My husband is a legal immigrant from England

[SemiCharmedQuark]

It has cost us 3000 dollars in legal fees and he is still waiting to get permanent resident status. We have been married since 2002. In 2004 he got his alien card, but it expired in 2006. It was lucky that he got his alien card because our lawyer screwed up and had him filing his taxes under a tax number, not a social security number. The immigration officer told us he should have stopped the paperwork but that he was going to give us a break. We were told to file a form requesting permanent resident status in July 2006. We did this. He was supposed to receive a receipt last September giving him a date for his appointment. The receipt came last week. In the meanwhile, he had to wait two weeks to get an appointment with an immigration officer to let him work. The officer extended his legal status until January when he had to go through the process again. Thank God my mom has a good job and was able to help us or we would never have paid the rent without his income.

When he goes to immigration, he is always served quickly. He tells me that they separate him from the asians and mexicans. He had a room to himself while the asians and mexicans had no room to sit in their room. He says it's a crowd of people that look beaten and broken.

I tell you this because I think it's important that people understand what a nightmare the immigration process is. My mom was able to help us afford a lawyer and it is STILL a nightmare. My husband is an immigrant from this country's closest ally and it is STILL a nightmare. I can't imagine going through it without the lawyer and many people can't afford a lawyer. I can't imagine going through the process and trying to feed a family when they tell you oops, they're backed up, it'll be two weeks before you can work legally. I can't imagine them telling you to just keep starving, just keep watching your kids suffer, that they'll get to you in time.

I'm not saying that this justifies bypassing the process. But I am saying that it's not as simple as "COME HERE LEGALLY". Legal isn't easy, especially for the poor.

[alarimer]

1. It does sound like a mess

I don't understand why a legal marriage isn't enough to confer permanent residency status automatically. It sure sounds like a bureaucratic nightmare.

I have no answers to solve the illegal immigration problem. Clearly as long as there are jobs that do not pay a living wage, there will be illegal immigrants to fill them.

[Bluerthanblue]

2. thank you for sharing this frustrating experience, I'm

sorry it has been like this.

And I appreciate the honest representation.

I have a student from Africa, who has navagated similar problems.

I hope you get through this soon.

Peace,
blu

[marshall]

3. I've been one of the crowd in the Dallas office

I've gone in twice to the immigration office to file and update paperwork for international adoption. Both times I was the only caucasian in the waiting room, which naturally enough given the location was mostly Hispanic with the rest being Asian. I was assigned a number when I walked in and had to wait like everybody else in a big waiting room as they went down the list and eventually got to me.

I have come to understand that the timeline varies widely from state to state and office to office. Dallas is much faster, it seems that the offices in the northeast take months to process paperwork that here in Dallas takes less than two weeks. And there is nothing anybody can do, you must submit to the area where you live. I'm just lucky to live in an area with an efficient office.

[ingac70]

4. Tell him to move to Mexico, then come back illegally.....

They'll kiss his ass then.

My husband is a permanent resident, fortunately I had an excellent job when he was going through the process, but it was a serious pain in the rear.

[ingac70]

5. delete

[sallyseven]

6. The Republicans changed the rules in l996

They made it difficult and expensive to become a citizen. They stink to high heaven. I hate them. The US government under the repukes is just the worse place.

[cgrindley]

7. There's gotta be more to it than that

I hold a green card. I am white male, and I carry UK and Canadian passports.

Applied for K1 fiance's visa in August 2003
Received K1 fiance's visa in December 2003
Married December 12, 2003
Applied for change of status and recieved work authorization
Got job January 2004
Recieved first green card August 2004
Applied to renew card in May 2006
Received permanent permanent resident card in August 2006

Total cost: medical tests 300 or so.
Filing costs: 300 or so perhaps less


Did you screw up and not get a K1? Did he randomly enter and leave the country without the correct paperwork? It's such a straight forward and simple process. Why would anyone need a lawyer?

PS it was degrading and time consuming and involved a great many forms and police reports from foreign nations and finger prints and multiple and irritating office visits but no more so than any other brush with a huge government agency. Sure they were rude and spiteful and made my wife cry on more than one occasion, but some were really super nice and dedicated. They even asked me for my husband's death certificate at one point... but a quick letter established that I'm a dude and that I've never had a husband.

PPS Perhaps it's different in different parts of the country... we did ours in New England.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

9. No, we did everything absolutely by the book.

We live in Chicago, so maybe it is different in different parts of the country.

[cgrindley]

19. We were processed in Vermont

that's probably the reason. It's a shame you can't shop around for the best response times.

It'll eventually all be over.

Just don't leave the country until the card is in hand. Not even Hawaii, Alaska, or PR. Do NOT leave.

[foreigncorrespondent]

8. Legal isn't easy for the gay and lesbian population either!

Let us not forget that right now under current U.S. immigration laws, the gay and lesbian population do not have the right to marry, nor do they have the right to sponsor a foreign born partner for immigration. So you want to talk about nightmare? Think yourself lucky he is still there with you. Ask me the last time I got to spend a night on U.S. soil with my now ex American born partner.

