Visa denied for supposed false declaration of US citizenship

[Jaytee2009 0]

Please help anyone that knows anything about this or the process to fix it.

This being my first post here, I hope it isn't too long. I have asked a lot of people and am trying everywhere for an answer. Feel free to ask me questions or clarification as the only thing I really want is my family here with me, like normal people have.

I am a US citizen. I'm 26. My wife is 28. We have 2 children and have been married for over 6 years. Currently they are in Mexico staying with a relative until this situation is worked out. I had only been out of the country once before the trip to get my wife's visa in Juarez - I really can't just go live there. I have 2 jobs and a business here, one of them in the government. Unfortunately, my wife came here illegally in a car in 2001 not knowing english. She was in the back seat posing to be 16 years old, the resident of a citizen mom who was driving. Her 2 younger sisters were also there in the car.

We knew that if the visa was approved, we would need to file a hardship waiver. That was all ready until my wife came out of the Consulate and told me she was denied. Section 212(a)(6)©(ii) ... when I read this, it was like I fell off the planet.

The unfortunate part is that we had a lawyer with 30 years experience who gave us no forwarning to this possibility or of her needing to have found out the details of certain things before going into the interview and having to answer "I don't know" to one of their questions.

At the visa interview last week, she was asked how she got to the US. She explained how and everything. She said the only thing she said to get across the border to the border patrol was something with the word citizen in it. The consulate official then asked her if she had said "US citizen" and my wife responded that she didn't know. So she got a denial with no possible waiver.

We consulted with here middle sister who was in the car and 15 years old when they came over together. She remembered that they claimed to be residents of a citizen mom. They never touched or saw documents. The didn't get stopped or interviewed at the border. This sister is willing to write a notarized affidavit, risking deportiation. She was in the car at the time of the supposed violation. As far as the probable situation of her coming in as a citizen with no documents, I assume that since she claimed to be a resident, that the coyote driving (her mom supposedly) showed some documents, but my wife didn't see them or pay attention to them as it wasn't really her issue as she posed as a minor, they probably weren't going to question her.

Now I am trying to see if there is a motion, appeal or other waiver that is possible. I have been told no by the Visa information line. It seems that until laws change, there is never in my wife's life going to be a chance she can come in the US. I have only been told by the visa call line that there isn't any reversal. I don't understand this. If it is really true that there are no motions, appeals or waivers, then this isn't a democracy. Who governs the government? This is why we have a 3 part government - legislative cannot enforce and police cannot make laws - there is always a court above the last court. It seems as if these interviewers are the judge, jury and excecutioner. The issue is that I am not looking for a waiver. I am specifically stating that this interviewer speculated based on the lack of information available during the interview on the part of my wife. The issue was the judgement of this interviewer. My wife is not guilty of their supposed crime - Even murderers have appeals.

I feel like the country is guilty of treason against me. The penalty for treason I believe is death. ...And that is about how I feel about a country that will force the seperation of a young family with 2 kids. This country is dead to me. If this isn't resolved, my life is over. People say marriage, divorce and buying a house are the most stressful and biggest things that happen in a life. They haven't even fathomed anything like the forced seperation (similar to divoce) or forced move (into a poverished country where a very white american like me can't even think about working in a decent paying career).

PLEAS HELP. I am being destroyed and have never felt this unstable or cried this much in my life.

[LoveMyTico 999]

Sorry for your situation...

Misrepresentation is a life time ban with no chance of filing a waiver.

I'm sure you can find a lawyer who will appeal the case BUT I'm thinking it will be a long expensive journey with no guarantees....

[Krikit 1,164]

Claiming to be a US citizen is an unwaiverable offense with a lifetime bar. There is a member on VJ who has just gone through all this..... a child suffering the consequences of a parents' actions. I don't have time to find her username from here on VJ right now, but here is the link to her blog. Destinazione Paradiso.

I am sorry for your misfortune.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

Your wife was an adult when she " pretended" to be 16. She lied to immigration , which is lying to the US Government.

Unfortunately the laws about protection apply unevenly to citizens and non citizens. One of the ways you pay for lying to the government it to be banished. I would talk to Mark Ellis and/or look at the immigrate2us site. But I think you options are limited to moving there or having a long distance relationship. The best I could suggest is the same thing many border families do. Live close to the border and commute from country to country.

