Visa trouble for US Citizen
Chad Z. Hower aka Kudzu
with others. Even if you are not involved with visa's or immigration you
will likely find the situation funny, or more likely insulting. Please bear
with me through the introduction. The first part is a bit slow, but the
second visit to an embassy is the most amazing part.
First a little background. I am a US citizen who was born and raised in the
US. I now an am ex-pat and live overseas. I am married to a Russian citizen
and we reside mainly between two countries. We reside in Russia in the
summer and a warmer Western European country in the Winter. We also travel
extensively each year in both Western and Eastern Europe. I have lived
outside of the US on a permanent basis for over 2 years now and prior to
that made regular trips and stays to Europe.
One would think that an American married to a Russian could easily get a
visa for his wife to visit family. However this story will demonstrate
otherwise, and even demonstrate behavior and attitudes that are beyond
belief.
Shortly after we were married we visited the US consulate in St
Petersburg, Russia where we reside. We own our house in St Petersburg and
my wife has a law degree. She was a partner in a practice and was also a
professor in a law university. She has since sold her stake in her practice
and is self employed. I am self employed as a consultant in the software
industry and work all over the world, although mostly in Europe.
At the consulate we applied for a single entry visitor visa and paid around
$60. This money is not refundable even if they turn you down. First we had
to get to the consulate and wait outside in a line at about 6:00 am so we
could even get inside. We waited outside in the rain for about two hours as
memory serves me. Once inside we paid our $100 and filled out the proper
paperwork. We then had to wait an other two hours or so.
At that point we were finally interviewed by a “pre-screener” who checked
all of our documents. We presented all the necessary paperwork including my
US passport, documentation on ownership of our house, my tax returns, her
previous visa to Spain, and more.
After that we were told to sit down again until called. After some time we
were called again to be interviewed. The interview took about 20 minutes
and they denied her a visa based on the fact that “You might decide to
stay, and you do not have significant ties to Russia”. They then put a
stamp in her passport indicating that she had been denied a visa. Through
the whole time my wife and the other Russians were treated like they have
always treated them, like cattle. Like people that are less in value. Its
very demeaning throughout the whole process and very different than they
treat citizens of the US and other countries who visit the consulate.
They told us that maybe after we had been married for a while they might
give us a visa, but even then it was not very likely. They told us that we
should apply for a green card which would give her ability to travel
freely. But to get a green card you have to go through the embassy in
Moscow. This involves a lot of paperwork, many visits to Moscow (a 7 hour
ride by train each way), and takes over 6 months. But really that is not
the problem – the problem is to get a green card you must plan to reside in
the US. Which we do not. We do not reside in the US and have no plans to.
So based on this, the green card would not be issued to us, unless we lied
on the application. Even if we did somehow get the green card, we would
lose it upon renewal because we would not meet the residency requirements.
It would then create a “black mark” for her. This information is based on
information told to me by the US Embassy in Moscow.
So we conveyed all this to the Consulate in St Petersburg when they told us
to get a green card. At that point they said “We'll sorry. We cant issue
the visa. Its not our problem you cannot get a green card”. I pushed a bit
and asked realistically what we could do. The answer was that I should move
back to the states and after reestablishing residence contact INS and tell
them that I had found a woman on the Internet, wanted to marry her, and
apply for a fiance visa. Not only is this absurd, but this again would lead
us to a green card, which we do not want nor qualify for.
All we wanted was to return to the US for approximately one month for my
wife to meet my parents and other family.
We then waited about 9 months before trying again. During that time several
phone calls were made to the consulate, embassy, and INS in the states. We
were given the same basic answers each time. No we cannot give her a visa,
get a green card. When told we did not want to live in the US we were told
“sorry, nothing we can do”.
In December 2002 we tried again at a US Embassy in a Western European
country. This time we had much more documentation which included: Proof of
ownership of residence in Russian, a visa for the country we were staying
the winter in, proof of ownership of a residence in the country, marriage
certificate from the same country, bank statements with significant
balances, my tax filings, passports, her used visa to the Netherlands, her
used visa to Germany, and her used visa to Spain.
