complicated case

[thaifood 0]

If anyone on this site can give us some advice here we would really appreciate it.

This is a really complicated case. My boss is an immigrant from Thailand who came here in the early '90s and was naturalized in '00 or '01. She married an American citizen and moved to the midwest here where we run a small Thai restaurant. I'm her loyal employee of 12 years and also a close friend.

Anyway, since I've known her she has been trying to get her younger sister and her niece (her sister's daughter) here without any success. She has been providing for them financially and also her mother since I've known her. She really takes care of her little 10 year old niece like a daughter and actually really considers her a daughter.

In '07 her niece was granted a tourist visa to come over here for 6 months. The little girl was really happy here and wanted to stay so they got her into school and the school actually agreed to issue her a student visa. I think its an I-20? My boss also started the adoption process and was really close.

During the time while she was here my bosses family suffered a family emergency. Her mother and father in law got sick and she had to move the up here from Florida and take care of them. This emergency caused her to miss the deadline on her visa and she overstayed by about 3 months.

For some reason she felt that she had to take her niece to Thailand immediately to straighten out her visa. I think they had to interview for student visa at the consulate in Bangkok or something like that. So she bought last minute tickets to Thailand and left the next day. Now my boss thought she was doing the right thing and trying to keep everything legal because her husband works for the federal government here and she is paranoid about breaking any federal laws and jeopardizing her husband's clearance and what not. My boss and her husband are really stand up people who would never consider breaking the law or anything like that.

When she went to interview at the consulate the consular berated her for overstaying and accused her of attempting to circumvent the law and pulled the poor girls visa. The consular was rude and abusive and very unprofessional in dealing with this sensitive emotional case. Now she is heart broken and desperate. She cries every day and she is one of the strongest people I have ever know. Also this poor little girl is having a hard time with her situation as well. She wants to be here with her family and does not understand why she cannot.

They have gone back to interview for student visa twice as well and both times have been unsuccessful.

They have considered international adoption but that is far from guaranteed and also takes a few years. They say it is nearly impossible to internationally adopt a family member. Also to complicate things my boss has applied for her sister to come work in the restaurant. Her sister has a degree in restaurant management. But that was denied because my boss had her sister carry her son because she could not have a baby. They denied her recently without even an interview.

The consular told her to write her congressman and she did. That didn't help.

If anybody who knows how these things work could send me some advice I would love to help my friend. It breaks my heart to see a family torn apart like this. I miss that little girl too. She really deserves to be here with her family.

I really feel like the immigration system in this country is fubar'd and completely failed. It needs a complete overhaul when so many people come here only to take from our economy or to cause us harm are allowed visas and so many who just want to be together as a family are not.

[Ning 619]

If anyone on this site can give us some advice here we would really appreciate it.

This is a really complicated case. My boss is an immigrant from Thailand who came here in the early '90s and was naturalized in '00 or '01. She married an American citizen and moved to the midwest here where we run a small Thai restaurant. I'm her loyal employee of 12 years and also a close friend.

Anyway, since I've known her she has been trying to get her younger sister and her niece (her sister's daughter) here without any success. She has been providing for them financially and also her mother since I've known her. She really takes care of her little 10 year old niece like a daughter and actually really considers her a daughter.

In '07 her niece was granted a tourist visa to come over here for 6 months. The little girl was really happy here and wanted to stay so they got her into school and the school actually agreed to issue her a student visa. I think its an I-20? My boss also started the adoption process and was really close.

During the time while she was here my bosses family suffered a family emergency. Her mother and father in law got sick and she had to move the up here from Florida and take care of them. This emergency caused her to miss the deadline on her visa and she overstayed by about 3 months.

For some reason she felt that she had to take her niece to Thailand immediately to straighten out her visa. I think they had to interview for student visa at the consulate in Bangkok or something like that. So she bought last minute tickets to Thailand and left the next day. Now my boss thought she was doing the right thing and trying to keep everything legal because her husband works for the federal government here and she is paranoid about breaking any federal laws and jeopardizing her husband's clearance and what not. My boss and her husband are really stand up people who would never consider breaking the law or anything like that.