[gollygee]

14. That's what it makes me think of

It was a bit of a pain, but at least I was able to get my husband over here. What if we were a same-sex couple? It is awful that same-sex couples don't have that right as well.

[dsc]

16. I saw a recent article stating that Australia is about to pass Civil Unions

I hope that ends up helping you out.

[foreigncorrespondent]

20. dsc...

...it isn't Australia that is about to pass civil unions. The Prime Minister here won't allow for it to happen. Canberra recently tried to pass them and got them passed at a state level, but then the federal government stepped in and overturned the new laws. And my state (Victoria) is looking into a partners registry.

As for helping out? I have always had the right to sponsor a foreign born partner to come here. Only when you date someone who has big obligations back in the U.S. and can't make a move to Australia, the laws I have are of no use whatsoever. The only alternative is split up or me make the move (which I was more than willing to do had we had that option open to us.) The second alternative was not an option, and now that we are no longer a couple it won't be an option in the future either (I won't be beginning another relationship again, ever.) But that won't stop me from speaking out about this at every opportunity I get.

While I may not be in a binational relationship any longer, I know all too well the pain many couples go through. I have witnessed the injustice first hand, and the pain and hurt I still feel each and every bloody day won't ever let me forget.

[gollygee]

10. It didn't cost us nearly that much to get my husband here from Australia

We didn't hire a lawyer. We just filled out the paperwork ourselves.

There is quite a bit of it though. And it takes ages. And even though we didn't spend as much as you, every time you file a paper you pay a fee. Those fees do add up. It was probably several hundred dollars, which didn't seem like a lot to us, but would be to people in other circumstances.

And yeah he couldn't work for AGES. At least it felt like ages when my meager wages were paying all the bills.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

11. Hey maybe the lawyer took advantage of us.

Which is just a whole new can of worms.

[gollygee]

13. It doesn't sound like the lawyer took advantage of you - they're just expensive

if you're paying a lawyer by the hour to fill out forms or something, or even just look over the forms to make sure you've filled them out right, it's going to cost some serious money.

But you don't *need* a lawyer if you're willing to do all the running around and get all the paperwork together yourself. So it can be done cheaper. And they make the forms in all different languages so language isn't an issue for it.

(edited to add - not that language makes a difference for immigrants from the UK and Australia.)

[SemiCharmedQuark]

15. We tried putting it together ourselves, and I was overwhelmed

I'm glad it was easy for you, but I found it confusing as hell.

[gollygee]

17. It wasn't easy, but it was do-able

those forms are really confusing, and you have to have all sorts of other paperwork together too. We had to run from INS to I think the IRS one day because we'd forgotten copies of my 1040s or something. But my husband and I aren't in Mensa or anything.

[Maestro]

12. Damn straight! Kick and Recommended.

I work with people who are filling high demand jobs here in the US. They are all costantly fighting with lawyers who can't seem to figure out the mess that is legal immigration so yes, it is certainly not as simple as many say. Many just do not understand our poor our immigration process is. I know people who have had to have their visa renewed. They put in their paperwork months in advance only to have the goverment tell them through their lawyers that they must pay a premium of another $1,000 just to expedite the process. Once they pay, their visa miraculously is approved a week later. What the hell? What's the point of approving anybody's visa on time. It just looks like a bribe to me to get the job done. It's corrupt.

And you are also correct in that the por who have nothing in their home country also can not afford it to do it legally even though there are plenty of American companies willing to employ them so once again I ask, who is at fault? The poor who come here looking for a better life or the P.O.S. businesses that exploit them? :eyes:

[wildhorses]

18. just asking cos i am ignorant about all of this but, can you tell

me what countries where it is easy to become a citizen :shrug:

[Vinca]

21. I think it matters what office you're dealing with.

My husband was naturalized a few years ago and although it took a year, it was fairly uneventful. Of course he had been in the country 50 years and the officer working with him called him "one of the easy ones." (What a strange turn of events - now we may move to Canada.)

[trof]

22. Color/ethnicity matters. Story:

My friend is a native of Africa.
Born in Tanganyika when it was in British East Africa.
So...a British subject.

In the early 70s he was trying to immigrate to the U.S. from Liverpool, where he was a physician.
But nothing seemed to be happening.
Form after form was sent to him from the embassy in London.
He filled them out and mailed them back.
Only to receive more forms.

At a medical conference in London he was talking with some U.S. doctors and told them about his plight.
One said "So you were born in Africa? You're an African?"
"That's right."
"Have you ever gone to the embassy in person? Do they know you're white?"
"No. Would that matter?"
The man laughed and said "Why don't you give it a try?"

And a few short months later he and his family arrived in Boston.
A few years later they became citizens.
And they're coming for lunch today.
:-)