This time we were treated more like humans. We waited outside in a
reasonably sheltered area unlike in Russia where they do not even provide
cover from the weather. We waited about 30 minutes and were taken in
through security to the cashier. Recently its been raised to $100. We paid
$100 and they stapled the receipt to my wife's passport. No respect again.
Had someone put a big staple through my US passport everyone would be quite
upset, but a Russian passport is treated as disposable.
After clearing a lot of security (irritating, but necessary I am sure) we
were taken inside to fill out the visa application.
When called I went up to the window and was asked if my wife spoke English.
She said yes and I was told to sit down. The manner in which people are
interviewed is very impersonal and embarrassing. Instead of conducting them
in at least some sort of privacy there are just a few windows in front of
the chairs. Everyone else who is waiting for a visa is sitting right there
listening to your story and personal details. This is very unprofessional
and embarrassing.
The person interviewed my wife for about 20 minutes and denied her a visa
again on the same grounds. This time my wife was in tears again, and left
to cry in front of the crowd of other people waiting to be called. They
again stamped her passport with stamped indicating that she had applied for
a US visa and bee denied. To add injury to insult, they stamped it on the
cover page of her passport over top of the text and passport information.
It was not on the page with the photo etc, but on the “Passport of Russian
Federation” etc. Right on top. There are dozens of pages for visas and
endorsements, and they choose right on top of the cover page. They might as
well just add “trash passport” as thats how they treat it. Given a Western
European passport, I doubt they would treat it in such a manner.
I calmed down and went to the citizen services window and asked them
realistically what am I supposed to do. I was not even allowed to speak and
was told to sit down before her interview, quite abruptly and rudely I
might add. At the citizen services window they were much friendlier and
advised me I could speak with the consul directly since I was a US citizen.
I said that I wanted to speak with him directly. I was then told that he
was not here at this moment. I asked when he would be back and I was told
in a few hours. I told them that I would wait. He then asked me a bit about
the interview and I told him that I had not been allowed to participate and
had been told to sit down prior to the interview. At that point he went and
talked with the interviewer and the interviewer agreed to speak with me.
At this point I was about ready to lose it, but I was trying to remain
tempered and not have my rear tossed out by the Marines. While this is not
verbatim, the conversation proceeded similar to this. I am not exagerating
any parts or adding dramatic effects. I am using my memory as best I
recall.
Me: Why was my wife's visa denied?
Interviewer: I cannot guarantee that you will return. You might want to
stay. You should apply for a green card.
Me: I am not going to accept that textbook answer. I am a US citizen and
you are going to have to do better than that. This may work on a Mongolian
goat herder, but I deserve better than this from my own Embassy.
Interviewer: Well you do not have significant ties to Europe.
Me: I do not have significant ties to the US either other than my passport.
I have many more ties to Europe. I do not own any property in the US. I do
own properties in two countries in Europe, have business in Europe, as well
as registered cars in Europe.
Me: Look at my passport. You can see that I have not been to the US very
much in the past few years.
Interviewer: I do not need to see that.
Me: Yes you do. It is a US passport and you are going to look at it. See
this? This is an addendum to my passport. This is because my passport was
completely full and they had to add new pages. Look (opening to page 1),
Germany, United Kingdom, Australia....
Interviewer: Enough Sir.
Me: No its not. My wife tried to show you this and other documentation
which you refused to look at. You are going to look at it now. Germany,
Poland, Russia
Interviewer: Enough Sir.
Me: Romania, France, ... And continuing on for about 40 more stamps. I
finally stopped after she got the point. Reading all of them would have
taken hours.
At this point the crowd behind me was really taking interest. Later on my
wife told me the were asking her questions like “He's a US citizen and you
cannot get a visa? Oh man were screwed”.
Interviewer: Well your flat is awful small.
Me: There are two of us. We have no kids. How is 3 bedrooms not large
enough? How big of a flat do you live in?
Interviewer: The tax statements you showed me were from 2001.
Me: Yes, of course. This is 2002. I cannot file for 2002 yet.
Interviewer: They are US taxes. Why did you file US taxes if you do not
live there?