When she went to interview at the consulate the consular berated her for overstaying and accused her of attempting to circumvent the law and pulled the poor girls visa. The consular was rude and abusive and very unprofessional in dealing with this sensitive emotional case. Now she is heart broken and desperate. She cries every day and she is one of the strongest people I have ever know. Also this poor little girl is having a hard time with her situation as well. She wants to be here with her family and does not understand why she cannot.

They have gone back to interview for student visa twice as well and both times have been unsuccessful.

They have considered international adoption but that is far from guaranteed and also takes a few years. They say it is nearly impossible to internationally adopt a family member. Also to complicate things my boss has applied for her sister to come work in the restaurant. Her sister has a degree in restaurant management. But that was denied because my boss had her sister carry her son because she could not have a baby. They denied her recently without even an interview.

The consular told her to write her congressman and she did. That didn't help.

If anybody who knows how these things work could send me some advice I would love to help my friend. It breaks my heart to see a family torn apart like this. I miss that little girl too. She really deserves to be here with her family.

I really feel like the immigration system in this country is fubar'd and completely failed. It needs a complete overhaul when so many people come here only to take from our economy or to cause us harm are allowed visas and so many who just want to be together as a family are not.

Your boss has done everything she can to circumvent the immigration laws & now has got caught up in a series of lies. The kid came here on a tourist visa not as a student. She got lucky & someone found a way out of that & into school. She should have gone back to Thailand & applied for a student visa.

The embassy officer was exactly right to deny the visa. The former circumstances will be entered into the record & affect her future ability. It isnt about emotion, rather laws.

The same laws & system that you condem out of ignorance are the laws that allowed your boss to immigrate here in the past. Did she write her Congressman to thank them?

There are thousands of us here on V J that have gone thru the system, learned to follow the laws, & paid the fees to obtain legal status for our loved ones.

Your boss will now have to do the same , do as you say she always wants to; keeping everything legal.

Edited August 13, 2009 by Ning

[thaifood 0]

Hey, she went back there on her own to apply for a student visa. She didn't need to be so severely punished for such a short overstay. Why punish a family that is trying to do the right thing? Why not punish my Chinese friends who make $50,000 a marriage? Yeah, these junior foreign service officers are doing a great job securing our borders. Americans overstay their visas all the time without much consequence but this little girl overstayed about 2 months and she gets her visa pulled. It's pathetic. Punish the real criminals. Not some people trying to do the right thing.

Also, If she had tried to circumvent the law she would have been successful. Shame on both of you for judging this case and these people so harshly. If this were your family woulds you feel this way?

[Chica Yeyé 41]

Drama aside, I think it will be quite complicated for them to obtain new visas. As you know from VJ, overstay of certain times carries a ban; which can only be waived in certain and very specific cases (i.e. marriage) --- but get ####### from a 2 month overstay, specially since they returned to Thailand seems a bit too harsh.

International adoption of family members is something some VJers have done or are planning to do (one is sister *JG* from the Yardie forum).

sorry I don't have much wisdom for you.

And for the ones who provided NO immigration related advise, consider yourselves reported. Captain Ewok has made pretty clear this is not OK in the upper forums. Want to be nasty? Come over to Off Topic. #######.

[Minya's wife 24]

It breaks my heart to see a family torn apart like this. I miss that little girl too. She really deserves to be here with her family.

The little girl is with her family....she is with her mother, what she has 'here' is her extended family, i.e. her aunt.

Edited August 19, 2009 by Minya's wife

[Krikit 1,164]

Post offering absolutely nothing to this thread has been removed. Consider this the one and only warning to keep inappropriate and judgemental comments out of this thread. As Len has mentioned, this type of behaviour is not accepted and inappropriate in the immigration forums.

