I am a US citizen living abroad. I am a career international school teacher (with NJ state certification), and my wife is a green card holder. We have been married for four years, and there has been no end to the problems we are having with her immigration. Before asking my question, I will give background:
My wife received a greencard through family sponsorship when she was 17, and moved the US to go to college. She remained in the country for the next six years, and then due to a family emergency, she went back to Kuwait (where she grew up). She was unable to file her citizenship papers before she left, but she called the helpline at INS/USCIS, and they said that as long as she re-entered the country within the year, it would be no problem, and she could file when she came back. She returned 11 months later and went to an immigration lawyer to file for naturalization, and was told that the information she had received from the person at immigration was false, and that by staying outside the country for over six months, she had lost continuity. We were told there was nothing that we could do at that point to help her situation. This was a big blow, but her greencard was still secure, and we had met and decided to get married in the mean time. She came back to Kuwait, where I was teaching at the time, and we were married a few months later in the US. My wife is also a certified teacher now, and we both live together and teach overseas. This has been a problem, because even though we go home every summer, immigration officials give her a hard time and say that her greencard might be taken away if she does not stay in the US more. She has always said that her husband is a US citizen who has an international career, and that the only way for her to remain in the US is to be separated from him.
Last summer, her greencard was getting ready to expire (after ten years), so we went home and filed her I-90 in July. She had her biometrics done, without any problem, and then we came back to Bangkok, where we currently teach, and started the school year. Her parents applied for renewal at the same time, and received their new green cards a couple months later. She waited for hers for several months and kept calling to check on it. Finally after six months, DHS agreed that it was outside the processing time, and they said they filed a report. We checked back three times before the report was actually showing as filed on their system, and then on Feb. 28, 2007, we received a letter saying that they were actively processing the case, and that it was requiring extra attention. We were not sure what that meant, and when we called and asked, they would not tell us, but they kept assuring us that as long as she still had her I-90 letter, it would not be a problem for her to get back into the country, even with an expired greencard. We called to check on it again this week, and the lady on the phone gave the same cryptic answers, then said that my wife would not be able to enter even with the I-90 letter, and that she would just have to wait outside the US until the greencard was processed, and that if we did not hear from them in six months, to call back! I called a day later, to verify this and was told that they were not sure if she could enter, and that we should go see a DHS agent for accurate information. We went online, and saw that her file had been last update on 11-11-07. So, here are my questions:
1. How could they be "actively processing" her case in February, if it has not been updated since November? Is there any accountability?
2. Can she enter the country on her expired greencard or not? Can the local DHS office here issue a travel document to allow for that, and if they do, will she be detained at the airport?
3. If she cannot enter, then she ends up being outside the country for more than a year, in which case, will it count as surrendering her greencard?
4. We have a life overseas, and it is difficult to maintain the greencard. We have considered just surrendering it and applying for a 5 or 10 year multiple entry visit visa. Is that unwise?
5. Will having surrendered a greencard hurt her chances to get a multi-entry visit visa?
6. I never actually sponsored her as my spouse. If she does surrender it, and we live overseas for several years, will I still be able to sponsor her for a greencard when we move back home? Will the fact that she surrendered her original card count against her in this process?
7. I have been studying up on the law about expediting naturalization for spouses of Americans living overseas. The school we teach at is an international school using an American curriculum. It is a Catholic Redemptorist school initially started by Redemptorist priests from California, and it still maintains tied with the global organization and the ones in America. Even though I am not a priest, is there anyway my employment can be used to show that I am overseas furthering American interests. As a teacher, I am helping the sharpest minds in other countries get into American institutions of higher education, and eventually contribute to the US economy.
8. This law is very narrow, and I feel that it does not show equality to me as a US citizen. Because I do not work for an oil company, the US government, or the armed forces, it is harder for me to live and work overseas with a foreign spouse. It has cost my great monetary harm over the years, flying her back to the US every year, and filing petition after petition. I know of thousands of Americans overseas who are in similar positions, but have no representation. Can anything be done about changing this law to help us? I hear about all these court cases fighting for the rights of a teenager to have pink hair at school, but I feel that the government is discriminating against me, and there is nothing I can do.
9. I understand that law services are expensive. On a teacher's salary, I do not make a lot of money. Is there assistance available for people in my situation?
10. Will having a lawyer help me get more information from DHS that I am not getting on my own?
I know that this is a long and complicated message, but I would really appreciate any advice or help that you can give me. I feel like I have been fighting a misinformed, losing battle, and I would like to do something about this situation. I just don't know where to start. Thank you.
