Whats going on?

[Sweethope 2]

Waivers are EXTREMELY complicated. It is best to leave it to a lawyer. Although 8,000 is a bit steep. I know a great attorney who can do it for much less.

Changing lawyers is a lengthy process. Its what got our case closed in the first place. I honestly dont know what to do. I have got off the phobe with Ustraveldocs they say they cant help. Jordan embassy says contact Uscis. Uscis and dept of homeland. have not replied to any if my emails. I called their line is dead. im stressed and i dont want to be stuck in Ap for 2 years. and if i dont do anything for those 2 years im scared my case would get closed. Please someone help. I need someone to point me in the right direction. I dont want to mess up and do a wavier and get it denied. Filing a wavier is stressful alone.

[HFM181818 748]

There is little point in berating USCIS...after all, who entered the US without permission, who was deported?

And as you are learning, immigration attorneys charge obscene amounts of money to do a waiver (without a money back guarantee, by the way)

An $8000 bill represents about 25- 30 billable hours (at $275-$300 per hour) which is a total lie. These charlatans do NOT spend anywhere near that amount of time preparing a waiver....around 4-6 hours is typical. Most of the stuff is re-spun boilerplate, pages of fluff photocopied by a paralegal and perhaps another $800-$1000 paid to some out-of-work 'psychologist' who, for a fee, will make up any story about depression, etc.

Paste it all together, address the envelope and that's it. A total ripoff.

[Cathi 5,694]

people already pointed you in the right direction. At this point there is nothing you can do until 2018, nothing. Your waiver was denied and you have to wait until his ban is up and then re-apply. You are not in AP. And just because you have children does not mean you do not have to prove a relationship. To be blunt, having children together only proves you have has sex, that is the way USCIS and the embassy view it. Filing a new waiver now will get you no where and they will just take your money.

[Boiler 44,857]

I am by no means clear of the OP 's situation.

May be 9C which means no waiver available until 10 years have passed but without a clear timeline anybody's guess.

It seems that the original waiver was incorrectly filed and that is why it was refused, not anything to do with the situation itself.

If it is a illegal entry followed by Deportation then a 212/601 combo would be enough.

Now sounds she has not started and has not researched the subject. Last time I looked a waiver was taking 6 months plus and she is effectively starting from scratch and on a steep learning curve with no money so waiting it out could make more sense. Obviously her Husband could aslo help with the leg work.

[Harmonia 211]

Sounds to me like there was no point in doing a new I-130 if you knew the visa would be denied. He has a ban till 2018.

UStraveldocs is sayign your waiver was denied...because...you told us you applied for I-212 and 601 waivers and they were denied. You haven't reapplied. You can. You can apply as many times as you like. Until that's approved, the ban is still in affect.

[Boiler 44,857]

Sounds to me like there was no point in doing a new I-130 if you knew the visa would be denied. He has a ban till 2018.

UStraveldocs is saying your waiver was denied...because...you told us you applied for I-212 and 601 waivers and they were denied. You haven't reapplied. You can. You can apply as many times as you like. Until that's approved, the ban is still in affect.

This is I think what she wants to do.

[Harmonia 211]

There is little point in berating USCIS...after all, who entered the US without permission, who was deported?

And as you are learning, immigration attorneys charge obscene amounts of money to do a waiver (without a money back guarantee, by the way)

An $8000 bill represents about 25- 30 billable hours (at $275-$300 per hour) which is a total lie. These charlatans do NOT spend anywhere near that amount of time preparing a waiver....around 4-6 hours is typical. Most of the stuff is re-spun boilerplate, pages of fluff photocopied by a paralegal and perhaps another $800-$1000 paid to some out-of-work 'psychologist' who, for a fee, will make up any story about depression, etc.

Paste it all together, address the envelope and that's it. A total ripoff.

Sounds like you've worked with a terrible lawyer. Most aren't like that. USCIS (and any reputable lawyers) say NOT to pay for a one time, expensive mental health evaluation. Its not typical. And waivers definitely aren't boilerplate...they do take dozens if not hundreds of hours in client meetings, research, writing...have you ever seen an RFE? They are very specific. USCIS wants specifics to a case. An attorney has to assess the particular mitigating factors, the negatives and positives in each case. Definitely can't be boilerplate.

Edited January 11, 2016 by Harmonia

[Boiler 44,857]

Dozens of hours is pushing it, most follow a fairly standard format, tweaked to meet individual circumstances.

I agree that the Mental Health thing is in most cases a waste of space.

[Sweethope 2]

I am by no means clear of the OP 's situation.

May be 9C which means no waiver available until 10 years have passed but without a clear timeline anybody's guess.

It seems that the original waiver was incorrectly filed and that is why it was refused, not anything to do with the situation itself.

If it is a illegal entry followed by Deportation then a 212/601 combo would be enough.

Now sounds she has not started and has not researched the subject. Last time I looked a waiver was taking 6 months plus and she is effectively starting from scratch and on a steep learning curve with no money so waiting it out could make more sense. Obviously her Husband could aslo help with the leg work.

I emailed thm again and I got this. So I guess i either wait the two years or file for a costly wavier that could pay for food foe those two years. or do a wavier on my own. Im not sure honeslty. My husband is more stressed then I am. His father died of cancer last year and his mother also has cancer they told her she has six months to live. That was six months ago. I take care of her and my two childern at home and he provides for us. I dont know what to do. ?