Also, I am moving this thread from the Bringing Family Members forum to the Effects of Major Changes forum where you are more likely to receive pertinent advice. Good luck to your friend, thaifood.

[twellspeak 0]

Does your boss still have Thai citizenship? Perhaps she could adopt her niece there and then apply to bring her to the US? (not sure if this is possible or not).

[justashooter 430]

Your boss has done everything she can to circumvent the immigration laws & now has got caught up in a series of lies. The kid came here on a tourist visa not as a student. She got lucky & someone found a way out of that & into school. She should have gone back to Thailand & applied for a student visa.

The embassy officer was exactly right to deny the visa. The former circumstances will be entered into the record & affect her future ability. It isnt about emotion, rather laws.

100% right spot on.

adoption of a family member's children to circumvent immigration law is not permitted. adoption is only good ifor immigration f the child lived with the adoptive parent in the foreign country for a year or so because the parent could not parent. the reason for the adoption must be independent of immigration intent.

[thaifood 0]

Your boss has done everything she can to circumvent the immigration laws & now has got caught up in a series of lies. The kid came here on a tourist visa not as a student. She got lucky & someone found a way out of that & into school. She should have gone back to Thailand & applied for a student visa.

The embassy officer was exactly right to deny the visa. The former circumstances will be entered into the record & affect her future ability. It isnt about emotion, rather laws.

100% right spot on.

adoption of a family member's children to circumvent immigration law is not permitted. adoption is only good ifor immigration f the child lived with the adoptive parent in the foreign country for a year or so because the parent could not parent. the reason for the adoption must be independent of immigration intent.

Actually, my boss needs to take care of the little girl because of extenuating circumstances i.e. no father, mother is ill, grandmother is really old. My boss is already taking care of the girl financially and any other way she can from over here. She is practically a mother to her. Of course she wants her here to have a better life and what not but she takes care of her and for all intents and purposes is her mother.

I understand why people are so quick to pass judgement. I guess it does look like she is trying to get over on the system for the economic gain for her family but that is simply not the case. It goes alot deeper than that.

I do however keep my own personal belief that anybody who wants to come here for the american experience and who has no malicious intents should be allowed. Contrary to popular belief, immigrants do not use many social services and usually work hard and pay taxes. But that has nothing to do with this case because my boss pays all her taxes and discloses everything. She only returned to Thailand to try to apply for the proper visa. She could have kept her niece here and was actually advised by the magistrate of her adoption case not to go back to Thailand. She just didn't believe she would be punished to harshly for a small overstay.

[daboyz 36]

I know that it's pretty tough for a farang to adopt a Thai. Have to live with the minor for two years, and do a bunch of other stuff. It's probably easier for a Thai to adopt another Thai.

[justashooter 430]

Actually, my boss needs to take care of the little girl because of extenuating circumstances i.e. no father, mother is ill, grandmother is really old.

lots of people generate circumstances to bolster their cases. so many do it that it's hard to see genuine cases from manufactured cases. you might not even know the truth.

no, we can't let just everybody come to America because they want to have a better life. if we did, we would have a population of 3 billion by the end of the year. conditions would be so bad that USA would be among the worst places on earth to live.

it's hard to hear the truth when you look into the eyes of a child, but the truth remains a constant. the law is a respector of no man. lady liberty has a blindfold over her eyes as she holds the scales of justice to remind us of this American principle.

[daboyz 36]

Actually, my boss needs to take care of the little girl because of extenuating circumstances i.e. no father, mother is ill, grandmother is really old.

lots of people generate circumstances to bolster their cases. so many do it that it's hard to see genuine cases from manufactured cases. you might not even know the truth.

no, we can't let just everybody come to America because they want to have a better life. if we did, we would have a population of 3 billion by the end of the year. conditions would be so bad that USA would be among the worst places on earth to live.

it's hard to hear the truth when you look into the eyes of a child, but the truth remains a constant. the law is a respector of no man. lady liberty has a blindfold over her eyes as she holds the scales of justice to remind us of this American principle.

