many of us meaning USC's are going through this process. I would like to share my story with you. Any advice would be so helpful.

I met my now husband in April 2005 after two months of talking on the phone we just connected. We met in the US through a mutual friend and we just fell in love within six months. He told me about his immigration issues prior to us becoming serious, but I decided to get to know him. He had married a USC before and was not yet divorced but separaged for a year. We both had difficult relationships and we could really relate to heartache. He came as a student in 1995 and completed school within four years he met his first wife and married her in December 2000. Before he married his first wife we was out of status for a year. Three months later-February 2001 she wrote a letter to INS saying that she wanted the marriage to be annuled based on falsified comments (which we have written documentation stating otherwise submitted to our lawyer). They had already filed the AOS paperwork right after they got married but the interview had not been scheduled. They then got the divorce in October 2001. But, after a months of being divorced, they decided to reconcile and remarried in June 2002, one month before the removal proceedings were to begin (which looks a little shady to INS) By this time, they had tried again to work things out, but by April 2003 she wanted another divorce. At this time, they just separated again. All this time the first divorce and remarriage and approved second petition was tied up in the system until December 2004. He was put into removal proceedings and given voluntary departure, but appealed the decision based on entering the marriage in good faith and that they had communication problems. He was told to not leave the US until the appeal process was complete. After one year in the appeal process, the decision was upheld in April 2006, and he left for his home country in May 2006. So, in April 2005 we began a relationship and I knew all of this. But, I was hopeful that the appeal would come through during our entire courtship and he would be granted his green card-but it did not. So therefore, he left on voluntary departure back to Kenya-he left on time and we have the proof that he left.

Once the second divorce was final, in September 2006, we got married in Kenya on November 18, 2006. We had a wonderful wedding and my family flew in for the event. After careful consideration and discussion I decided that I could not be without my husband and moved to Kenya. I am now regretting this move, because I am very unhappy living here, it is very different, and I am not making any money here in my field, at least comparable to what I used to make and now we have a six month old son, so you can imagine with the water and electric problems its so stressful-sometimes we can't even buy fresh veggies, and I have gotten sick so many times with the veggies here. So, it will be two years in May 2008 since he left on VD and there was nothing in his paperwork that said any thing about a 10 year or 3 year bar unless of course if he didn't leave on time. We have been married now for over a year, and we have a lawyer who is preparing our petition to be submitted using DCF route. I want to go home so badly, you guys, I am so miserable not with my husband, but the lifestyle, the dirt, bad roads, water problems and I have so much that I am still responsible for in the US. We are now trying to save money to go to the US for a visit, just me and our son of course. Please help me....our lawyer is saying that the Consulate visa approval will depend on how they view the law and his previous case. He left on time, we are a legitimate married couple with a baby boy, and I don't want to raise my son here or for that matter any more children. I moved here for my marriage to work, I could not afford to fly back and forth and make those expensive phone calls. He was working as a Fire Protection Engineer and I was a Manager in a museum with a combined income of 100,000-now we are living below what is considered poverty level and we still have expenses that we pay for in the US...its very tough. I want to go home! But I want to bring my son, husband and myself. My son is a USC and I have his USC passport. He was born here, and I immediately filed the paperwork for that to happen. Sorry for the long post, is there help for us? By the way I am applying for jobs in the US at this time as well. Yes, my husband had problems but he tried, and worked very hard and is very smart, we even have reference letters from his previous employers about his character and work ethic. Do you think that we will have to file a waiver and do you think that the Consulate will frown upon the VD at the interview even though he has gone.

Please, any advise would be helpful.

[Emo 0]

you don't need waver, just file DCF .

[hopelesslyinlove 0]

you don't need waver, just file DCF .

Thanks for your quick reply. I just posted today, and I wasn't sure if anyone would respond so quickly. FYI its almost 5 p.m. in Nairobi....Thanks again. I am hoping to be home very soon.

[eau_xplain 2]

I can't provide any real input but I do wish you and your family the best. May you be able to work things out and come home to the US as a whole family.

[jula 0]

you don't need waver, just file DCF .

are you sure? There was a period of "out of status".. and he left the USA before he adjusted status (for overstay to be forgiven).

[pushbrk 13,052]

you don't need waver, just file DCF .

are you sure? There was a period of "out of status".. and he left the USA before he adjusted status (for overstay to be forgiven).

Their attorney has already told them the answer depends on how USCIS interprets the circumstances and law, so I'm not going to speculate.

You may have sponsorship issues but they can be solved by you returning ahead of your husband and getting a job.

[hopelesslyinlove 0]

I can't provide any real input but I do wish you and your family the best. May you be able to work things out and come home to the US as a whole family.

Thank you for your encouragement.

[hopelesslyinlove 0]

you don't need waver, just file DCF .

are you sure? There was a period of "out of status".. and he left the USA before he adjusted status (for overstay to be forgiven).

Well, I am not sure, because he recieved his EAD card and was working legally. TheEAD card did not expire until November 2006. So, I believe that he did leave before adjustment of status, but then they got married again and he was put into removal proceedings. I am just hoping that because he did leave on time and has been gone for almost two years that the IO will be forgiving. I guess we will have to see. But, thanks for your reply. I hope that we don't need a waiver. That could mean another year or so before we can go home.

[KikuyuLove 0]

Logically, I think agree that you returning to the US will help in the sponsorship issue.

In the meanwhile, I found that fruits and vegetables we bought off Thika Road in Kahawa Sukari did not make me ill in the 2 months I was there eating like a horse (and losing 10 lbs). I really hear you about those 'moonscape' dirt roads. Eventually, we plan to move down to Kenya after I get the savings account really built up and clear out all of my remaining bills. Perhaps in the 3-5 years maybe we can start building near Thika or Nyeri. I would like to start a business or two down there if the political stability holds up.

Good luck on your processing. I know what true love means and to be with that person now more than ever! Skype to an internet cafe' in Nairobi (where he would only pay for internet time versus the call) or Vonage for direct calling are about the cheapest ways that I have found to call into Kenya. Right now, my fiancee' is in Germany until November but then she will have to return to Kenya and I am contemplating how I could either 'commute' or find 'off-shore' work that will let me work in Kenya while we wait for her K1.

[filirican 3]

goodluck! hopefully everything goes well!