Misinformation from an immigration official

[Brad&Meera 0]

Three years ago, my fiancee had to go back to her country to fulfill a work obligation from a government scholarship she recieved (we met at college here in the US). So we researched online to find out about immigration and were very confused by the number of options available, etc (unfortunately didn't find VisaJourney at that time :/). We made an appointment to talk in person to an immigration official to find out the best way to handle all of this.

So! We went to the appointment, and after explaining our situation, the officer told us that there was a "loophole" where she could come in on a visitor visa, get married to me, and apply to change status to Permanent Resident. My fiancee even pointed out that it seemed deceptive to do it that way, and asked if that was legal. He replied, "Well, we do it all the time", referring to Mexican immigrants. He gave us a fairly detailed timeline of when to start, what to file, etc. We were a bit worried, but figured that he knew what he was talking about.

Her work contract is up in about 6 months, and we started to do some research to see if any immigration procedures had changed, etc. We found out that what the official recommended would be serious visa fraud! Obviously we were furious!! Granted, we could have looked up this information at any time, but we assumed that an immigration official surely wouldn't give us advice to break the law. Lesson learned there...do your own research.

Anyway, what should we do about this guy? File a complaint? Let it go? Has anyone else filed a complaint, and how did that go? Any other options? We've already filed for a K-1, so we weren't seriously affected, but I'd hate for others to be misled this way.

~Brad

PS. Sorry to bring down the lighthearted mood of the poll forum Mods please move if you feel it's appropriate...I couldn't find a good fit for it.

[mawilson 2,133]

Back in 2003, my wife (then fiance) and I went to see a lawyer who essentially told us the same thing.

It may seem deceptive but the method does work 99% of the time.

[reeses16 8]

Brad&Meera,

Let it go. Your attention and energy will be better spent somewhere else. In the end, it was a conversation and you don't have proof of any wrong doing on the guys part. I'm glad the two of you took the time to research/follow up on your own.

[Cassandra+Yuibi 0]

If you had taken that route and things had gone badly- I'd say yes. But since you didn't there isn't much you can really do- especially if you have no evidence that this person gave you such great 'advice'.

What makes me feel sad is that we want to do things RIGHT and we seek out the people who should be the most informed (immigration customer service phone lines, immigration consultants) and they often misinform us. It's incredibly disappointing. I had a much minor issue when I called customer service to find out which was the correct Affidavit of Support I needed- and the representative told me a file number that didn't exist

[Brad&Meera 0]

Let it go. Your attention and energy will be better spent somewhere else. In the end, it was a conversation and you don't have proof of any wrong doing on the guys part. I'm glad the two of you took the time to research/follow up on your own.

If you had taken that route and things had gone badly- I'd say yes. But since you didn't there isn't much you can really do- especially if you have no evidence that this person gave you such great 'advice'.

Yeah, we'll likely just let it go. It was a very frustrating experience, and we'd hate for others to have a similar problem...but in the end, it seems that there would be little effect from a complaint being filed. I guess I just wanted to vent

[raphael7546 0]

nothing wrong with coming to the states and getting married, and then going home and applying for a K-3. As long as your not moving there immediatley after the wedding it's perfectly legal.

[Ladylethal 12]

I filed a complaint during my biometrics appointment. I was given a letter with the directions for the biometrics, with a wrong street name, which made me go look for the place in a different neighborhood.

I spent half of a day asking around and trying to find the office, and of course, their phones didn't work 'cus it was Saturday.

I came back home very frustrated 'cus I'd missed my biometrics appointment, but I sat down on the computer and googled biometric's offices. I found a different address for my location and went there to check it out. I was able to do my biometrics and then told the officer doing my prints about what had happened and how it was in the letter and he said "It happens all the time, all the letters come with that mistake and most people go back home and google the offices to find the right address". I told him "well, it should be fixed" and he said "you can put that in the suggestion/complaints box, but I doubt anything will be done about it".

[MaRob 0]

I filed a complaint during my biometrics appointment. I was given a letter with the directions for the biometrics, with a wrong street name, which made me go look for the place in a different neighborhood.

I spent half of a day asking around and trying to find the office, and of course, their phones didn't work 'cus it was Saturday.

I came back home very frustrated 'cus I'd missed my biometrics appointment, but I sat down on the computer and googled biometric's offices. I found a different address for my location and went there to check it out. I was able to do my biometrics and then told the officer doing my prints about what had happened and how it was in the letter and he said "It happens all the time, all the letters come with that mistake and most people go back home and google the offices to find the right address". I told him "well, it should be fixed" and he said "you can put that in the suggestion/complaints box, but I doubt anything will be done about it".

