Montreal's attitude after THEY made a mistake

[zyggy 9]

If you would read whay I wrote I never accused you of lying... I am merely trying to assist you to get to the bottom of what happened...

Spouting off on how Montreal "wronged" you is not going to bring about a solution.. calling Senators and others is not going to bring about a solution...

What is going to bring about a solution is to find out what information they used in order to arrive at their decision and how they arrived at it and then take steps to show that their conclusions run counter to US Immigration law and regulations. This is the only way you're going to change their mind. You have a complicated case that most likely has a lot of details that could turn things around or could possibly be misinterpreted or seen in a light or prespective differently that your own...

Losing your temper at us or them is not going to bring this to a solution any faster, in fact, I guarantee you that it's going to hinder it..

You need to calm down and take a step back and focus your energy on finding out what they used to make their decision and how they made it, and then work toward changing their mind.. not with epithets, but with facts and evidence... You're going to need to produce a paper trail to show that you never had any unlawful presence... Again, I strongly urge you to have a good long talk to your attorney about this so that you can work up a game plan to have a successful result.. or you may want to get a second consultation with another attorney who is extremely familiar with Montreal and your types of issues (refugee to family adjustment)... sometimes a second set of eyes that hasn't had the involvement in your case that your own lawyer has may see things differently and see your evidence and facts with a different perspective. This could help you a lot and I strongly suggest that you do this... I see it all the time in my line of business.. what I and everyone else here ultimately wants is for you to have success...

I don't know about you, but I think trying to help you in finding out what happened and helping you to get to a solution is much better support that smilies, sympathy, and pats on the back...

Edited May 3, 2007 by zyggy

[misa 2]

It's unfortunate what happened in your case and I know you're frustrated but everyone is just trying to help.

The questions asked aren't asked to make you look like a liar or accuse you of one. Far from it. Your case is complicated and people are just trying to understand your entire situation. What may seem obvious to you in your case from your posts is not that obvious to others since we don't know the situation like you do.

Take Zyggy's advice and seek another lawyer to look everything over. A second set of legal eyes won't hurt and could help.

Good luck.

[bowflex 0]

We have indeed had several legal eyes double checking the work, as we had my senator's office also review the information for our case, and we were told by them and our lawyer that the Consulate is 100% in the wrong.

It is starting to get extremely frustrating that most government agencies seem to employ the most inept people known to man, and that everytime one says something, two others will tell you the exact opposite.

We have filed paperwork responding to the woman's charge that my wife was there illegally, over three weeks ago actually, and had had inquiries filed by my senator to make sure it goes through faster. We were actually told last week that the paperwork was on the woman's desk, and that it would be reviewed as soon as possible, but of course that really doesn't mean anything either.

After living here for 15 years with a spotless record, graduating early, and getting a full ride to college, I can definitely see why my wife is so frustrated. Many people have been issued visas since our visa was denied about a month ago, and it's tough to see when our relationship dictates that the same should've been done for us.

Trust me when I say all our energy is going into resolving this issue, but when the lackluster performances of the government turn hours into years waiting for her return, you can't blame her for going off.

[derekkj 0]

Losing your temper at us or them is not going to bring this to a solution any faster, in fact, I guarantee you that it's going to hinder it..

I can feel how frustrated you and your wife are, and I am sure I would be as pissed off as you guys if the same thing had happened to Derek, but Zyggy's advice is sound. Sometimes it's best to swallow your anger (and pride) and keep your cool. Since the aggressor is expecting you to lash back at them, a calm front will catch them off guard and often you can diffuse a bad situation before it escalates.

At the very least, this woman sounds like an ###, but she an ### holding all of the cards right now. So consider yourself caught in a trap, which in essence you are. The more you thrash, the worse it gets. But if you keep still and calm, (with the assistance of your lawyer and senator) the more likely you are to find a way out. Good luck!

[mrsserendipity 0]

neither of us ever lost our temper with the consulate. we have been nothing but nice. just because i come on here to vent doesn't mean anything. when she kept being rude, we just sat there and took it. we never even raised our voice. we realize she has our future in her hands. we are simply not that ridiculous.

second, she did not look through anything to come to her decision. in fact, she would not look at any of our documents. i have stated this before. during the "interview" she kept saying things that had nothing to do with my case. she brought up deportation papers and applying for things we never did (we had other things pending). she simply did not even look through our papers.

it's hard for us both to believe they can do that, too. that's not how it SHOULD be, but that is how it WAS. i do hope they have cameras in there they can pull out and review, so they can see what happened. we were nice when we didnt feel like it, never raised our voices, polite as all heck, just trying to understand where she DID come up with her decision, like you mentioned. THAT is what we kept asking... when was i there unlawfully? she simply would not answer us with anything but "i do not have time with argue with this"

a part of me thinks she was given the wrong case.

i have answered your question... no, there is no way i was ever there unlawfully. why isn't that good enough? we have several lawyers, senators/congress, and even homeland security gave me clearance and said they saw nothing to prevent me from coming back.

maybe it was because we look younger than we are. she did keep asking for our ages (then writing on my original birth certificate). mid-to-late-20s didn't seem to make her happy. i'm so sorry i moisterize and look so young, haha.

i can see your skpeticism, but please do realize we are not just sitting here brewing in our rage... we have people calling and looking into things.

today our senator called her personally AGAIN, and we were told she said she was getting aggravated (when SHE told our lawyer to call back within a couple days... last WEEK, cause it should be done by then. and now we heard 4-6 MORE weeks.) she said she didn't want to argue with us, well now she has to argue with other officials. i miss michigan, it's all i ever knew. i grew up there. i miss seeing everyone. i miss my husband's family and friends who can't come up as many times as i wish them to. we are all very close, and we all miss each other and just want this all to be over with. if anything, she should see that i have already BEEN in the US, and i did nothing wrong and everything, not even a speeding ticket, lol

i think she doesn't want to admit she just got really confused or took out her frustrations on us, and was wrong. but what did she think was going to happen? if i had anything to hide, i wouldn't be getting everyone involved and signing off my records to officials.

if you can't believe me, believe everyone else we have involved

[knowledge 0]

I can imagine being originaly from a such hurted country is unbearable. The psychological consequences are to be taken into account afterwards, especially when such cryptical situations continue to repeat in other environments; what happened at the consulate is one example...that lady was very defensive and obviously had something in mind very specific.

Ziggy tried to reflect that the situation in order to be solved has to be deconstructed in order to decrypt her cryptical words and behaviour. You have been living in a sort of no man's land situation by waiting that your status to be stabilized. I do not know on which status you stayed in the states...what's the name...if there is any...

Second, what ring some bells is the contrast of your complex situation and wonder why your lawyer was not at the interview then with you both...i believe he had to be with you...

Overall, i think there is a solution...but it takes a very sharp and cold head...no emotions...and lawyers help...which you said you have...Good luck!...