Me: Because the US taxes on citizenship. I have to file those no matter
where I live. Are you telling me that I should not file them? Please, can I
borrow the phone? I would like to have you speak to the IRS for me. I am
sure they would love to hear that the US Embassy is exempting me from this.
Interviewer: Well I still cannot guarantee you will return.
Me: Did you look in my wife's passport?
Interviewer: No.
Me: Why not? She tried to show it to you. Look here, she's had separate
visas to Germany, the Netherlands and Spain. She returned on all of them.
We also have a valid visa here that you have seen and spend our winters
here. She has also visited France and Belgium using the Schengen
agreements. Why is it the did not give us any hassle but my own country
gives us so many troubles?
Interviewer: I dont know.
Me: Well you better figure it out and tell me, because I'm speaking with
the Consul next and I bet he will be asking you. You better have a better
answer than “I don't know”.
Interviewer: Well Germany is Germany, not the US.
Me: What does that mean? Are you saying Germany is a third world country?
Give me a break. Do you realize you just said that in front of all these
people? Maybe one of them is German. Will you be willing to repeat your
statement to the German Embassy just down the road? Germany is not a third
world country. They didn't give her any trouble, and neither did The
Netherlands or Spain. Your running out of excuses.
Interviewer: What if you choose to stay?
Me: We do not want to live in the US. We are happy where we are. Why is it
that you cannot believe that not everyone in the world wants to live in the
US? Are Europeans inferior in some way? Why is this so hard for you to
believe? And if I want to stay, I have a US passport.
Me: Do you realize the Canadians said they would grant my wife a visa no
problem? They even asked how long we wanted to stay. It is going to be
really embarrassing when we have to fly to Toronto and have my parents meet
us in Niagara Falls because my own country will not let her visit.
There were numerous other arguments that have lapsed my memory. In the she
ended up reversing her decision and granting the visa. She had to alter the
stamp in my wife's passport.
I also promised her we would not attempt to amend the visa stateside. We
have no intent to. We just wanted to visit. They issued the visa with a
comment on the visa “Not permitted to adjust status”.
When we arrived in New York Immigration saw this and told us “This is your
country. If you want to stay longer, all you have to do is ask”. This was
without any comment from us to trigger such a comment. I explained the
situation and they could not believe it. I told them thanks but we were
only visiting. INS obviously has no idea how the consulates are handling
visa. They appear to have two totally different directives.
We have no intention to adjust our status as I gave the woman in the
Embassy my word. However in the future I do not wish to waste a day, $100,
and a trip to the capital city for each visa. They should issue her a multi
entry visa and be done with it. I will push for this next time for sure.
Welcome to the USA.
--
Chad Z. Hower (a.k.a. Kudzu) - http://www.hower.org/Kudzu/
"Programming is an art form that fights back"
ELKNews - Get your free copy at http://www.atozedsoftware.com
Stuart G. Friedman
a high level manager at a US Oil Company's Mexican division. In Mexico, he
was earning over $75,000 a year and had travelled to the US numerous times
for business. The one time he wanted to take his family to Disney World he
received similar treatment on the theory that despite his undisputed income
and education, he would throw it all away to be an illegal in the US.
While I'm sure that it will fall on deaf ears, you should send a letter back
to the people involved in your wife's case letting them know that you
complied with your visa and returned as promised.
"Chad Z. Hower aka Kudzu" <cp...@hower.org> wrote in message
news:Xns92FBD49...@127.0.0.1...
> the problem - the problem is to get a green card you must plan to reside
Chad Z. Hower aka Kudzu
news:nErS9.55037$4j5.7...@newssvr28.news.prodigy.com:
> back to the people involved in your wife's case letting them know that
> you complied with your visa and returned as promised.
The will definitely be hearing from us. I travel to the US often on 2-3 day
trips every other month or so. And I dont want to have to go apply for a visa
every time I'd like my wife to come along.
R J
your
| > country. If you want to stay longer, all you have to do is ask". This
was
| > without any comment from us to trigger such a comment. I explained the
| > situation and they could not believe it. I told them thanks but we were
| > only visiting. INS obviously has no idea how the consulates are handling
| > visa. They appear to have two totally different directives.