[john_and_marlene 162]

Who governs the government? This is why we have a 3 part government - legislative cannot enforce and police cannot make laws

The law that bans your wife for life was passed by the congress and signed by a president and is being enforced by DOS.

[canadian_wife 1,822]

I am so sorry about your situation. Sadly, there is no legal or constitutional right to marry and live with your wife.

She has a lifetime ban from the U.S without a possibility of a waiver. I do not think that a notarized document from her sister will be of any good to your wife and will jeopardize her status in the US.

Again, I am sorry. How old was your wife when she entered the US? You said she was pretending to be a 16 year old, how old was she? Perhaps hiring a good immigration attorney will help you with the facts of the case and see if you have any options at this point. immigrate2us.net is a great site, plus on Wednesdays Laural Scott offers free online immigration advice.

Good luck.

[Anh map 2,098]

Clearly your only course of action is to consult with an immigration attorney with experience handling cases with similar circumstances.

I would assume (I, like you, am a USC and have not been interviewed for a visa, hence the speculation) that when being interviewed the person swears or affirms that the answers they give are the truth and that is what the CO is basing the decision on.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

First, let me say I'm truly sorry for the situation you find yourself in. I know it's not much comfort, but it's all I can really offer you.

Your wife admits to having entered illegally in 2001. This is not good, but not an insurmountable problem. Unfortunately, your wife admitted to having claimed to be a US citizen. There is no such thing as a "resident of a US citizen". The visa officer knows this, and also knows that a border patrol officer would not have allowed someone to enter the US if they claimed they were a "resident of a US citizen". Living with a US citizen does not provide any legal status whatsoever. Any chance you'd have of getting the ban overturned would hinge on your being to convince a judge that a CBP officer allowed your wife to enter without your wife having claimed to be the US citizen daughter of the 'coyote' who drove her across the border.

As you say, there are always legal avenues. You cannot appeal to USCIS or the Board of Immigration Appeals, nor resolve this by simply submitting paperwork. However, you can file a lawsuit against USCIS. You'll need a superb attorney with experience in this area. You can expect this to cost a lot of money, and take a lot of time. Before you decide to pursue this you need to talk to your wife and nail down precisely what happened at the border on the day she entered. This is going to be compared with the computer records of the CBP for that day. If their records showed a US citizen and her 3 US citizen dependents entered, then you're going to have a very hard time convincing the judge she didn't claim to be a US citizen. Obviously, the CBP officer who allowed her to enter is not going to remember that particular car on that particular day, so the judge is only going to have the computer records vs. what your wife says. Since your wife admits to having crossed the border illegally, I'll let you decide who you think the judge is going to believe.

As a personal note, you should understand that railing against the US government is not going to get you anywhere. They aren't keeping you away from your wife. In their eyes, they are banning an admitted immigration fraud from the US. She has no inherent right to enter the US, and you have no inherent right to bring her here. Entry into the US is a privilege that can be denied or revoked. US citizenship is a status that most immigrants spend many years earning, and the US government considers it a grave crime when someone claims this status without basis, and a serious insult to those immigrants who worked hard to earn it.

Good luck.

[emt103c 10]

I'm sorry, they are right. Do not risk your SIL's letter. It will not help.

Contact Laurel Scott for a consultation to discuss the specifics, she's handling a few citizen claims that have been discussed on i2us...I don't think there is any recourse since your wife probably had to claim citizenship to come it.. .but it's worth a try.

[chrisc85 0]

sorry for this situation... i dont know if youll agree with this possibility... but maybe you can live somewhere cheap, and continue to work your 2 jobs for awhile. save as much money as you can. if youre working 2 jobs, including a government one, and youre living somewhere cheap, you could probably save a TON of money after a year or two... maybe 3. save all that money then go down to mexico to be with them and the exchange rate may help you guys last a long time. and if shes working in mexico on top of that, you guys might be alright. but it would take a lot of calculating and saving for it to work, along with the willpower to only to able to see youre family on semi-frequent visits for a couple of years. if you live somewhere close to the border, it might help a lot too. i dunno, you may hate the idea, but maybe its a possibility.

