Is there a compassionate visa so I can get back to my husband in Texas?

[Candexan 2]

I am a Canadian who is married to a US Citizen. Will be two years on the 19th of this month. I was living there since we got married. Had not started any paper work. Came to Canada to visit sick grandmother. (My grandmother is the reason I hadn't started any immigration paper work because I know from when my daughter got her green card, you are not allowed to leave the country once it's started) Went to go back to Texas and they would not let me and told me I had been there illegally as it was longer than 6 months. Also, they banned me for five years. I guess that is my punishment. Really not sure why they did that. I was to distraught from the whole thing to ask. I was detained for five hours. I was with my daughter and 3 year old grandson. She has her greencard so not sure why they detained her as well. She missed her flight of course.

I just want to know if there is anything I can file that will get me back to Texas sooner than doing all the I-130 stuff first. My mother in law has ALS and just had a feeding tube put in and is not doing well. Not to mention that I miss my husband, daughter and grandson.

Any information would be grateful.

Thank you.

[amykathleen2005 441]

I certainly am no expert but it sounds like you came in on a tourist visa and overstayed, accumulating enough days of overstaying to get you banned for five years. You have no status in the United States because you were simply there as a tourist and started no paperwork. Had you started paperwork for AOS you could have left because they allow AP for emergency and over cases to travel abroad while it processes.

I do not see any other choices other than to file for a CR1 visa and apply for the waiver to repeal the ban. That can take several months to go through and as it is not a hardship to the US citizen it is probably unlikely you could receive an expedite.

[sachinky 465]

Your only option is to file for the IR-1. You will be denied at the interview because of your ban. Your USC husband can then file a hardship waiver.

[Jadenjewel 9]

Just want to say that I'm so sorry for the illness of your family member.

I filed the Cr1 for the very reasons you mention. Not wanting to be unable to see my family at home. Start the paperwork as soon as possible and file the hardship waiver too.

all the best,

J(F)

[trailmix 77]

Yes, it's too bad you didn't apply to adjust status while you were there, you could have gotten advance parole for any emergency and could have applied for general advance parole and received that in a few months.

Oh well, too late for any of that now, as others have mentioned, your Husband will now need to file an I-130 petition, which will lead to an IR1 visa and a 10 year green card.

The whole process will take between 8 months and a year (to get to the interview, then you will need to file the waiver). You will interview in Montreal - which is one of the slower consulates.

Good luck

Edited July 4, 2010 by trailmix

[NVC FAN :( 18]

compassion and the law , do not mix. maybe in canada but not supposed to here. thats why this country is so screwed up now. sorry for your plight anyhow

[Justine+David 218]

You will need a very good lawyer to file a waiver, proving that your husband cannot live with you in Canada due to hardship. I'm not sure how the Canadian consulates are, but if you read through the 2010 London waiver forum, it can be pretty harsh. Immigrate2us.net also has some good info on waivers and the various consulates.

I highly suggest you do some reading here about the immigration process--had you done that prior and started the process, you could have left the U.S. before getting your green card with something called an emergency AP (advance parole) to visit your sick grandmother, which would probably have been granted in one day.

Best of luck, and sorry to hear about the sick relatives .

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

You will need a very good lawyer to file a waiver, proving that your husband cannot live with you in Canada due to hardship. I'm not sure how the Canadian consulates are, but if you read through the 2010 London waiver forum, it can be pretty harsh. Immigrate2us.net also has some good info on waivers and the various consulates.

I highly suggest you do some reading here about the immigration process--had you done that prior and started the process, you could have left the U.S. before getting your green card with something called an emergency AP (advance parole) to visit your sick grandmother, which would probably have been granted in one day.

Best of luck, and sorry to hear about the sick relatives .

No she couldn't have left with AP and been let back in. Advance parole only works for those who have a pending application for adjustment of status.

Read up on "paroled alien" to learn more about the process.

[Used to be broken 147]

I am a Canadian who is married to a US Citizen. Will be two years on the 19th of this month. I was living there since we got married. Had not started any paper work. Came to Canada to visit sick grandmother. (My grandmother is the reason I hadn't started any immigration paper work because I know from when my daughter got her green card, you are not allowed to leave the country once it's started) Went to go back to Texas and they would not let me and told me I had been there illegally as it was longer than 6 months. Also, they banned me for five years. I guess that is my punishment. Really not sure why they did that. I was to distraught from the whole thing to ask. I was detained for five hours. I was with my daughter and 3 year old grandson. She has her greencard so not sure why they detained her as well. She missed her flight of course.

