Immigration Marriage Fraud Amendments of 1986

[Niels Bohr 72]

Hmm...Good luck with your lobbying. After all, I'm not the complainer. You are (you know who I'm talking about). I hope people will see who's complaining. Who takes out selfish frustration upon other people.

Edited March 28, 2007 by consolemaster

[Niels Bohr 72]

Oh. By the way, growing up and learning from experience in school, I find that complainers are generally failure in school, and also suffer unhappiness in life in general. They goto work, complain about their boss, complain about how boring their jobs, etc...They only complain because they fail to succeed in life!

[Rob and Melinda 0]

This is a tough subject because the legitimae suffer because of the illigitimate.

In the Philippines as I understand it, they have one of the highest rate of immigration fraud of all countries. This is because these people suffer so much there. I cannot blame them at all for wanting to get a new life in the US. Melinda is absolutely amazed at the opportunites she has seen here so far.

They made it very hard for us, but thank the Lord we were still able to get her a visa and be together. I think we really appreciate each other more now for what we went through.

I have no idea why any of what I said makes any difference, but nuff said.

Rob

[rebeccajo 14]

Geist -

The bill is called the STRIVE act. Go to www.senate.gov and follow the links to Thomas. I understand the bill is online now for perusal.

The group I belong to can be found at americanfamiliesunited.org.

Consolemaster -

When you were growing up, didn't your momma ever tell you that if you have nothing nice to say, then don't say anything at all?

I tried to be nice to you and address you in a 'civil' manner - something you say you want society to do. It's a shame you don't practice what you preach.

[Geist 0]

Geist -

The bill is called the STRIVE act. Go to www.senate.gov and follow the links to Thomas. I understand the bill is online now for perusal.

The group I belong to can be found at americanfamiliesunited.org.

Wow, I had no idea there already was an organization dealing with this stuff, which was dumb of me. Should have figured someone somewhere would have set one up already .

Do you have the actual bill number? When I search for STRIVE in the Thomas section it goes to nothing useful for me.

[rebeccajo 14]

Fiddlesticks....

No I don't. I do at home.

The bill was first read two weeks ago. I believe you can search by date order......

For the record, there are many groups lobbying for changes. One of AFU's issues are FBI security clearance.

Edited March 30, 2007 by rebeccajo

[Geist 0]

Fiddlesticks....

No I don't. I do at home.

The bill was first read two weeks ago. I believe you can search by date order......

For the record, there are many groups lobbying for changes. One of AFU's issues are FBI security clearance.

Okay, I just googled it and read a summary of the Act. Doesn't seem like it would really improve things much. I found very little in it that actually applied to marriage based visas and it basically stated what we already know: that marriage based visas would be exempt from the visa limits placed on family based immigration. Nothing new.

But I did find that a lot of the other stuff in created has a possibility to make things much worse, such as increasing the amount of biometric data that needs to be collected and used. Putthing this stuff stuff on EVERY document? Are they out of their minds??

We need to give DHS and USCIS LESS power over us, and immigrants. Not more.

[rebeccajo 14]

Fiddlesticks....

No I don't. I do at home.

The bill was first read two weeks ago. I believe you can search by date order......

For the record, there are many groups lobbying for changes. One of AFU's issues are FBI security clearance.

Okay, I just googled it and read a summary of the Act. Doesn't seem like it would really improve things much. I found very little in it that actually applied to marriage based visas and it basically stated what we already know: that marriage based visas would be exempt from the visa limits placed on family based immigration. Nothing new.

But I did find that a lot of the other stuff in created has a possibility to make things much worse, such as increasing the amount of biometric data that needs to be collected and used. Putthing this stuff stuff on EVERY document? Are they out of their minds??

We need to give DHS and USCIS LESS power over us, and immigrants. Not more.

Geist, at this point it's a proposed bill. I'm sure it's gonna be different before it's finalized.

There's a rather large section in there regarding security checks, which is very relevant to family based petitions and is a hurdle for many families stateside. Your CR1 visa came with your security checks already complete. What you may not realize is that USCIS is not as efficient at processing these checks as DOS are (one reason I now think a CR1 visa is a great choice).

Unfortunately there will be new procedures to implement whenever the law comes down. That's a downside yes. But again, if you look to the security check provisions in that bill, it calls for MORE accountability of USCIS to the Attorney General. At present they have very little. I don't think our representatives are completely unmindful of the fact that DHS needs to complete a task they have been paid by citizens to do.

In today's political climate, it's unlikely the government will take 'less power' over immigrants. That is a harsh reality. What we as citizens need to demand (in that case) is that the power be as transparent as possible.

[Geist 0]

Geist, at this point it's a proposed bill. I'm sure it's gonna be different before it's finalized.

Yes, I know...which means that in the final situation, it could be a lot worse (most likely) or a bit better (somewhat likely). Boy, do I get points for cynicism or anything ?

There's a rather large section in there regarding security checks, which is very relevant to family based petitions and is a hurdle for many families stateside.

See, I've got to keep looking for the actual text of the bill so I can see exactly what it says regarding security checks for family petitions. The summary I found just listed various bullet points on different aspects of the bill and didn't go into much detail. Most of what I saw seemed it would make things stricter.

Unfortunately there will be new procedures to implement whenever the law comes down. That's a downside yes. But again, if you look to the security check provisions in that bill, it calls for MORE accountability of USCIS to the Attorney General. At present they have very little. I don't think our representatives are completely unmindful of the fact that DHS needs to complete a task they have been paid by citizens to do.