You seem to be under the same misunderstanding that a lot of people are
under. The State Department issues visas, not the INS. They are totally
separate.
Stuart G. Friedman
who abuse the visas and they need to be reminded that not everyone is an
abuser.
Stu
"Chad Z. Hower aka Kudzu" <cp...@hower.org> wrote in message
news:Xns92FBE22...@127.0.0.1...
Chad Z. Hower aka Kudzu
> You seem to be under the same misunderstanding that a lot of people are
> under. The State Department issues visas, not the INS. They are totally
> separate.
Yes, I understand the difference. However INS has no idea how the State
Department is handling them, and the two seem to be at opposing missions.
Chad Z. Hower aka Kudzu
> My point (which I made poorly) is that they only seem to notice the folks
> who abuse the visas and they need to be reminded that not everyone is an
> abuser.
They dont care. They get negative marks for issuing visas to those who abuse
them - but not rewards for those who dont. So their policy is dont issue.
Stuart G. Friedman
"Chad Z. Hower aka Kudzu" <cp...@hower.org> wrote in message
news:Xns92FCC6D...@127.0.0.1...
Chad Z. Hower aka Kudzu
> All I can say is that I hope it gets easier for you in the future.
Thanks. Unfortunately even if I can get past this with one visa in the history,
it wont change the system. And that is what is truly broken here.
Haliuna
to apply for a green card yet they deny her a visitor's visa on the
grounds that she might want to apply for one once she gets in the US.
As absurd as it sounds it shows how bureaucratic the system is.
I happened to be a mongolian, by the way, and I do believe that all
the people should be treated the same with respect no matter who they
are and what they are, whether they are "mongolian goat herders" or
software consultants. Sorry for your experience, it was an eye opener
for you, wasn't it? Haliuna H.
"Chad Z. Hower aka Kudzu" <cp...@hower.org> wrote in message news:<Xns92FBD49...@127.0.0.1>...
Chad Z. Hower aka Kudzu
news:18d710be.03010...@posting.google.com:
Yes, its very absurd. :(
> I happened to be a mongolian, by the way, and I do believe that all
> the people should be treated the same with respect no matter who they
> are and what they are, whether they are "mongolian goat herders" or
> software consultants. Sorry for your experience, it was an eye opener
> for you, wasn't it? Haliuna H.
Well Im used to Russian bureaucracy too as I have a Russian multi entry visa.
However the Russian system is much less bureaucratic than the US in many
regards. This is very saddening.
Andy
in the US with my son, her only grandson, only 2-3 months. She applied for
a tourist visa and was denied even if she had GC before and moved back.
So, I said whata heck and applied her a GC. When we arrived at Detroit, we
were treated nicely by the INS officers at the Detroit airport.
Andy
jadm5000
> Welcome to the reality, Mr. Software Consultant! They want your wife
> to apply for a green card yet they deny her a visitor's visa on the
> grounds that she might want to apply for one once she gets in the US.
> As absurd as it sounds it shows how bureaucratic the system is.
>
> I happened to be a mongolian, by the way, and I do believe that all
> the people should be treated the same with respect no matter who they
> are and what they are, whether they are "mongolian goat herders" or
> software consultants. Sorry for your experience, it was an eye opener
> for you, wasn't it? Haliuna H.
>
>
> > I am publishing this partly as a rant, as well as to share our expe-
> > riences
> > with others. Even if you are not involved with visa's or immigration
> > you
> > ase bear
> > with me through the introduction. The first part is a bit slow, but
> > the
> > second visit to an embassy is the most amazing part.
> >
> > First a little background. I am a US citizen who was born and raised
> > in the
> > US. I now an am ex-pat and live overseas. I am married to a Russian
> > citizen
> > and we reside mainly between two countries. We reside in Russia in
> > the
> > summer and a warmer Western European country in the Winter. We also
> > travel
> > ved
> > outside of the US on a permanent basis for over 2 years now and pri-
> > or to
> > that made regular trips and stays to Europe.
