Open letter to Homeland Security

[adelaarsvaren 0]

People, get you act together....

This is beyond ridiculous. I have been waiting, and waiting and waiting. My wife and I have been married for going on 4 years now, and it has been almost one year since we began the process of allowing her to come the USA and work to support our family. Your terrible inefficiency has put uncessary stress on our lives. Your lack of clarity has caused unecessary delays. Your lack of hard work has wasted thousands of dollars in revenue for YOU - taxes my wife could have been paying into the US treasury if you could be bothered to fix your system and get her a work permit.

We are not terrorists. We are not illegal aliens. We are the people who follow the rules and suffer for it. We are the people who praise our country to our spouses, so that they will consider living here, and then have to explain why Homeland Security with its unbelievable budget can't be clear and efficient.

You force us to harrass our congressmen and women. You force us to fill out the same forms mutliple times. You force us to prove that we don't need money before you allow our spouses to make any.

You are an embarassment to a merit-based capitalistic system of government.

I will never forgive you.

-B

[Chris Parker 11]

People, get you act together....

This is beyond ridiculous. I have been waiting, and waiting and waiting. My wife and I have been married for going on 4 years now, and it has been almost one year since we began the process of allowing her to come the USA and work to support our family. Your terrible inefficiency has put uncessary stress on our lives. Your lack of clarity has caused unecessary delays. Your lack of hard work has wasted thousands of dollars in revenue for YOU - taxes my wife could have been paying into the US treasury if you could be bothered to fix your system and get her a work permit.

We are not terrorists. We are not illegal aliens. We are the people who follow the rules and suffer for it. We are the people who praise our country to our spouses, so that they will consider living here, and then have to explain why Homeland Security with its unbelievable budget can't be clear and efficient.

You force us to harrass our congressmen and women. You force us to fill out the same forms mutliple times. You force us to prove that we don't need money before you allow our spouses to make any.

You are an embarassment to a merit-based capitalistic system of government.

I will never forgive you.

-B

As tempting as these thoughts may be, the facts of the matter are:

(1) You and your wife are living together in the U.S.A.

(2) Although your interim benefits are temporary and subject to renewals, they provide you with most of the same rights as lawful admission for permanent residence would give you.

(3) The government is just taking a cautious approach to approving a very powerful application; the longer full status is withheld, the more likely any marriage fraud or misrepresentation is likely to be uncovered.

(4) The broken immigration system is partially due to Congress's irresponsibility to fix it or to fund it. So, your Congressmen need to be continually reminded of the problems people are encountering dealing with their law.

[adelaarsvaren 0]

People, get you act together....

This is beyond ridiculous. I have been waiting, and waiting and waiting. My wife and I have been married for going on 4 years now, and it has been almost one year since we began the process of allowing her to come the USA and work to support our family. Your terrible inefficiency has put uncessary stress on our lives. Your lack of clarity has caused unecessary delays. Your lack of hard work has wasted thousands of dollars in revenue for YOU - taxes my wife could have been paying into the US treasury if you could be bothered to fix your system and get her a work permit.

We are not terrorists. We are not illegal aliens. We are the people who follow the rules and suffer for it. We are the people who praise our country to our spouses, so that they will consider living here, and then have to explain why Homeland Security with its unbelievable budget can't be clear and efficient.

You force us to harrass our congressmen and women. You force us to fill out the same forms mutliple times. You force us to prove that we don't need money before you allow our spouses to make any.

You are an embarassment to a merit-based capitalistic system of government.

I will never forgive you.

-B

As tempting as these thoughts may be, the facts of the matter are:

(1) You and your wife are living together in the U.S.A.

(2) Although your interim benefits are temporary and subject to renewals, they provide you with most of the same rights as lawful admission for permanent residence would give you.

(3) The government is just taking a cautious approach to approving a very powerful application; the longer full status is withheld, the more likely any marriage fraud or misrepresentation is likely to be uncovered.

(4) The broken immigration system is partially due to Congress's irresponsibility to fix it or to fund it. So, your Congressmen need to be continually reminded of the problems people are encountering dealing with their law.

1) True. And she is going crazy sitting at home all day on limited income, not being able to work. She has two masters degrees, speaks 3 languages, and gave up a lot to come here.

2) Benefits? What benefits? They won't issue her a social security number, so we can't get her a drivers license. She can't work. She's not elegible for any benefits or assistance should I lose my job. She's in limbo. The only thing she has is free movement (a multiple entry visa).

3) We've been married for close to four years. I could understand if the was a IMBRA marriage, or even a young marriage from a high-risk country. I'm afraid that doesn't sit with me.

4) Agreed. Good point.

[John & Annie 0]

You applied for AOS and EAD on July 17th, once she receives the EAD she will then be able to obtain an SSN and go from there.

I understand your angst, but your only two months into the AOS process.