Are you kidding?!?! That's a big deal to fix?!? Sometimes I think the gov't must sit around thinking, "What little ####### can we do to trip em up next"... geez..

[Jason-Sasha 1]

slashing tires wasn't an option???

[Cry_Tuff 0]

I'm sorry..what goes for one..should go for all...If they are going to let other nationalites get by with coming into this country...without a worry...then should go for everyone else.

[Yodrak 7]

~Brad,

If you want legal advice consult a lawyer.

Government officials are not not supposed give advice, and they cannot be held responsible for the consequences of any legal information or advice that they do give.

Yodrak

Three years ago, my fiancee had to go back to her country to fulfill a work obligation from a government scholarship she recieved (we met at college here in the US). So we researched online to find out about immigration and were very confused by the number of options available, etc (unfortunately didn't find VisaJourney at that time :/). We made an appointment to talk in person to an immigration official to find out the best way to handle all of this.

So! We went to the appointment, and after explaining our situation, the officer told us that there was a "loophole" where she could come in on a visitor visa, get married to me, and apply to change status to Permanent Resident. My fiancee even pointed out that it seemed deceptive to do it that way, and asked if that was legal. He replied, "Well, we do it all the time", referring to Mexican immigrants. He gave us a fairly detailed timeline of when to start, what to file, etc. We were a bit worried, but figured that he knew what he was talking about.

Her work contract is up in about 6 months, and we started to do some research to see if any immigration procedures had changed, etc. We found out that what the official recommended would be serious visa fraud! Obviously we were furious!! Granted, we could have looked up this information at any time, but we assumed that an immigration official surely wouldn't give us advice to break the law. Lesson learned there...do your own research.

Anyway, what should we do about this guy? File a complaint? Let it go? Has anyone else filed a complaint, and how did that go? Any other options? We've already filed for a K-1, so we weren't seriously affected, but I'd hate for others to be misled this way.

~Brad

PS. Sorry to bring down the lighthearted mood of the poll forum Mods please move if you feel it's appropriate...I couldn't find a good fit for it.

[vanee 13]

I would file a complaint just so that there's a chance that someone will try to give this immigration officer the correct information. You could be saving some people a lot of heartache by doing so.

[Ladylethal 12]

I filed a complaint during my biometrics appointment. I was given a letter with the directions for the biometrics, with a wrong street name, which made me go look for the place in a different neighborhood.

I spent half of a day asking around and trying to find the office, and of course, their phones didn't work 'cus it was Saturday.

I came back home very frustrated 'cus I'd missed my biometrics appointment, but I sat down on the computer and googled biometric's offices. I found a different address for my location and went there to check it out. I was able to do my biometrics and then told the officer doing my prints about what had happened and how it was in the letter and he said "It happens all the time, all the letters come with that mistake and most people go back home and google the offices to find the right address". I told him "well, it should be fixed" and he said "you can put that in the suggestion/complaints box, but I doubt anything will be done about it".

Are you kidding?!?! That's a big deal to fix?!? Sometimes I think the gov't must sit around thinking, "What little ####### can we do to trip em up next"... geez..

[Ladylethal 12]

I filed a complaint during my biometrics appointment. I was given a letter with the directions for the biometrics, with a wrong street name, which made me go look for the place in a different neighborhood.

I spent half of a day asking around and trying to find the office, and of course, their phones didn't work 'cus it was Saturday.

I came back home very frustrated 'cus I'd missed my biometrics appointment, but I sat down on the computer and googled biometric's offices. I found a different address for my location and went there to check it out. I was able to do my biometrics and then told the officer doing my prints about what had happened and how it was in the letter and he said "It happens all the time, all the letters come with that mistake and most people go back home and google the offices to find the right address". I told him "well, it should be fixed" and he said "you can put that in the suggestion/complaints box, but I doubt anything will be done about it".

Are you kidding?!?! That's a big deal to fix?!? Sometimes I think the gov't must sit around thinking, "What little ####### can we do to trip em up next"... geez..

It was even worse than what I made it sound, I mean, that day, me, my husband and my father-in-law (who went with us 'cus he knows San Juan like the back of his hand) asking everywhere around the address thinking we must have done something wrong. When we got the new street name my father-in-law even said "wow, I know exactly where that is, if we'd known we'd have gotten this done in half an hour".

So instead of getting it done at 8 am, I got it done at 2 pm, after having spent the whole day driving around (we left home at 6:30 'cus we wanted to be sure we'd get there in time and find the address) and spending pretty much a whole tank of gas.

Edited August 12, 2007 by Luis&Laura