I just want to know if there is anything I can file that will get me back to Texas sooner than doing all the I-130 stuff first. My mother in law has ALS and just had a feeding tube put in and is not doing well. Not to mention that I miss my husband, daughter and grandson.

Any information would be grateful.

Thank you.

Sorry to hear about the family illness. Your mention of a 5 year ban is odd. The ban for overstay of 6 months is 3 years and the ban for overstay of 1 year or more is 10 years. You mention you have been living in Texas since you got married almost 2 years ago and have been living here since then, so you are facing a 10 year bar. The other posters are correct you now have to have your husband apply for the I130 and after that is approved and you have your interview you will be able to submit the I601 which is the hardship waiver and depending on how they view your encounter at the border possibly a I212 application as well. The i601 adjudications take roughly 6 months to a year to adjudicate depending on which post handles them.

Depending on the extent of the hardship to your husband you may or may not be approved.

To answer your question regarding a "compassionate VISA" unfortunately the fact that you are married to a US Citizen effectively rules out that type of VISA since it is a non-immigrant VISA therefore it is impossible for the consulate to rule favorably on it since clearly you do have the intention to immigrate.

If it were me I would file simultaneously for my husband to immigrate to Canada in case they do not rule favorably on your I601 application since it can cut down on the time you are apart.

Edited July 4, 2010 by brokenfamily

[Used to be broken 147]

I am a Canadian who is married to a US Citizen. Will be two years on the 19th of this month. I was living there since we got married. Had not started any paper work. Came to Canada to visit sick grandmother. (My grandmother is the reason I hadn't started any immigration paper work because I know from when my daughter got her green card, you are not allowed to leave the country once it's started) Went to go back to Texas and they would not let me and told me I had been there illegally as it was longer than 6 months. Also, they banned me for five years. I guess that is my punishment. Really not sure why they did that. I was to distraught from the whole thing to ask. I was detained for five hours. I was with my daughter and 3 year old grandson. She has her greencard so not sure why they detained her as well. She missed her flight of course.

I just want to know if there is anything I can file that will get me back to Texas sooner than doing all the I-130 stuff first. My mother in law has ALS and just had a feeding tube put in and is not doing well. Not to mention that I miss my husband, daughter and grandson.

Any information would be grateful.

Thank you.

Also would advise don't get any crazy ideas about sneaking back in as the bar for EWI for your type of case is permanent, with no waiver allowed for 10 years.

[Darnell 8,478]

Really not sure why they did that

It's in the regulations. Sorry. Ya, 5 years IS strange, should have been more.

Have USC Spouse file I-130, pay attention to 'brokenfamily' 's post here. Very pointed 'stuff' to do.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Well, life is all about choices and as somebody who lost both his parents and chose immigration over saying "good bye" to them I know first hand what that's like.

I got closure with some lingering regrets and you got 5 years. Your only option is a hardship waiver and Laurel Scott is the lawyer who does nothing but. The problem is that a hardship waiver is extremely difficult to get, as your husband has to prove that he can't live without you and can't move to Canada. If you think about that for a second, that's a one-in-a-thousand case that would need to be fully documented.

Get an initial consultation with Laurel Scott. Within 30 minutes you'll know for sure.

[ValerieA 350]

Just to address something mentioned in a couple of posts above, although it is not relevant anymore to the OP...

If you have overstayed your visa by 180+ days, you can not use AP. You may get one, but you daren't use it, as leaving the country can cause your ban to kick in and you will be denied entry back into the US.

[mrs. wife! 3]

As pointed above she wouldn't be able to use AP since she was already out of status. AP only works for people who are not illegal here.

OP, file for IR1 and find a good lawyer for the waiver. Your process should take about +- 1 1/2 years (8 months for IR1 and 6+ months for waiver process -consider your consulate is backlogged so it can take a while).

[Allie and Nigel 2]

As a Canadian/dual citizen, its almost like we think that we can just float from border to border- been there done that.. I dont feel bad for this person being she #1 lived in USA illegally and #2 didnt do her homework/paperwork before leaving. We can go on and on with this one!