> >
> > One would think that an American married to a Russian could easily
> > get a
> > ate
> > otherwise, and even demonstrate behavior and attitudes that are bey-
> > ond
> > belief.
> >
> > Shortly after we were married we visited the US consulate in St
> > rg and
> > my wife has a law degree. She was a partner in a practice and was
> > also a
> > professor in a law university. She has since sold her stake in her
> > practice
> > tware
> > industry and work all over the world, although mostly in Europe.
> >
> > At the consulate we applied for a single entry visitor visa and paid
> > around
> > $60. This money is not refundable even if they turn you down. First
> > we had
> > to get to the consulate and wait outside in a line at about 6:00 am
> > so we
> > could even get inside. We waited outside in the rain for about two
> > hours as
> > memory serves me. Once inside we paid our $100 and filled out the
> > proper
> > paperwork. We then had to wait an other two hours or so.
> >
> > At that point we were finally interviewed by a "pre-screener" who
> > checked
> > uding my
> > US passport, documentation on ownership of our house, my tax return-
> > s, her
> > previous visa to Spain, and more.
> >
> > After that we were told to sit down again until called. After
> > some time we
> > were called again to be interviewed. The interview took about 20
> > minutes
> > cide to
> > stay, and you do not have significant ties to Russia". They then
> > put a
> > a. Through
> > the whole time my wife and the other Russians were treated like
> > they have
> > always treated them, like cattle. Like people that are less in
> > value. Its
> > very demeaning throughout the whole process and very different
> > than they
> > ulate.
> >
> > They told us that maybe after we had been married for a while they
> > might
> > give us a visa, but even then it was not very likely. They told us
> > that we
> > should apply for a green card which would give her ability to travel
> > freely. But to get a green card you have to go through the embassy
> > in
> > Moscow. This involves a lot of paperwork, many visits to Moscow (a 7
> > hour
> > ride by train each way), and takes over 6 months. But really that is
> > not
> > the problem – the problem is to get a green card you must plan to
> > reside in
> > ns to.
> > So based on this, the green card would not be issued to us, unless
> > we lied
> > on the application. Even if we did somehow get the green card, we
> > would
> > ements.
> > It would then create a "black mark" for her. This information is ba-
> > sed on
> > information told to me by the US Embassy in Moscow.
> >
> > So we conveyed all this to the Consulate in St Petersburg when they
> > told us
> > to get a green card. At that point they said "We'll sorry. We cant
> > issue
> > the visa. Its not our problem you cannot get a green card". I pushed
> > a bit
> > uld move
> > back to the states and after reestablishing residence contact INS
> > and tell
> > them that I had found a woman on the Internet, wanted to marry her,
> > and
> > uld lead
> > us to a green card, which we do not want nor qualify for.
> >
> > All we wanted was to return to the US for approximately one month
> > for my
> > wife to meet my parents and other family.
> >
> > We then waited about 9 months before trying again. During that time
> > several
> > tes. We
> > were given the same basic answers each time. No we cannot give her a
> > visa,
> > re told
> > "sorry, nothing we can do".
> >
> > an
> > country. This time we had much more documentation which included:
> > Proof of
> > ownership of residence in Russian, a visa for the country we were
> > staying
> > rriage
> > certificate from the same country, bank statements with significant
> > ds, her
> > used visa to Germany, and her used visa to Spain.
> >
> > This time we were treated more like humans. We waited outside in a
> > reasonably sheltered area unlike in Russia where they do not even
> > provide
> > cover from the weather. We waited about 30 minutes and were taken in
> > through security to the cashier. Recently its been raised to $100.
> > We paid
> > $100 and they stapled the receipt to my wife's passport. No respect
> > again.
> > Had someone put a big staple through my US passport everyone would
> > be quite
> > upset, but a Russian passport is treated as disposable.
> >
> > re) we
> > were taken inside to fill out the visa application.
> >
> > When called I went up to the window and was asked if my wife spoke
> > English.
> > She said yes and I was told to sit down. The manner in which people
> > are
> > ing them
> > in at least some sort of privacy there are just a few windows in fr-
> > ont of
> > the chairs. Everyone else who is waiting for a visa is sitting right
> > there
> > sional
> > and embarrassing.
