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Debate on why there is a petition stage for an Immigrant Visa

Debate on why there is a petition stage for an Immigrant Visa

Old Jan 31st 2012, 8:50 am
  #16  
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Default Re: A Couple of Questions re filing the I-130

Originally Posted by jeffreyhy
Well, Ms Squirrel, believe it or not, there are foreigners who would marry a US citizen solely because it is the easiest way to immigrate to the USA. And there are US citizens who would marry such foreigners for the money they are offered to do so.

Such marriages do not qualify the foreigner to immigrate to the USA.

So the question is - what type of marriage is yours? And what type of marriage are all those others?

Regards, JEff
You really think those sort of bogus marriages for visa benefits exist ONLY in the US?
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Old Jan 31st 2012, 12:22 pm
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Default Re: A Couple of Questions re filing the I-130

Originally Posted by Squirrel
You really think those sort of bogus marriages for visa benefits exist ONLY in the US?
I thought you were "done with this thread."

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Old Jan 31st 2012, 1:40 pm
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Default Re: A Couple of Questions re filing the I-130

I didn't say that - don't put words in my mouth - and I don't think that.

I do think, as I've already posted, that there are reasonable explanations for why US immigration law is the way it is.

Different countries may have different ways to deal with this and other issues.

Regards, JEff


Originally Posted by Squirrel
You really think those sort of bogus marriages for visa benefits exist ONLY in the US?
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Old Jan 31st 2012, 3:21 pm
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Default Re: Debate on why there is a petition stage for an Immigrant Visa

Originally Posted by Squirrel
Now, if the USC wanted to avoid getting caught out for child suuport, outstanding arrest warrant etc, all he'd have to do is change his name legally. If the US is the same as the UK, then previous names do not appear on the passport (I don't think MIL's maiden mame does). Thus they would only check the name on the passport. (I could be wrong and there could be a central register of all name changes but more than likely as it is a state-by-state thing, like marriage, there is no such thing to be able to check, same as the UK).
The central registry is called the Social Security Administration. I don't believe your SSN changes if you change your name.
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Old Jan 31st 2012, 5:51 pm
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Default Re: Debate on why there is a petition stage for an Immigrant Visa

US immigration law has changed over the years. When I married my ex (UKC) when we were living in Switzerland in 1970, everything was so simple and automatic that I don't remember getting involved.

About a month after we got married, she accompanied me on a 9 month business trip to the US (I don't know if she had a visa or not). After that we returned to Switzerland for another 2 years and then we moved to the US (all I remember is that somehow she had a green card).

After about 18 months in the US, we then moved to Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands (US Trust Territory) with my company contracting for MIT on a military project (Vandenberg missiles were fired into the lagoon) and she was never questioned about her nationality.

In fact immigrations was so simple I don't remember any of it. In fact the only thing I remember about government bureaucracy was that when she renewed her British passport and typed out the renewal form and presented it to the British embassy, they pointed out that instructions clearly stated that she was to fill it out in black ink and she then had to write over the top of her typing to fill out the form.

Last edited by Michael; Jan 31st 2012 at 5:58 pm.
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Old Jan 31st 2012, 6:21 pm
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Default Re: A Couple of Questions re filing the I-130

Originally Posted by Squirrel
How come the ConOff can't just check it at the visa interview?
They probably could. You would have to supply all that information for the interview. The interviews would take that much longer, or the Con Off would have to spend more time checking all the paperwork before the interview. There would be less interviews in a day and you would end up waiting longer for an interview date.

Seems the people doing the job might just have figured it out that if you have a separate department checking that which can be checked at a distance, the whole process is more efficient. That a lot of the work can be done in the USA without having to have more staff stationed in Embassies, and that keeps the costs and hence the fees down. On the other hand perhaps they just don't give a toss how long it all takes.
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Old Jan 31st 2012, 7:15 pm
  #22  
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Default Re: Debate on why there is a petition stage for an Immigrant Visa

Originally Posted by Michael
US immigration law has changed over the years. When I married my ex (UKC) when we were living in Switzerland in 1970, everything was so simple and automatic that I don't remember getting involved.

About a month after we got married, she accompanied me on a 9 month business trip to the US (I don't know if she had a visa or not). After that we returned to Switzerland for another 2 years and then we moved to the US (all I remember is that somehow she had a green card).

