Can my husband be deported? (split topic)

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

This might be special with Canadian citizens but isn't there the small issue that they told the border patrol that he was planning to immigrate, meaning that he entered the US on the "vacuous" tourist visa extended to Canadians with immigration intent?

It is odd that they were let in when they told CBP of their plan, but they were permitted to enter so all is well. If they are in, and they didn't lie, then it's fine.

[omigog 3]

Exactly right. We received an RFE for proof of legal entry. We resent an affidavit detailing the circumstances of her entry into the US. There is a record of entry, but USCIS won't request it from CBP. We filed a Freedom of Information Act request with CBP for my wife's entry/inspection from Canada into Niagara Falls record in December, but have not received an update yet. It takes forever! USCIS accepted our RFE response and my wife received her EAD shortly after. We will see if our IO will make an issue of it whenever we have our interview

Hi f&c, would you clarify what the USCIS accepted? Was the "RFE response" that they accepted your affadavit? That would lead me to believe that 1) I should definitely include an addendum detailing the border crossing and denied request for I-94 and 2) that may be enough. Again, we've both crossed back and forth across the US/Canada as well as the Mexico/US border many many times together and separately over the last 4 years. They certainly have record of all these.

[omigog 3]

Nope, no lying. Ever. We've let them know our intentions several times. The only thing they've ever asked us is whether or not Trent is living in the US. He never has, beyond staying here while he's visiting me. He's never overstayed and never worked here.

[f&c 50]

Hi f&c, would you clarify what the USCIS accepted? Was the "RFE response" that they accepted your affadavit? That would lead me to believe that 1) I should definitely include an addendum detailing the border crossing and denied request for I-94 and 2) that may be enough. Again, we've both crossed back and forth across the US/Canada as well as the Mexico/US border many many times together and separately over the last 4 years. They certainly have record of all these.

Our situation is a bit more complex as yours, so we hired an attorney. My wife was a Canadian LPR and needed a visa to enter the US as her home country is not on the VWP, however the CBP officer granted entry without one. Either way, the burden is on the beneficiary to prove legal entry.

We resubmitted my wife's original detailed notarized entry affidavit along with a legal brief on inspection practices. If anyone else ever entered with him, have them write affidavits too. CBP does have records of entry, but it will be up to you and your husband to obtain them. We requested my wife's entry record in December, but have yet to hear back from CBP. I will find the links and post them. Try not to panic too much over this. It is highly possible that this does not even become an issue.

[f&c 50]

Here are the links:

http://www.cbp.gov/foia/records

http://www.cbp.gov/list-page/faq-foia

Hopefully, you don't need to go this route, but may be worth a try. It's an extremely slow process.

[omigog 3]

Thanks again, f&c. After I read your prior post, I went ahead and put in a FOIA request to the CPB for the entry record. I have a tracking number now. Hopefully it won't take 3 months. For the AOS package (which I'm mailing today!) I decided not to include the addendum detailing why we don't have the I-94 (since everyone has told us he doesn't need one). If we receive a RFE re: my husband's legal entry, we can provide this information then...our story of how we asked for the I-94 and hopefully the FOIA request will be fulfilled by then. Mostly, we just want my husband to be able to work and live here. For now, we don't mind waiting as long as we can do it together in the US. We just want to know we're doing everything properly and that we'll ultimately get processed.

I really appreciate all your info....all of you. This is the only place we've received real information we can act on. Everything else has been so circular and contractictory.

[tangrien 7]

I see no reason not to go ahead and include the letter explaining the I-94 if you've already written it up. It is hard to imagine a situation where it would hurt, and at best it has a chance to prevent an erroneous RFE (however unlikely the RFE will be).

Keep us posted!

[f&c 50]

Thanks again, f&c. After I read your prior post, I went ahead and put in a FOIA request to the CPB for the entry record. I have a tracking number now. Hopefully it won't take 3 months. For the AOS package (which I'm mailing today!) I decided not to include the addendum detailing why we don't have the I-94 (since everyone has told us he doesn't need one). If we receive a RFE re: my husband's legal entry, we can provide this information then...our story of how we asked for the I-94 and hopefully the FOIA request will be fulfilled by then. Mostly, we just want my husband to be able to work and live here. For now, we don't mind waiting as long as we can do it together in the US. We just want to know we're doing everything properly and that we'll ultimately get processed.

I really appreciate all your info....all of you. This is the only place we've received real information we can act on. Everything else has been so circular and contractictory.

Sounds good and best wishes. Consider filing I-765 so your husband can work and I-131 so he can travel. The applications are free when filing for AOS and usually take 2-3 months to adjudicate.

[jajaju 33]

wow 5 month honeymoon lucky you!

[NikLR 13,232]

This might be special with Canadian citizens but isn't there the small issue that they told the border patrol that he was planning to immigrate, meaning that he entered the US on the "vacuous" tourist visa extended to Canadians with immigration intent?

Doesn't matter. The CBP officer let them in. Which means it's fine.

[omigog 3]

I will definitely keep you all posted...hell, it takes a village to immigrate these days!

In the end, I decided to mail the AOS package without an explanation of the I-94 encounter. Again, the CBP officer, immigration lawyer and agency we talked with all said Canadian's don't need it. The lawyer, agency, as well as a few Canadians here on VJ have said to fill in "NONE" where it asks for the I-94#....so it's been done before. I was reluctant to make this a bigger deal than it may be. Besides, if they send a RFE for proof of entry, I've already launched the request for proof via the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) with the CBP. That's all I can do.

And, on that note, I do want to highlight something I feel is really important in this process.

Do all you can do. And that's really all you can do. My husband finally convinced me that we have to trust that there are humans....somewhere...in this process. Yes, it's the gov and they're sticklers for following the rules EXACTLY. But, this is the point....the rules aren't completely clear and even seem contradictory in many cases. This site wouldn't exist if things were so easy and straightforward. So, really, all you can do is your best and then hope for the best....deal with things as they come along. Please note that you're the only one who knows if you've done everything you can do, that you've been competely honest and done things legally to the best of your knowledge. This is a key point. Sharing our personal experiences here certainly helps demystify things. That said, every situation is different....seems like CBP has personal leeway to pass or deny.

So, here's where I am right now with it....knowing that this is the very beginning I guess it'll be interesting to see how much this "trust in my best effort" and "trust in humans" philosophy works out. But, I know for sure I would've torn my hair out without all the valuable VJ input you've given me. Thank you.

[f&c 50]

Best of luck to you two!

[omigog 3]

Received our biometrics appointment notice today! Scheduled for May 14th. I suppose if they were going to deport him (see discussion above), we would've heard this vs. scheduling a bio appt. I have to say, I'm pleased at how quickly we're getting in for the bio appt. I thought it might take even longer than it did. Let's call this a good sign.

[omigog 3]

My husband received his work visa today. Looks like our application is being processed and the worry of him being deported is behind us. Thank you again to everyone who chimed in on this topic.