> >
> > The person interviewed my wife for about 20 minutes and denied her a
> > visa
> > again on the same grounds. This time my wife was in tears again, and
> > left
> > to cry in front of the crowd of other people waiting to be called.
> > They
> > lied for
> > a US visa and bee denied. To add injury to insult, they stamped it
> > on the
> > ation.
> > It was not on the page with the photo etc, but on the "Passport of
> > Russian
> > Federation" etc. Right on top. There are dozens of pages for visas
> > and
> > endorsements, and they choose right on top of the cover page. They
> > might as
> > well just add "trash passport" as thats how they treat it. Given a
> > Western
> > European passport, I doubt they would treat it in such a manner.
> >
> > em
> > realistically what am I supposed to do. I was not even allowed to
> > speak and
> > ly I
> > might add. At the citizen services window they were much friendlier
> > and
> > advised me I could speak with the consul directly since I was a US
> > citizen.
> > I said that I wanted to speak with him directly. I was then told
> > that he
> > was not here at this moment. I asked when he would be back and I
> > was told
> > in a few hours. I told them that I would wait. He then asked me a
> > bit about
> > ipate and
> > had been told to sit down prior to the interview. At that point he
> > went and
> > th me.
> >
> > At this point I was about ready to lose it, but I was trying to rem-
> > ain
> > tempered and not have my rear tossed out by the Marines. While this
> > is not
> > erating
> > any parts or adding dramatic effects. I am using my memory as best I
> > recall.
> >
> > Me: Why was my wife's visa denied?
> >
> > Interviewer: I cannot guarantee that you will return. You might want
> > to
> > stay. You should apply for a green card.
> >
> > Me: I am not going to accept that textbook answer. I am a US citizen
> > and
> > you are going to have to do better than that. This may work on a
> > Mongolian
> > goat herder, but I deserve better than this from my own Embassy.
> >
> > Interviewer: Well you do not have significant ties to Europe.
> >
> > Me: I do not have significant ties to the US either other than my
> > passport.
> > I have many more ties to Europe. I do not own any property in
> > the US. I do
> > ope, as well
> > as registered cars in Europe.
> >
> > Me: Look at my passport. You can see that I have not been to the US
> > very
> > much in the past few years.
> >
> > Interviewer: I do not need to see that.
> >
> > Me: Yes you do. It is a US passport and you are going to look at it.
> > See
> > ssport was
> > completely full and they had to add new pages. Look (opening to
> > page 1),
> > Germany, United Kingdom, Australia....
> >
> > Interviewer: Enough Sir.
> >
> > ion
> > which you refused to look at. You are going to look at it now.
> > Germany,
> > Poland, Russia
> >
> > Interviewer: Enough Sir.
> >
> > Me: Romania, France, ... And continuing on for about 40 more stamps.
> > I
> > uld have
> > taken hours.
> >
> > At this point the crowd behind me was really taking interest. Later
> > on my
> > wife told me the were asking her questions like "He's a US citizen
> > and you
> > cannot get a visa? Oh man were screwed".
> >
> > Interviewer: Well your flat is awful small.
> >
> > ge
> > enough? How big of a flat do you live in?
> >
> > Interviewer: The tax statements you showed me were from 2001.
> >
> > Me: Yes, of course. This is 2002. I cannot file for 2002 yet.
> >
> > Interviewer: They are US taxes. Why did you file US taxes if you do
> > not
> > live there?
> >
> > tter
> > where I live. Are you telling me that I should not file them?
> > Please, can I
> > borrow the phone? I would like to have you speak to the IRS for
> > me. I am
> > sure they would love to hear that the US Embassy is exempting me
> > from this.
> >
> > Interviewer: Well I still cannot guarantee you will return.
> >
> > Me: Did you look in my wife's passport?
> >
> > Interviewer: No.
> >
> > rate
> > visas to Germany, the Netherlands and Spain. She returned on all
> > of them.
> > We also have a valid visa here that you have seen and spend our
> > winters
> > here. She has also visited France and Belgium using the Schengen
> > agreements. Why is it the did not give us any hassle but my own
> > country
> > gives us so many troubles?