My wife received a greencard through family sponsorship when she was 17, and moved the US to go to college. She remained in the country for the next six years, and then due to a family emergency, she went back to Kuwait (where she grew up). She was unable to file her citizenship papers before she left, but she called the helpline at INS/USCIS, and they said that as long as she re-entered the country within the year, it would be no problem, and she could file when she came back. She returned 11 months later and went to an immigration lawyer to file for naturalization, and was told that the information she had received from the person at immigration was false, and that by staying outside the country for over six months, she had lost continuity. We were told there was nothing that we could do at that point to help her situation. This was a big blow, but her greencard was still secure, and we had met and decided to get married in the mean time. She came back to Kuwait, where I was teaching at the time, and we were married a few months later in the US. My wife is also a certified teacher now, and we both live together and teach overseas. This has been a problem, because even though we go home every summer, immigration officials give her a hard time and say that her greencard might be taken away if she does not stay in the US more. She has always said that her husband is a US citizen who has an international career, and that the only way for her to remain in the US is to be separated from him.
Last summer, her greencard was getting ready to expire (after ten years), so we went home and filed her I-90 in July. She had her biometrics done, without any problem, and then we came back to Bangkok, where we currently teach, and started the school year. Her parents applied for renewal at the same time, and received their new green cards a couple months later. She waited for hers for several months and kept calling to check on it. Finally after six months, DHS agreed that it was outside the processing time, and they said they filed a report. We checked back three times before the report was actually showing as filed on their system, and then on Feb. 28, 2007, we received a letter saying that they were actively processing the case, and that it was requiring extra attention. We were not sure what that meant, and when we called and asked, they would not tell us, but they kept assuring us that as long as she still had her I-90 letter, it would not be a problem for her to get back into the country, even with an expired greencard. We called to check on it again this week, and the lady on the phone gave the same cryptic answers, then said that my wife would not be able to enter even with the I-90 letter, and that she would just have to wait outside the US until the greencard was processed, and that if we did not hear from them in six months, to call back! I called a day later, to verify this and was told that they were not sure if she could enter, and that we should go see a DHS agent for accurate information. We went online, and saw that her file had been last update on 11-11-07. So, here are my questions:
1. How could they be "actively processing" her case in February, if it has not been updated since November? Is there any accountability?
2. Can she enter the country on her expired greencard or not? Can the local DHS office here issue a travel document to allow for that, and if they do, will she be detained at the airport?
3. If she cannot enter, then she ends up being outside the country for more than a year, in which case, will it count as surrendering her greencard?
4. We have a life overseas, and it is difficult to maintain the greencard. We have considered just surrendering it and applying for a 5 or 10 year multiple entry visit visa. Is that unwise?
5. Will having surrendered a greencard hurt her chances to get a multi-entry visit visa?
6. I never actually sponsored her as my spouse. If she does surrender it, and we live overseas for several years, will I still be able to sponsor her for a greencard when we move back home? Will the fact that she surrendered her original card count against her in this process?
7. I have been studying up on the law about expediting naturalization for spouses of Americans living overseas. The school we teach at is an international school using an American curriculum. It is a Catholic Redemptorist school initially started by Redemptorist priests from California, and it still maintains tied with the global organization and the ones in America. Even though I am not a priest, is there anyway my employment can be used to show that I am overseas furthering American interests. As a teacher, I am helping the sharpest minds in other countries get into American institutions of higher education, and eventually contribute to the US economy.
8. This law is very narrow, and I feel that it does not show equality to me as a US citizen. Because I do not work for an oil company, the US government, or the armed forces, it is harder for me to live and work overseas with a foreign spouse. It has cost my great monetary harm over the years, flying her back to the US every year, and filing petition after petition. I know of thousands of Americans overseas who are in similar positions, but have no representation. Can anything be done about changing this law to help us? I hear about all these court cases fighting for the rights of a teenager to have pink hair at school, but I feel that the government is discriminating against me, and there is nothing I can do.
9. I understand that law services are expensive. On a teacher's salary, I do not make a lot of money. Is there assistance available for people in my situation?
10. Will having a lawyer help me get more information from DHS that I am not getting on my own?
I know that this is a long and complicated message, but I would really appreciate any advice or help that you can give me. I feel like I have been fighting a misinformed, losing battle, and I would like to do something about this situation. I just don't know where to start. Thank you.
