Little Help Please!!

[Deputy Purple 1,294]

I did read it and I simply think your speculation is spurious at best, bad analysis at worst and quite possibly a little bit judgemental. No intention to offend but its just not accurate. Like I said its a cummulative analysis and all three hardships you shot down can and could be considered in determining the level of hardship. In a case without serious aggravating factors very little hardship is actually needed in practice.

There is nothing trivial about being in a position to have to leave your country and your family here for marital unity and understanding the legal requirements of the waiver is key to success. What you think would "fly" with USCIS is not necessarily relevant. For example the financial difficulty of supporting family in two different countries is not as simple as moving to the spouses country as you quipped. There is a whole list of items to consider like ability earn income in the spouses country, family ties and obligations here, severe career disruption, future retirement benefits, etc etc.

I do agree the OP has articulated some serious hardship and my hope is a well prepared waiver packet will overcome this situation.

Where in my reply did I indicate that I was trying to give an in-depth analysis or comprehensive reply to the OP? Further I don't see how I speculated on his situation, I merely listed example of some of things I've seen people claim as extreme hardships which were denied at the waiver stage.

I was in the position of thinking that I might have to wait until my youngest daughter is one her own (at least 4 years or more) to then join my wife and little guy in the Philippines so I understand first-hand the ramifications of leaving a long term (15 years) career with a respectable salary (by US Standards) to more to what is considered a Third World Country where my earning potential would be drastically reduced and my long term medical expenses would be all out-of-pocket (as I have a lifetime chronic condition that will require follow-up care & medication for life but is manageable).

The point of my reply was the the OP really needed to provide more information in order to get useful responses from anyone. I quipped about nothing and I didn't minimize anyone's situation least of all the OP.

When I post I always try to err on the side of caution. Being optimistic is great but there always needs to be someone saying "Take this into consideration and understand the seriousness of the situation". I don't know that the bar for extreme hardship is as low as you seem to believe it is and in fact I've seen many posts which indicate that the waivers take a fair amount of time because they are considered carefully and not just rubber stamped as you responses seem to imply.

Please don't do to me as you have accused me of doing to the OP.

[Sergi9 110]

Where in my reply did I indicate that I was trying to give an in-depth analysis or comprehensive reply to the OP? Further I don't see how I speculated on his situation, I merely listed example of some of things I've seen people claim as extreme hardships which were denied at the waiver stage.

I was in the position of thinking that I might have to wait until my youngest daughter is one her own (at least 4 years or more) to then join my wife and little guy in the Philippines so I understand first-hand the ramifications of leaving a long term (15 years) career with a respectable salary (by US Standards) to more to what is considered a Third World Country where my earning potential would be drastically reduced and my long term medical expenses would be all out-of-pocket (as I have a lifetime chronic condition that will require follow-up care & medication for life but is manageable).

The point of my reply was the the OP really needed to provide more information in order to get useful responses from anyone. I quipped about nothing and I didn't minimize anyone's situation least of all the OP.

When I post I always try to err on the side of caution. Being optimistic is great but there always needs to be someone saying "Take this into consideration and understand the seriousness of the situation". I don't know that the bar for extreme hardship is as low as you seem to believe it is and in fact I've seen many posts which indicate that the waivers take a fair amount of time because they are considered carefully and not just rubber stamped as you responses seem to imply.

Please don't do to me as you have accused me of doing to the OP.

The bars are a balancing act of negative and positive equities. Someone who entered without inspection as an adult with a criminal history will have to demonstrate a far greater degree of hardship than someone brought here as a child with no criminal history and present numerous mitigating factors to overcome the aggravating factors in the exercise of discretion. Someone who lives in a first world country with national health care in an English speaking country will likely have to present more serious hardships as well, particularly if there is a criminal history.

Someone with little or no family ties here in the US or from the same country as the beneficiary also will have to present a relatively high level of hardship. You should not infer I believe the bar is "low" , but it can be overcome by knowledge of the process and the adjudication standards.

It can be considered "lower" in a case with no other issues or aggravating factors. With skillful articulation of the hardship criteria as it applies to each individual case it can be overcome.

Generally the time it takes to adjudicate waivers is due USCIS staffing problems at overseas locations. At CDJ they have "same day adjudication", you turn in the packet they adjudicate it on the spot. If it is 'clearly approvable" they complete it and send it back to the Embassy with a recommendation to issue the VISA. They process the packet in about 15 minutes, hardly time for what one might call "careful" consideration. CDJ processes approximately 80% of the worldwide waiver volume. They look for absence of aggravating factors, presence of mitigating factors and a well articulated hardship letter with supporting evidence. The cases that get referred lack clarity, evidence or contain aggravating factors. Its not rubber stamping its a "formula" of criteria. Know the formula, win the case.

Edited June 21, 2011 by Sergi9