Much Needed Advice Please

[MikeLissa 0]

Hi, i was told that maybe this forum could help me get a feel for what i should expect, here is my problem.

so i filed 2 application forms ( I-130 & I-485) and had many visits to a JFK federal immigration building in Boston, MA , thinking i was on my way to being a legal immigrant. i am married to an American.

due to some incorrect advice i was given from immigration information, at the JFK building in Boston, more specifically that i would be able to travel to and from Canada while my applications were pending, my husband Micheal and I went to Montreal for Christmas, and were suppose to leave before new years eve.

when we arrived at the American border in Vermont we were informed that I, having left the US while awaiting my acceptance was NOT suppose to leave the US and since i did, i would not be allowed back, and that both applications would be void, these applications alone had cost almost 1300$. they informed us that the only chance other than starting all over again , and I, not being allowed back in the US for 9months to a year, was to come back on Jan 2nd 2008 and plead my case to another border officer ( forign trade officer), and he coild call the Immigration services in Boston and ask if my case could get a continuance, which would allow me back in the US for the remainder of my application process. ( by this time i had already taken my Biometrics, finger prints and everything.)

i went with my husband on Jan 2nd 2008 at 8 am , spoke to the Forign trade Officer, which he understood that we had been lead down a wrong path and he called and spoke to the Director of Immigration in Boston , we awaited for 5 hours sitting in the vermont border waiting room for just for a big NO, my petition is classified as abandoned. and too bad.

since then i have been in contact with a boston Congressman who is helping us fight our case with immigration.

we were told that my applications had been Abandoned, in Janurary , now all of a sudden about a week ago my husband recieved a letter addressed to me for my form (I-485) and it says i have an appointment on April 3rd 2008 for another step closer to my final say weather i can be a resident or not. they have not called our congressman who is handling our case to let us know if they have allowed me to come back yet, no one seems to know why this happened.

apperently my applications are still active in the computers of the uscis office! as we were told by a immigration laywer.

but i am stuck in Canada at the monent. the amout of errors that immigration have made are piling up.

if anybody has some insight as to what i should expect or how long this will all take i am desprate.

thanks for reading.

[Reba 2]

I don't think anyone here could possibly say how long it'll take, because no one here has access to your file to see if they've actually cancelled it.

USCIS makes mistakes all the time. So do lawyers. And whoever it was that told you you were able to travel freely after applying to adjust status was wrong. You should have also applied for Advance Parole with your AOS package, I'm surprised no one told you that before.

As you're barred from re-entering the US at the moment, I don't see how you'll be able to get to your interview appointment in Boston. Any other folks who've been in the same situation have been told you'll have to start over from scratch for a K3 or CR1 visa from outside the US. K3 or CR1 typically take about one year to complete, though at the moment K3s are kind of up in the air, so you may just want to have a look at filing for the CR1.

If it were me, I'd forward a copy of that interview notice to the Congressmans office who has been helping you and get a fire set under their arses to find out what the heck is going on. I'd also call your Senators offices, they have immigration liases who should be able to help you. When our petitions and applications all got lost (3 separate files, during 3 separate parts of the process) Senator Dole's office here in North Carolina was extremely helpful and able to figure out what had gone wrong.

Sorry you're having to endure all this, but you may just need to resign yourself to having to wait in Canada about a year for a CR1.

[desert_fox 32]

You entered as a tourist...got marri9ed and filed to adjust status???

or sis you enter some other way...as I dont understand what some Trade guy has to do with anything.

A Congressman will be unable to help you with anything unless it is already authorized by law.

Edited March 9, 2008 by desert_fox

[MikeLissa 0]

I don't think anyone here could possibly say how long it'll take, because no one here has access to your file to see if they've actually cancelled it.

USCIS makes mistakes all the time. So do lawyers. And whoever it was that told you you were able to travel freely after applying to adjust status was wrong. You should have also applied for Advance Parole with your AOS package, I'm surprised no one told you that before.

As you're barred from re-entering the US at the moment, I don't see how you'll be able to get to your interview appointment in Boston. Any other folks who've been in the same situation have been told you'll have to start over from scratch for a K3 or CR1 visa from outside the US. K3 or CR1 typically take about one year to complete, though at the moment K3s are kind of up in the air, so you may just want to have a look at filing for the CR1.

If it were me, I'd forward a copy of that interview notice to the Congressmans office who has been helping you and get a fire set under their arses to find out what the heck is going on. I'd also call your Senators offices, they have immigration liases who should be able to help you. When our petitions and applications all got lost (3 separate files, during 3 separate parts of the process) Senator Dole's office here in North Carolina was extremely helpful and able to figure out what had gone wrong.

Sorry you're having to endure all this, but you may just need to resign yourself to having to wait in Canada about a year for a CR1.

thank you so much for the help.

we have already faxed a copy of the letter to our congressman's office and they are trying to get Senator Kennedy to help us out too. right now our representative is still trying to get me back into the country, they spoke to the director of immigration in Boston for a very long time this week and no strait answers have come through. ill call them tomorrow to get what the exact story is again.

its getting very hard to handle ,

[MsZ 6]

How did you end up living in the US to begin with during this process? Or were you waiting for an adjustment of status?

You would have needed to apply for advance parole in order to leave and be allowed back into the country.

[MikeLissa 0]

How did you end up living in the US to begin with during this process? Or were you waiting for an adjustment of status?

You would have needed to apply for advance parole in order to leave and be allowed back into the country.

yup waiting on i-485, register to become residant , adjust status.

[MsZ 6]

I'm really sorry that you were given bad advice. It is very costly. I don't know how many people have successfully fought something like this. Any chance you can get someone at the place you went before to put something in writing? Send your husband over or a friend and ask them to please write it down to prove that this is the information that they are presenting...

[MikeLissa 0]

I'm really sorry that you were given bad advice. It is very costly. I don't know how many people have successfully fought something like this. Any chance you can get someone at the place you went before to put something in writing? Send your husband over or a friend and ask them to please write it down to prove that this is the information that they are presenting...

thank you

hmm it would be a a very slim to none chance that that could be available

to most people i spoke to about the problem, the people who are helping us with our case, we were told they have no doubt that what i told them is true, that we were lead badly, because this misinformation unfortunatly happends very frequently , and i was also told that the employees who do work at these buildings who are there to help with information , are very poorly trained.

they only problem im having now is retuning back to the USA for my interview. but its a slim chance that will happen, ultimatly and the bottom line is i left the US when i wasent suppose to , reguardless of how it happend, even if it was at the error of immigration, i am still the one being punished.

if this happened before the year 2001, this would have been resolved already .