Ineligible For A Waiver?

[JAPrincess 27]

I cannot be the only one in such a frustrating and UNFAIR situation, and I would like to petition the Government to change it!!!

Thanks to Obama's "We The People" website maybe they will hear a cry louder than the one that I go to sleep with every night.

But I need your help, and wisdom, and experience, to make it the best petition for all who are at the mercy of the waiver system.

All good people who have been honest, rehabilitated, and desire to immigrating legally...

Good people denied the discretion of a waiver no matter how much hardship is caused to their US Citizen spouse and children!!

This is my story; join me; tell yours, and help me petition to make it better!!

My husband was arrested for possession of marijuana twice in his young adult hood.

I petitioned as his fiance' and he was denied a K1 visa based on this record.

We were told to get married and re-petition as husband and wife and we would THEN be eligible for a waiver.

We married, re-filed an I-130, were approved by USCIS and went BACK to the embassy where he was again denied and this time told he would be permanently banned from my country.

BANNED!!

For what equates to $9 dollars in fines for a crime that hurt no one, and poses no threat to our country.

I will not go into my hardship and all that I have endured without him.

Let alone what moving to a developing country will do to our children; their access to basic health care and education; or the state of my husband's country crime rates, violence and poverty...

If the true purpose of a waiver is to weigh the individual crime to the hardship faced by the US Citizen, then I say LET THE CRIMES BE WEIGHED!!

Why is no waiver available to people with controlled substance possession charges??

Yes, yes I know, the famous war on drugs... is it working? this war???

How much money is spent fighting it and locking up people?? Yet, the drug use in this country is still amongst the highest in the world.

In my state, marijuana possession is not even a crime anymore, it is an infraction of the law much like a speeding ticket.

The largest amount of signatures on this "We the People" site is a petition to end the federal prohibition.

But I don't want this to be about marijuana, or even necessarily about drug possession denials.

It's about the millions of people who go to bed with their husbands and wives stuck in some other country with no hope of ever coming here.

Please help me see beyond my own issues to create the best petition for all people going to bed tonight with no hope... so that we may HAVE HOPE!!

~And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love~

[TBoneTX 45,299]

Truly sorry to hear of your situation -- crushing to you, certainly.

You can try for intervention from your Congressman or Senator, but the reality is that some beneficiaries are ineligible for objective reasons that the COs interpret "by the book." You didn't say for sure, but were other (perhaps newly discovered) reasons cited besides the drug usage?

Perhaps you could move to a third country that's safer and more palatable, si man...

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

How much was he cited for having ? Usually the lifetime ban implies that he was caught with enough to constitute traffficing not just having a little.

[Ebunoluwa 6,136]

You need to verify the outcome with an EXPERIENCED attorney who SPECIALIZES in waivers. That will not be cheap, but perhaps you can get a free phone consult or pay a lower rate for a certain time of consult.

I would focus on that first before starting the petition.

[JAPrincess 27]

Truly sorry to hear of your situation -- crushing to you, certainly.

You can try for intervention from your Congressman or Senator, but the reality is that some beneficiaries are ineligible for objective reasons that the COs interpret "by the book." You didn't say for sure, but were other (perhaps newly discovered) reasons cited besides the drug usage?

Perhaps you could move to a third country that's safer and more palatable, si man...

no other reason.. no trafficking, both possession charges were for under 30 grams.

I have no money for an attorney, and the law clearly states that only a SINGLE charge for possession of marijuana can be waived. An attorney can't change the law, right? The attorneys I have consulted with have told me there is no hope. My congressman has been involved since the first denial, they are the ones that forwarded the first and second letters saying we would be eligible for waiver once we married. They can only assist so much.

[RICARDO4EVA2 194]

no other reason.. no trafficking, both possession charges were for under 30 grams.

I have no money for an attorney, and the law clearly states that only a SINGLE charge for possession of marijuana can be waived. An attorney can't change the law, right?

JaP... he had more than one charge..? also an attorney can only interpret the law.. cant change it you are right.

[JAPrincess 27]

Yes, he had two

[RICARDO4EVA2 194]

Yes, he had two

but there is a light somewhere.

[JAPrincess 27]

You didn't say for sure, but were other (perhaps newly discovered) reasons cited besides the drug usage?

I want to add that there were no newly discovered reasons, I was there for the last interview, I waited outside the embassy for almost 3 hours and when he emerged with a pamphlet on how to make an appointment to file a waiver I was flabbergasted. We had an appointment, I spent over a year putting together the waiver, he had it in his hand to submit. So I went into the embassy and requested to speak with the consular. I was told to come back in an hour when the US Citizen section was open. We did so, and we spent another almost 5 hours there, talked to several people all up to the Visa Chief, who is the one that told me my husband was never eligible for a waiver in the first place. We did not leave the embassy until after closing that night, and all I got was an apology on behalf of the embassy for the misinformation given to me about the eligibility for a waiver once we were married.

I understand the law perfectly, and I think it is wrong. I want to petition to change it.

If you have any suggestion on how the petition should be written I am all ears.

If you would lend your support and sign it once it is written I would be eternally grateful, and more over, I think it is the right thing to do.

I do not believe what my husband did warrants the treatment he has been given by our government. He is a good and honest man, and his family needs him.

I am not asking for preferential treatment, I think this should be changed for all people in this kind of situation to be eligible to apply for a waiver.

That we be given the opportunity to have our case reviewed.

His rehabilitation & my hardship be weighed against the severity of the crime, and then let the decision be made.

The whole thing makes me sick to my stomach, truly.

Edited September 29, 2011 by JAPrincess

[JAPrincess 27]

but there is a light somewhere.

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine... let it shine!!

[Harsh_77 718]

Feel bad for your case and some mis-information you received through out the process.

If the law says 2 charges = ban then the best possible option for you is to move there with him.

You can send a petition with your request to change the law, unfortunately it does not work that way. Then someone will come after you who might have 3 charges and request to change to law to accomodate them..... it will keep on going.

[JAPrincess 27]

I am not planning to petition for something so narrow.

I am planning to petition that a waiver be available to all people with convictions for simple possession of a controlled substance.

That is why I am here asking the questions I am.

So that this petition can possibly help others in this situation.

Thanks!

You can send a petition with your request to change the law, unfortunately it does not work that way.

How then does it work?

[Deputy Purple 1,294]

In my state, marijuana possession is not even a crime anymore, it is an infraction of the law much like a speeding ticket.

Of course you realize that it's irrelevant since MJ possession still violates FEDERAL law.

I have sympathy for you but would point out that any "solution" to your problem that would end with him being in the US is going to take years.

[JAPrincess 27]

Of course you realize that it's irrelevant since MJ possession still violates FEDERAL law.

Yes I realize that federal law trumps my state law especially in regards to immigration.

I just think it shows that even in the US what my husband did is not so horrible.

Even the federal waiver law puts marijuana in a separate class by allowing single possession charges to be waived.

[Harsh_77 718]

Yes I realize that federal law trumps my state law especially in regards to immigration.

I just think it shows that even in the US what my husband did is not so horrible.

Even the federal waiver law puts marijuana in a separate class by allowing single possession charges to be waived.

Charges for Marijuana possesion can vary , it all depends on the officer who catches you. They can have it as a simple possession or possiesion with intent to distribute etc.

It is upto the officer if he wants to give you ticket or take you to jail.

I am not planning to petition for something so narrow.

I am planning to petition that a waiver be available to all people with convictions for simple possession of a controlled substance.

That is why I am here asking the questions I am.

So that this petition can possibly help others in this situation.

Thanks!

How then does it work?

Wavier is available until 1 charge...isnt it?