[Cécy 44]

Yes it takes a while and it's very frustrating at times.

I'm lucky enough that I came here on a J1 visa two years ago and I had SSN and got a driver's license. I would go nuts without it.

It's just hard when you have to wait so you can work, when you have the capacities and even job offers, but no you can't do it and it's very frustrating because not only there isn't much you can do, but you also know that financially it's hard and there is a lot of things you can't afford to do or get.

I think the letter is a good reminder to them that the people who filed are real people, real couples who suffer because of the rules. Sadly we get the consequences of having so many people who think that the US is the El Dorado and who are willing to do anything to get in, even fake a marriage.

Although I do have to say that your paperwork for the AOS is pretty new, some people have been waiting for years to get through FBI name check. You're not even through the 90 days after filing which is around the time when they take a decision for the EAD.

So even if I understand what you say, you're still too early in the AOS process to be mad at how slow it is.

[Shub 78]

Your post was a bit misleading but looking at your timeline I now see that there's no problem as far as I can tell, unless you omitted to describe something.

It really doesn't matter one bit how long you two have been married: you filed for AOS/EAD less than two months ago and due process has to run its course. You will get your EAD and then your green card, or your green card before EAD which will render the latter useless anyway. Do check out the timelines and you'll see that we're all on the same boat! Your case, as far as I can tell, is in no way special. Just hang in there!

[Jasman0717 9]

So how do you go about fixing it?

[payxibka 10,045]

1) True. And she is going crazy sitting at home all day on limited income, not being able to work. She has two masters degrees, speaks 3 languages, and gave up a lot to come here.

2) Benefits? What benefits? They won't issue her a social security number, so we can't get her a drivers license. She can't work. She's not elegible for any benefits or assistance should I lose my job. She's in limbo. The only thing she has is free movement (a multiple entry visa).

3) We've been married for close to four years. I could understand if the was a IMBRA marriage, or even a young marriage from a high-risk country. I'm afraid that doesn't sit with me.

4) Agreed. Good point.

The length of you marriage is meaningless at this point as she has only been in the country for less than three months and your application is less than two months old and you are simply in line with everyone else. Did you expect preferential treatment? It is a well known fact that EAD/AP can take upwards of 3 months and AOS 6+ months. Has all this come as a surprise to you?

[Chris Parker 11]

1) True. And she is going crazy sitting at home all day on limited income, not being able to work. She has two masters degrees, speaks 3 languages, and gave up a lot to come here.

Maybe you should not have taken the K3 visa and waited for IR-1 instead. Congress made the K3 visa as an additional option, you chose to take it, this is how that program works. Clearly, it provides only a marginal speed increase in getting the visa these days, which is not for everyone. An EAD takes up to 90 days to process. Be thankful the regulations require that an EAD be issued within 90 days, not many other immigration benefits have something powerful like that. Make sure if & when you apply to renew to EAD, you do so 3-6 months before the one you are waiting to receive expires so there won't be a gap in employment authorization. Also, don't go to SSA the very day you get the EAD, because it won't be in the computer for 7-14 days and they won't be able to approve the SSN application until it is.

2) Benefits? What benefits? They won't issue her a social security number, so we can't get her a drivers license. She can't work. She's not elegible for any benefits or assistance should I lose my job. She's in limbo. The only thing she has is free movement (a multiple entry visa).

Should be able to get a driver's license without an SSN if she otherwise meets the requirements. Should have gotten a foreign driver's license before coming here if that was going to be a concern, so she could drive on that while her immigration papers are being processed. The rest is all part of the LIFE program's K3 visa. She isn't in limbo, she is legally in the country with a valid nonimmigrant visa. Obviously that visa was the wrong choice for your particular situation, but what's done is done.

3) We've been married for close to four years. I could understand if the was a IMBRA marriage, or even a young marriage from a high-risk country. I'm afraid that doesn't sit with me.

Must treat everyone equally with suspicion, to be fair.

Look, you've been married for 4 years. You could have planned the move into USA better, but you chose the wrong benefits program. You'll have to wait another month or so before further immigration benefits start coming to you.

Edited September 12, 2007 by Chris Parker

[Nyte 1]

I understand your frustration over all of this. Try to relax and take things as they come. You're together, and thats the important part. Before you know it, you'll receive the EAD and then life will become easier for you in the interim.

Bonne chance.

- The USC half in a young marriage from a not so at risk country.

Edited September 12, 2007 by Nyte

[adelaarsvaren 0]

First off - I do not expect preferential treatment! I certainly don't want to come off that way! I think we should ALL be a bit pissed that this situation is the way it is.

I'm upset because I feel like I've been mislead by USCIS and the embassy from the beginning.

We were married in France, lived there for 1.5 years, then moved to England for her to go to LSE. (FYI - England gave me a residency permit as a spouse of an EU citizen on the spot during my first interview. Appt. made online, took 2 hours, and they put a Visa in my passport. The first time I set foot in the UK, I was a resident with travel and work rights).

