So, we had some bad news…
Yeah, we had some bad news recently. We got a letter back from U.S. Immigration saying that because we didn’t file a form with another form, but instead filed the form when they asked for proof we had sent it with the previous form (because we didn’t think it was required until then), they couldn’t process any of the forms. They did not have a problem taking the $170 processing fee for that one form (from a total of over a $1000 we had paid so far) that we desperately struggled to produce though - even though their processing consisted of telling us they could not process it. It’s especially annoying because Infopass (the service meant to help those going through immigration) told us that filing in this way for the forgotten form was the correct thing to do.
So, we are 99% likely to have to re-file all the information, taking all the passport pictures, re-taking the medical, paying another $1000 - all that good stuff. We’ll have to survive on what Sheila makes working full-time for longer and this time - we will be hiring an immigration attorney to check I haven’t f*cked up before sending in the papers. There is a 1% chance, I guess, that an Immigration Judge will overturn the decision based on how idiotic it is… Stay Tuned.
If anyone can recommend an Immigration Attorney in the Chicago area (who will accept monthly payments), please do. Additionally if anyone would like to Donate towards our legal costs please do so here!
But hey, we were down but we’re not out. Sheila and I will still be together for our first Christmas and that’s all either of us wanted. Obviously any of you we’d normally be sending anything to - it isn’t going to happen… But one of Sheila’s friends has donated all the stuff you see in this video to us, a video I shot just a few minutes ago:
Tags: Christmas, Immigration, USCIS
December 6th, 2007 at 7:13 am
So sorry this has happened to you and Sheila.
II had looked online and there was a sample case of a couple who tell you step by step what forms to send in etc.
I know nothing about taking a medical!
Can you not get a work visa from your company?
Its all so complicated I know.
Its much easier the other way around. America is so strict on immigration policy because everyone wants to be there.
Anyway I hope you can work this out without shelling out more bucks and really hope you have a good Christmas.
THis year we will be in Seal Beach! Yay!
Take care and don’t be blue… you aren’t in Grimsby!!!!
December 6th, 2007 at 2:27 pm
We’ll be OK. We will have to re-file, just found that out. It’ll be $900 for the attorney + form fees to the USCIS + the medical fees.
It really wasn’t that complicated, we just got bad advice and never had anyone tell us that advice was wrong (we went to USCIS twice and called Infopass once).
I don’t know, it seems weird to me. UK has free health, not as many guns on the street, great free education and all compared to the U.S. If I was coming from a country that didn’t have those things perhaps…
We’ll have a good Christmas because we’ll be together.
Have fun in the sun, have a good Christmas!
December 7th, 2007 at 9:09 am
I had a similar problem with my application for a Green Card. I am using a Lawyer and even she managed to screw the pooch and did not enter the right date in the right cell on my application so they rejected the application for not being complete, so 4 months later and I am back in the same place. One good thing about having a lawyer is they will try and sort it out. We are appealing right now so we don’t have to resubmit the application again next year. But it is not easy anymore. My friend applied for a H1B and twice they took her money and didn’t even review the application, they called it a lottery if you even get your application reviewed some they review and some they don’t, same reasons both times. Immigrations here is clamping down after 911 and that is understandable but I find it hard to swallow when you are trying to do everything the legal way and they make it harder but I suppose they don’t know if you are applying for the right reasons either, so have to play it by the book!
December 7th, 2007 at 9:17 am
Well you have my empathy Ashley! That’s the bottom line here though it seems, you get a lot of help from charities etc if you sneak into the U.S. and have no intention of doing things legally. If you file in a legal way and intend to do everything properly, you’re almost shunned by everyone you want help from.
Best of luck to you this time around Ash, it does (unfortunately) make me feel a little better than it’s not just me!
January 25th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
[...] Other than the above, there’s no further information than that I gave on December 1st. [...]