After about 18 months in the US, we then moved to Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands (US Trust Territory) with my company contracting for MIT on a military project (Vandenberg missiles were fired into the lagoon) and she was never questioned about her nationality.

In fact immigrations was so simple I don't remember any of it. In fact the only thing I remember about government bureaucracy was that when she renewed her British passport and typed out the renewal form and presented it to the British embassy, they pointed out that instructions clearly stated that she was to fill it out in black ink and she then had to write over the top of her typing to fill out the form.
I know what you mean. I married my first husband in 1979, he was in the USA on a student visa. I am quite sure we had to have done some paperwork in order to get his green card, but for the life of me I cannot remember any of it. He got his green card and later became a USC and I don't remember anything except showing up at a government office and being asked why I'm marrying him (we'd been dating a year and a half, but he was Iranian and that was during the Iran hostage crisis thing, so I remember getting scrutinized as to our motives for marrying).

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Old Jan 31st 2012, 8:01 pm
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Default Re: Debate on why there is a petition stage for an Immigrant Visa

Originally Posted by Noorah101
I know what you mean. I married my first husband in 1979, he was in the USA on a student visa. I am quite sure we had to have done some paperwork in order to get his green card, but for the life of me I cannot remember any of it. He got his green card and later became a USC and I don't remember anything except showing up at a government office and being asked why I'm marrying him (we'd been dating a year and a half, but he was Iranian and that was during the Iran hostage crisis thing, so I remember getting scrutinized as to our motives for marrying).

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I'm sure my ex did it 100% on her own. I do not remember seeing or signing one single piece of paperwork.
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Old Jan 31st 2012, 8:19 pm
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Default Re: A Couple of Questions re filing the I-130

Good points. Especially the second point. Looking at the larger picture, things would get more complicated for relatives other than spouses and especially for relatives who are not in the Immediate Relative category.

Regards, JEff


Originally Posted by lansbury
They probably could. You would have to supply all that information for the interview. The interviews would take that much longer, or the Con Off would have to spend more time checking all the paperwork before the interview. There would be less interviews in a day and you would end up waiting longer for an interview date.

Seems the people doing the job might just have figured it out that if you have a separate department checking that which can be checked at a distance, the whole process is more efficient. That a lot of the work can be done in the USA without having to have more staff stationed in Embassies
Originally Posted by Squirrel
How come the ConOff can't just check it at the visa interview?
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Old Jan 31st 2012, 9:35 pm
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Default Re: A Couple of Questions re filing the I-130

Originally Posted by Squirrel
Well it makes no bones to me if it takes 25 years for people to get US spouse visas or if they even abolish them. I just don't think someone could be mistaken in thinking if they are a USC and they marry a foreigner that they 'might not' be eligible to apply for a visa and be 'disappointed' to find that is not the case. I think the US Immigration system COULD be streamlined, but there is no incentive to do it because the US could care less how long it takes. And 'respectfully' people would and have died trying to get to the UK (frozen on aeroplane wheels, suffocated in lorries etc) and the US does not have a monopoly on that. Ask any of the people camped at Sangette outside Calais who've crossed the borders of loads of other countries trying desperately to get to the UK.

I know however that most regulars on this forum would defend US Immigration if they brought in a new rule that you need to donate a kidney to get a green card, because US Immigration is 100% perfect and there is not a thing that could be bettered about it.

I am done with this thread.
You're very wrong Squirrel; we all here have our gripes about US immigration, and know that there are probably many ways to streamline the process, esp with the use of computers today. However, none of us here are in a position to influence the laws and change them, so we've just basically given up on asking "why?". You'll only give yourself a headache if you keep asking this.

There are situations in which the foreign spouse of a USC may find themselves unable to immigrate. If the foreign spouse has certain criminal convictions, they may never be able to live here. Not to mention, if the foreign spouse overstayed the VWP or another visa, they may find themselves facing a 3yr, 10yr, or possibly even a permanent ban on moving here. So these are all things that are checked prior to the foreign spouse being allowed to apply for a visa. Just because a person marries a USC, it doesn't give them automatic privileges to a visa...just as the same goes for a UKC marrying a foreigner.

Are you also as concerned about UK immigration? There are proposed changes that will be coming into effect in the next 2 months that will have significant impact on spouses of UKCs being able to move there. There are many discussions on the Moving Back to the UK forum here, and on the talk.uk-yankee forums.
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