> >
> > Interviewer: I dont know.
> >
> > Me: Well you better figure it out and tell me, because I'm speaking
> > with
> > the Consul next and I bet he will be asking you. You better have
> > a better
> > answer than "I don't know".
> >
> > Interviewer: Well Germany is Germany, not the US.
> >
> > untry?
> > Give me a break. Do you realize you just said that in front of
> > all these
> > eat your
> > statement to the German Embassy just down the road? Germany is
> > not a third
> > world country. They didn't give her any trouble, and neither did
> > The
> > Netherlands or Spain. Your running out of excuses.
> >
> > Interviewer: What if you choose to stay?
> >
> > Me: We do not want to live in the US. We are happy where we are. Why
> > is it
> > that you cannot believe that not everyone in the world wants to
> > live in the
> > US? Are Europeans inferior in some way? Why is this so hard for
> > you to
> > believe? And if I want to stay, I have a US passport.
> >
> > sa no
> > problem? They even asked how long we wanted to stay. It is going
> > to be
> > really embarrassing when we have to fly to Toronto and have my
> > parents meet
> > it.
> >
> > There were numerous other arguments that have lapsed my memory. In
> > the she
> > ended up reversing her decision and granting the visa. She had to
> > alter the
> > stamp in my wife's passport.
> >
> > e. We
> > have no intent to. We just wanted to visit. They issued the visa wi-
> > th a
> > comment on the visa "Not permitted to adjust status".
> >
> > When we arrived in New York Immigration saw this and told us "This
> > is your
> > is was
> > without any comment from us to trigger such a comment. I explained
> > the
> > situation and they could not believe it. I told them thanks but we
> > were
> > dling
> > visa. They appear to have two totally different directives.
> >
> > We have no intention to adjust our status as I gave the woman in
> > the
> > Embassy my word. However in the future I do not wish to waste a
> > day, $100,
> > and a trip to the capital city for each visa. They should issue
> > her a multi
> > entry visa and be done with it. I will push for this next time
> > for sure.
> >
> > Welcome to the USA.
jesus what a horrible experience
--
Posted via http://britishexpats.com
Manc
> jesus what a horrible experience
Chad, That's awful.There is something wrong when your own consulate/emb-
assy doesn't believe you and are basically calling you a liar.
You are still a registered voter correct?
start writing letters.
lots of them.
John Thissen
<member6074@british_expats.com> wrote:
>> >
>> > When we arrived in New York Immigration saw this and told us "This
>> > is your
>> > country. If you want to stay longer, all you have to do is ask". Th-
>> > is was
>> > without any comment from us to trigger such a comment. I explained
>> > the
>> > situation and they could not believe it. I told them thanks but we
>> > were
>> > only visiting. INS obviously has no idea how the consulates are han-
>> > dling
>> > visa. They appear to have two totally different directives.
>> >
Ayup. My wife is Russian. While our situation is a bit different from
yours, we do not reside in the US. We got her a green card, as that
was the only way offered to us to get her into the US for the time
that we do spend there.
Rete
> >> > is
> >> > is your
> >> > country. If you want to stay longer, all you have to do is ask".
> >> > Th-
> >> > is was
> >> > ed
> >> > the
> >> > situation and they could not believe it. I told them thanks but
> >> > we
> >> > were
> >> > only visiting. INS obviously has no idea how the consulates are
> >> > han-
> >> > dling
> >> > visa. They appear to have two totally different directives.
> >> >
>
> Ayup. My wife is Russian. While our situation is a bit different from
> yours, we do not reside in the US. We got her a green card, as that
> was the only way offered to us to get her into the US for the time
> that we do spend there.
How funny ;-) You three responded to a post that is 19 months old all
because a troll brought the post forward ;-)
Good job Jadm500
Manc
> How funny ;-) You three responded to a post that is 19 months old
> all because a troll brought the post forward ;-)
>
> Good job Jadm500
I figured it was old Rete as it said 2002 in his post, but the story was
like a fire at a carpet factory. You know it's wrong, but you just can't
help watching.