Unfortunately, this talk of accountability and making the USCIS responsive is the result of only one thing: government failure, and it always results when the customers have no choice but to use a certain service. The USCIS does not have to fear that we will go to a different provider if they take to long or do a bad job The only thing we can do is call our senators and that won't necessarily work.

We used to be able to file DCF, but now they have effectively taken that away from most of us and we have no other choice...

I think a great solution would be them letting us file I-130s for immediate relatives (spouses and kids) at local USCIS offices, since they won't let us use consulates any more.

In today's political climate, it's unlikely the government will take 'less power' over immigrants. That is a harsh reality. What we as citizens need to demand (in that case) is that the power be as transparent as possible.

I think I'm just going to be unreasonable and demand a change in the political climate

[Niels Bohr 72]

I see.

[homesick_american 1]

Your original post implies shock at discovery of this law. My reply is it's been around for better than 20 years. So you didn't uncover something new here.

Unfortunately, most people don't sit down and read through the myriad number of immigration laws and regulations "just for fun" or "because they have a lot of time on their hands." Most Americans are completely unaware that it IS difficult to get your spouse into the country. Most of them think that since you're married, you just fill out a form, send it to the government, they say CONGRATULATIONS! Let's get you a visa RIGHT NOW! Everyone I have explained the process to has been extremely shocked at how long and drawn out it is.

But up until that moment, they hadn't known about it. Why? Because immigration doesn't affect them.

I had no idea it was so difficult until I started considering marrying my now-husband. I didn't know how difficult it really was until I started reading this forum, and until the Adam Walsh Act passed.

Bet none of you had heard of the Adam Walsh Act until it started affecting US in January, huh? That's how the government works right now. You'll never know what laws are on the book until it turns out one of them affects you.

I have to say that I did not consider the process to be 'long' and 'drawn-out' at all. If you look at my timeline it may appear that way, but it's because we took our sweet time gathering up evidence. Weeks would pass between us receiving one piece and us requesting another. We were very busy at the time and my husband was also feeling very nervous about emigrating; I did not want to pressure him in any way. We moved at his pace, not mine. Had I pushed him it would have caused problems in our marriage.

Having said that we were not hassled or harassed by anyone at any time during the process. Our application was straightforward and I can see the point of every single piece of evidence requested of us:

* Medical exam: Excellent idea, since the US has problems with TB and HIV. We don't want to import more immigrants with conditions that a.) will probably prevent them from working at some point and b.) are likely to create a burden on public health services. I do not see the problem at all with medical screening. Even though we hit a bump with my husband's history of depression, I can see why they requested a GP letter. You don't want to bring in people so mentally ill that they harm themselves, others, or become a public charge. In the end everything was fine for us.

* Affadavit of support: Excellent idea, and if you've kept good financial records the way you're supposed to the I-864 is easy to complete. I did mine in about an hour. If you're sponsoring an immigrant it just makes sense to prove that you have sufficient funds to provide for that person. Why should the rest of us pay for him/her?

* Evidence of relationship: Again, an excellent idea. The US is a massively popular destination for immigrants and some people do marry or get engaged under false pretenses. The evidence is meant to prove that you are not trying to obtain the visa fraudulently. See the film 'Green Card' for a reference. People DO do this...probably more often than you think...and a lot of them don't get caught. You may see it as a pain in the backside, but I think it's necessary. The UK also requires this of its fiance visa applicants and if the relationship is genuine, it is not at all difficult to prove it.

* Background checks: I do sympathize with some of the beneficiaries here with criminal records, but we do not want to let violent people into the USA; we have enough native-born violent people as it is. We don't need extras. I think if someone did something they regret during their youth and have paid their debt to society then they should be given a chance; I think some of the restrictions regarding drugs crimes are too strict. I think marijuana possessions should be overlooked, for example...but coke, heroin, etc. should count against you. The background checks are for the protection of US society. Remember, no foreigner actually has the "right" to immigrate to the United States or even to visit it. They have the right to APPLY. There are some offenses that are so heinous that they should be unwaiverable...murder, sexual assault, rape, pedophilia, etc. among them.

I don't think the evidence that the USCIS requests is in any way unreasonable; in fact I was surprised by how easy it was. Where they DO fall down is the way the instructions are written and the way rules seem to be applied differently in different locations. It seems like there are about 1000 ways to do a K-1 or an IR1/CR1 and several different visas that aren't really that different from each other. I think it would do everyone a world of good if the US streamlined its processes and made them understandable to the average human being. People should not have to call a lawyer to clarify visa application instructions, and the fact that boards like this exist...and that they're so active...proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that the instructions are NOT clear enough. I didn't come here until after our interview so I got no help at all during the process and I think we did OK...we did get the visa...but there were times when I could have used a hand.

[homesick_american 1]

Oh. By the way, growing up and learning from experience in school, I find that complainers are generally failure in school, and also suffer unhappiness in life in general. They goto work, complain about their boss, complain about how boring their jobs, etc...They only complain because they fail to succeed in life!

I suppose the irony of this entire thread is lost on you...you did start it. Just throwing that out there...do with it what you will.

[Nagishkaw 510]

Oh. By the way, growing up and learning from experience in school, I find that complainers are generally failure in school, and also suffer unhappiness in life in general. They goto work, complain about their boss, complain about how boring their jobs, etc...They only complain because they fail to succeed in life!

.

I hear they are hiring greeters at Walmarts. Just throwing that one out, too.

[rebeccajo 14]

*snicker*

[Niels Bohr 72]

What irony you say? I'm not complaining because I know that nothing can be done in the forums. Just a mere objectivity that have to be revealed to explain why things the way they are.

Edited April 12, 2007 by consolemaster