Wow. You might want to submit that essay. You will probably win an award. I'm with you... screw children that have no father and a sick mother. They will just be a burden to us all. You might ask your wife about 1975 and people being a burden.

[thaifood 0]

Actually, my boss needs to take care of the little girl because of extenuating circumstances i.e. no father, mother is ill, grandmother is really old.

lots of people generate circumstances to bolster their cases. so many do it that it's hard to see genuine cases from manufactured cases. you might not even know the truth.

no, we can't let just everybody come to America because they want to have a better life. if we did, we would have a population of 3 billion by the end of the year. conditions would be so bad that USA would be among the worst places on earth to live.

it's hard to hear the truth when you look into the eyes of a child, but the truth remains a constant. the law is a respector of no man. lady liberty has a blindfold over her eyes as she holds the scales of justice to remind us of this American principle.

Yeah, alot of people probably do make up problems to bolster their cases. I have known this family for 12 years. We're all very close. Look, I didn't post this case to be judged. And then I probably shouldn't have posted my jaded opinion of the imperfect system. I just wanted some legitimate advice. There has to be something we can do. This is serious. This is a little girl's fate. This is a family.

I know there are alot of cooked people out there who ruin it for the rest of us but there has to be some kind of fair appeals process and also some way to file a grievance. I mean, my boss told me the consular was mean and rude. I don't know. I wasn't there but it sounds to be very unproffesional especially when you're delivering bad news to somebody.

[daboyz 36]

Actually, my boss needs to take care of the little girl because of extenuating circumstances i.e. no father, mother is ill, grandmother is really old.

lots of people generate circumstances to bolster their cases. so many do it that it's hard to see genuine cases from manufactured cases. you might not even know the truth.

no, we can't let just everybody come to America because they want to have a better life. if we did, we would have a population of 3 billion by the end of the year. conditions would be so bad that USA would be among the worst places on earth to live.

it's hard to hear the truth when you look into the eyes of a child, but the truth remains a constant. the law is a respector of no man. lady liberty has a blindfold over her eyes as she holds the scales of justice to remind us of this American principle.

Yeah, alot of people probably do make up problems to bolster their cases. I have known this family for 12 years. We're all very close. Look, I didn't post this case to be judged. And then I probably shouldn't have posted my jaded opinion of the imperfect system. I just wanted some legitimate advice. There has to be something we can do. This is serious. This is a little girl's fate. This is a family.

I know there are alot of cooked people out there who ruin it for the rest of us but there has to be some kind of fair appeals process and also some way to file a grievance. I mean, my boss told me the consular was mean and rude. I don't know. I wasn't there but it sounds to be very unproffesional especially when you're delivering bad news to somebody.

Take it all with a grain of salt. Justashooter was showing sexy pics of his SO. So take that for what it's worth. This is a good place to figure all this out.

[justashooter 430]

I know there are alot of cooked people out there who ruin it for the rest of us but there has to be some kind of fair appeals process and also some way to file a grievance. I mean, my boss told me the consular was mean and rude. I don't know. I wasn't there but it sounds to be very unproffesional especially when you're delivering bad news to somebody.

Take it all with a grain of salt. Justashooter was showing sexy pics of his SO. So take that for what it's worth. This is a good place to figure all this out.

how to tell the crooked from the straight?

does it really matter if someone is straight, if they can't comply with the existing statutory regulations?

no way to tell.

the only thing really relevant to your circumstance.

justashooter never posted a pic of his wife in anything other than normal clothing. do a search if you don't believe. justashooter would love to have his wife's sister and her child immigrate and live with us. he knows them well from time spent together while he was living in china and loves them both dearly. trouble is, they have no legitimate immigration path at this time, just like your friend's neice. justashooter has many chinese friends he would sponsor if there was a legitimate immigration path for them, but there is none. that is the law, and he accepts it as it stands.