When we decided to come to the USA, the American Embasy in the UK wouldnt' let me do a DCF, as she is French. The French embassy was known to not allow DCFs for non-residents, and didn't respond to my inquiries. So I was forced to come back to the USA and file an I-130. A few days later, I finally get a response from the US embassy in Paris letting me know that I could do a DCF. I'd have to fly from Seattle to France, making sure to be there on a Friday morning, the only day they allow this. And would have to pay again to file. Being that I had just spent all my money moving back to the US, this wasn't an option, and I foolishly hoped that the I-129f I was about to file would be a quicker response.

Of course the 129F and the 130 were approved the same day, meaning that I was then stuck with the K-3. Of course, it took months to get the interview.

So, she finally gets here, and we file for EAD and AOS. Yesterday we get an RFE for financial information. The only thing missing is an employer letter - and this is the EXACT SAME I-485 packet which was approved for the K-3 Interview!!! It was fine for the US embassy in Paris, buy USCIS won't accept it? They have my w-2s, they have paystubs. The thing that is the absolute easiest to forge, the employer letter, has now caused her EAD to be delayed by "a minimum of 90 days from receipt" of the RFE material.

Un frickin believable.

They want me to prove that I have enough money that she isn't a ward of the state before they allow her to work? Where's the logic in that? And, more importantly, WE ALREADY PROVED IT TO GET THE $*$ K-3!!!!!

Arrtggghhh.....

Merci Cecy pour les mots vraies....

[payxibka 10,045]

So, she finally gets here, and we file for EAD and AOS. Yesterday we get an RFE for financial information. The only thing missing is an employer letter - and this is the EXACT SAME I-485 packet which was approved for the K-3 Interview!!! It was fine for the US embassy in Paris, buy USCIS won't accept it? They have my w-2s, they have paystubs. The thing that is the absolute easiest to forge, the employer letter, has now caused her EAD to be delayed by "a minimum of 90 days from receipt" of the RFE material.

First off, there is no I-485 packet for K-3. I have read that the Consulate in Paris does have the applicant submit an I-864 but that is wrong as it should be the I-134. And yes, the consulate (a part of the Department of State) can and probably does adjudicate the I-864 to a different standard than the USCIS (a part of the Department of Homeland Security). Two different deaprtments not necessarily bound to each others procedures.

[adelaarsvaren 0]

So, she finally gets here, and we file for EAD and AOS. Yesterday we get an RFE for financial information. The only thing missing is an employer letter - and this is the EXACT SAME I-485 packet which was approved for the K-3 Interview!!! It was fine for the US embassy in Paris, buy USCIS won't accept it? They have my w-2s, they have paystubs. The thing that is the absolute easiest to forge, the employer letter, has now caused her EAD to be delayed by "a minimum of 90 days from receipt" of the RFE material.

First off, there is no I-485 packet for K-3. I have read that the Consulate in Paris does have the applicant submit an I-864 but that is wrong as it should be the I-134. And yes, the consulate (a part of the Department of State) can and probably does adjudicate the I-864 to a different standard than the USCIS (a part of the Department of Homeland Security). Two different deaprtments not necessarily bound to each others procedures.

I may have made a mistake there, I'm at work. It was the packet proving I made more than 125% of federal poverty level.

Regardless, isn't it a bit stupid to ask me to prove that again, to a different standard? And even if you think that isn't Kafkaesque, how about the fact that they want me to proved she won't be a ward of the state, while at the same time denying her the right to work.

Do you really think this system is working?

[payxibka 10,045]

Regardless, isn't it a bit stupid to ask me to prove that again, to a different standard? And even if you think that isn't Kafkaesque, how about the fact that they want me to proved she won't be a ward of the state, while at the same time denying her the right to work.

Do you really think this system is working?

Each petition/application needs to "stand alone" and be complete and we cannot incorporate by reference to any previous filing. As to adjudicating to a different standard? I can't comment on stupidy or not, but it is known that the foreign posts are given wide latitude (some do not even require and affidavit at all for visa issuance) and therefore adjudicates to many different levels, while the USCIS adjudicates alledgedly to one. So regardless of what was done previously, you need to do it in accordance with the agency that is making the decision at hand. Regarding becoming a "ward of the state", the rule or question that must be answered is, does the sponsor have the wherewithall to prevent the applicant to avoid becoming a ward of the state? (exclusive of any earnings ability that the applicant may have). Once that question is answered then AOS can proceed.

[Killer_Clown_2009 0]

Once you send in the RFE they will start processing your application again (forget about the 90 days thing). She will probably be work authorized shortly. Maybe she can do some volunteer work in the meantime? That or start seeking work in anticipation of getting her EAD within a couple of months.