Edited July 24, 2009 by chrisc85

[NatPatBen 3]

Best wishes.

[Jaytee2009 0]

Thanks for the responses. Unfortunately, so many people make assumptions about the way things were probably done, and what the laws probably say.

A US citizen can be a parent to a US legal resident. Ex 1. If the child was born abroad and a certificate of citizenship was not issued, but they became a perm legal resident. Ex 2. The whole family was perm legal residents and the parent became a citizen but the child didn't yet. Ex 3. It is a stepmom.

Yes the statement in the Visa interview is sworn. The basis of the decision though was mearly hearsay and the declaration my wife gave in the interview did not include her ever saying she had claimed to be a "US citizen" as the visa interviewer tried to ask her.

I have thought as one of the many possibilities about saving money and moving to Mexico, but I can't bear thinking of that much time being away from my family.

[LoveMyTico 999]

Either way you look at it, your wife pretended to be someone she is not. All the info that is posted in response to your OP is accurate. If you don't like the answers you received..... Sorry.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Thanks for the responses. Unfortunately, so many people make assumptions about the way things were probably done, and what the laws probably say.

A US citizen can be a parent to a US legal resident. Ex 1. If the child was born abroad and a certificate of citizenship was not issued, but they became a perm legal resident. Ex 2. The whole family was perm legal residents and the parent became a citizen but the child didn't yet. Ex 3. It is a stepmom.

Yes the statement in the Visa interview is sworn. The basis of the decision though was mearly hearsay and the declaration my wife gave in the interview did not include her ever saying she had claimed to be a "US citizen" as the visa interviewer tried to ask her.

I have thought as one of the many possibilities about saving money and moving to Mexico, but I can't bear thinking of that much time being away from my family.

This isn't what you said in your original post. You didn't say she claimed to be an LPR (though this is also illegal). You said "resident of a citizen mom". In fact, you said it twice. There is no such legal status as "resident of a US citizen".

Today, every US citizen, including children, would need a passport or other legal travel document to enter the US. The rules were different in 2001. A US citizen did not need to prove their citizenship in order to cross the border. They only needed to show identification that proved they resided in the US, and declare that they were citizens. Minor children of US citizens could enter without identification if they were with a parent. You said that only the driver showed any documentation, so this is obviously the method which the CO suspects your wife used to enter. The questions the CO asked were intended to get your wife to admit that this was the method used to gain entry, and not necessarily to get your wife to admit that she claimed to be a US citizen. Being guilty of posing as a US citizen would not require your wife to have actually said anything to the CBP officer.

"Hearsay" is when someone makes a statement about something which was said by somebody else. In other words, something they "hear" somebody else "say". It sounds like the CO's decision was based on a statement your wife said, even after significant prodding by the CO, and not a statement she claimed she heard someone else say.

Your arguments, while well intentioned and sincere, don't change the fact that your wife was in the back seat of that car posing to be a 16 year old US citizen daughter of a US citizen parent. If she had been posing as the LPR daughter of a US citizen parent (which, as you point out, is technically possible - and still illegal) then she would have been required to present her green card, or her "mother" would have been required to present it on her behalf. It's very unlikely she would have gotten into the US without identification unless she was posing as a US citizen minor child traveling with her parent. Whether she knew at the time that she was doing this is irrelevant. Whether she admitted to the CO that she knowingly did this is irrelevant. What the CO was trying to confirm was whether this was, in fact, the method used to gain entry into the US. The fact that you don't believe your wife actually admitted that she claimed to be a US citizen to the CO doesn't change the fact that this is how she got across the border.

Due process does not apply here because nobody's rights have been violated. Your wife, who has no legal status in the United States, asked the US government to grant her a privilege, and they denied it. She has no legal access to the US judicial system, so she has no recourse. However, YOU are a US citizen. YOU can take this to court. Get a good lawyer.

[Old Dominion 26]

Apparently the best thing to be said on her behalf is that she returned to Mexico voluntarily, in order to gain admission to the US legally as your wife. Is that a correct statement? Or, was that not the reason she went back home after she had lied in violation of our immigration laws.