Dear Applicant,

Thank you for your inquiry.

The Embassy has already provided you a response. The visa cannot be issued while you have a ban from entering the US.

Please contact the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for information about filing waivers for visa ineligibilities. For detailed information on waivers, please visit their web site at: www.uscis.gov. )

I am by no means clear of the OP 's situation.

May be 9C which means no waiver available until 10 years have passed but without a clear timeline anybody's guess.

It seems that the original waiver was incorrectly filed and that is why it was refused, not anything to do with the situation itself.

If it is a illegal entry followed by Deportation then a 212/601 combo would be enough.

Now sounds she has not started and has not researched the subject. Last time I looked a waiver was taking 6 months plus and she is effectively starting from scratch and on a steep learning curve with no money so waiting it out could make more sense. Obviously her Husband could aslo help with the leg work.

I emailed thm again and I got this. So I guess i either wait the two years or file for a costly wavier that could pay for food foe those two years. or do a wavier on my own. Im not sure honeslty. My husband is more stressed then I am. His father died of cancer last year and his mother also has cancer they told her she has six months to live. That was six months ago. I take care of her and my two childern at home and he provides for us. I dont know what to do. ?

Dear Applicant,

Thank you for your inquiry.

The Embassy has already provided you a response. The visa cannot be issued while you have a ban from entering the US.

Please contact the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for information about filing waivers for visa ineligibilities. For detailed information on waivers, please visit their web site at: www.uscis.gov. )

[Boiler 44,857]

Did his Parents sponsor him? Not sure I understand the situation and how he entered the US and why he was deported.

[HFM181818 748]

most immigration attorneys are interested in one and only one thing: billable hours. Most waivers are actually done by the applicant, who is instructed to bring this piece of paper or that one, the boilerplate cover letter is modified to include the applicant's name, a few tear jerking sentences, the boilerplate country conditions, and perhaps a few letters of 'support' from friends....it's mostly window dressing. Why do I say this? Because imagine a British citizen applying for a waiver, claiming 'hardship' by his or her American spouse...really? Living in the UK will be unpleasant? Why? Yet I've seen all sorts of exaggerated claims about the poor conditions of that country, and how terrible it would be if the American spouse had to move to the UK, etc....what a joke.

Years ago I was a paralegal for an immigration attorney, whose ethics were non-existent. Having been tasked with putting waivers together (a lot of photocopying mostly), I've seen how long they actually take and how much 'work' is done by the attorney...which is not much. It's mostly pre-fab followed by an obscene bill.

[Boiler 44,857]

I will agree with much of that, it is a process and the Country does not really matter.

It is a tick box exercise.

Edited January 12, 2016 by Boiler

[Harmonia 211]

most immigration attorneys are interested in one and only one thing: billable hours.

Years ago I was a paralegal for an immigration attorney, whose ethics were non-existent. Having been tasked with putting waivers together (a lot of photocopying mostly), I've seen how long they actually take and how much 'work' is done by the attorney...which is not much. It's mostly pre-fab followed by an obscene bill.

That's great you had first hand experience with one attorney. How wonderful you can now assert that most attorneys are the same based off the experience with one unethical one.

I hope you reported this attorney to the State Bar.

You'll be hard pressed to find an immigration waiver attorney who bills by hour.

[HFM181818 748]

Over the span of more than 20 years as a CO, I interacted with dozens of immigration attorneys....and none impressed me with their ethics. I know waivers are not usually billed by the hour....just a flat price (with the possibility for more, of course)....thus the client has no idea of how much actual time was spent on his or her waiver; all they hear is how complex the process is....which is laughable.

Yes, I did report this attorney to the State bar (and a few others while a CO)....a simpler solution to the predatory nature of immigration attorneys would be to merely eliminate the need for them, starting by eliminating waivers...period. A decision by Congress to do this would not cost the American taxpayers a penny! Not one cent. Now that's a good deal.

Why people seek out an attorney to help them complete, say, an I-130, remains a mystery to me. That form could be completed by a precocious 12 year old. Yet these noble practitioners charge in excess of $2500 for what amounts to about 17 minutes of actual work. Same for an I-129F (or any 129, for that matter).

Immigration attorneys work hard to try to find loopholes to keep visa cheats and border jumpers in my country, who then go on to take jobs away from Americans or engage in a life of crime. They help mask fraudulent marriages and lobby to take away all regulations from the H1b and L1 visas, so they won't have to worry about USCIS discovering their sleaze preparing petitions for bogus workers.

Wait....I have an idea....have Congress legislate an H5 visa, good only for foreign attorneys to come to the US and practice immigration law! They cannot charge more than $50 per hour, but so what? Immigration attorneys are happy to prepare applications for their clients who will claim to be earning the going rate, but in reality are paid about 1/3 to 1/2 of what an American worker commands. Let's flood the immigration attorney arena with foreign attorneys, then see how interested American immigration attorneys are still keenly interested in creating questionable documentation on behalf of a client who may well take that attorney's job.....I hope Congress legislates this new visa into action tomorrow.

[LionessDeon 2,060]

I will agree with much of that, it is a process and the Country does not really matter.

It is a tick box exercise.

^^ THIS

Edited January 12, 2016 by LionessDeon