Heather

Hi I am new to the group. I have searched the archives for info on overstay waivers.
However I would like some more current info, especially post sept 11. My husband and
I filed a request for waiver in Madrid and were denied. (My husband overstayed his
visa for 4 years. He was not living in the US when I married him). I am so devastated
as we are not able to work in Spain. (We are both US trained and licensed). We have
begun immigration procedures to Canada, but it is highly unlikely we will be able to
go there. Basically we are stuck, with no country to go to where we can eek out a
living. We have asked for assistance from my senator and representative but I am very
pessimistic. Anyone gone through all of this lately? I would like to comiserate with
someone regarding this highly depressive situation. Thanks

Andy Platt

Obviously it's shame he returned to Spain instead of adjusting status. One question:
Did he use an attorney to prepare the waiver case?

Andy.

--
I'm not really here - it's just your warped imagination. "Heather"
<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Hi I am new to the group. I have searched the archives for info on overstay
    > waivers. However I would like some more current info, especially post sept 11. My
    > husband and I filed a request for waiver in Madrid and were denied. (My husband
    > overstayed his visa for 4 years. He was not living in the US when I married him).
    > I am so devastated as we are not able to work in Spain. (We are both US trained
    > and licensed). We have begun immigration procedures to Canada, but it is highly
    > unlikely we will be able to go there. Basically we are stuck, with no country to
    > go to where we can eek out a living. We have asked for assistance from my senator
    > and representative but I am very pessimistic. Anyone gone through all of this
    > lately? I would like to comiserate with someone regarding this highly depressive
    > situation. Thanks

Michael Voight

Andy Platt wrote:
    >
    > Obviously it's shame he returned to Spain instead of adjusting status. One
    > question: Did he use an attorney to prepare the waiver case?

Well, she wasn't married to him then, so how could he adjust status?

Mrtravel

Heather wrote:
    >
    > Hi I am new to the group. I have searched the archives for info on overstay
    > waivers. However I would like some more current info, especially post sept 11.

Generally, they would only be granted due to hardship as defined by INS terms.
Nothing in your statements have indicated there was one.

. He was not living in the US when I married him). I am so
    > devastated as we are not able to work in Spain. (We are both US trained and
    > licensed).

Trained in what??

We have begun immigration procedures to Canada,
    > but it is highly unlikely we will be able to go there. Basically we are stuck, with
    > no country to go to where we can eek out a living.

MILLIONS of people manage to eke (and more) out a living in Spain. What prevents you
and him from doing this?

    >We have asked for assistance from my senator and representative but I am very
    >pessimistic.

I don't understand. The House and Senate are the ones who passed the law banning
people that overstay visas by over 180 days. He did it for 4 years. Are you asking
them to make an exception in his case simply because he got married?

Heather

mrtravel <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
    > Heather wrote:
    > >
    > > Hi I am new to the group. I have searched the archives for info on overstay
    > > waivers. However I would like some more current info, especially post sept 11.
    >
    > Generally, they would only be granted due to hardship as defined by INS terms.
    > Nothing in your statements have indicated there was one.
    >
    > . He was not living in the US when I married him). I am so
    > > devastated as we are not able to work in Spain. (We are both US trained and
    > > licensed).
    >
    > Trained in what??
I am a Registered Nurse, my husband is a FAA licensed pilot. Neither our educations
nor our licenses are recognized in Spain, which means that we have to repeat
educations at exorbitant costs.
    >
    > We have begun immigration procedures to Canada,
    > > but it is highly unlikely we will be able to go there. Basically we are stuck,
    > > with no country to go to where we can eek out a living.
    >
    > MILLIONS of people manage to eke (and more) out a living in Spain. What prevents
    > you and him from doing this?
Because neither of us have marketable skills that we can use. I am looking at
possibly teaching english and he at manual labor. Spain is not in a great economic
situation and we would live in a rather economically depressed area because that is
where we can stay with family.
    >
    > >We have asked for assistance from my senator and representative but I am very
    > >pessimistic.
    >
    > I don't understand. The House and Senate are the ones who passed the law banning
    > people that overstay visas by over 180 days. He did it for 4 years. Are you asking
    > them to make an exception in his case simply because he got married?

YES. And I do not care if you do not agree. I posted this message because I am
looking to correspond with people who have had similar experiences in order to
discuss the outcomes, feelings, etc, sort of as a support group. Not so that I could
solve this problem. This problem is only solvable in ten years, I understand that. I
know I was naive and uninformed entering this process.

Andy Platt

You didn't answer my question about the lawyer. Let me try another one. Did you
include the evidence that it would be very difficult for *you* (the law doesn't care
about your husband however much you think it should) to move to Spain. This is the
sort of hardship evidence that needs to be included in the waiver application. A good
attorney should have been able to address this.

Andy.

--
I'm not really here - it's just your warped imagination. "Heather"
<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > mrtravel <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
    > > Heather wrote:
    > > >
    > > > Hi I am new to the group. I have searched the archives for info on overstay
    > > > waivers. However I would like some more current info, especially post sept 11.
    > >
    > > Generally, they would only be granted due to hardship as defined by INS terms.
    > > Nothing in your statements have indicated there was one.
    > >
    > > . He was not living in the US when I married him). I am so
    > > > devastated as we are not able to work in Spain. (We are both US trained and
    > > > licensed).
    > >
    > > Trained in what??
    > I am a Registered Nurse, my husband is a FAA licensed pilot. Neither our educations
    > nor our licenses are recognized in Spain, which means that we have to repeat
    > educations at exorbitant costs.
    > >
    > > We have begun immigration procedures to Canada,
    > > > but it is highly unlikely we will be able to go there. Basically we are stuck,
    > > > with no country to go to where we can eek out a living.
    > >
    > > MILLIONS of people manage to eke (and more) out a living in Spain. What prevents
    > > you and him from doing this?
    > Because neither of us have marketable skills that we can use. I am looking at
    > possibly teaching english and he at manual labor. Spain is not in a great economic
    > situation and we would live in a rather economically depressed area because that is
    > where we can stay with family.
    > >
    > > >We have asked for assistance from my senator and representative but I am very
    > > >pessimistic.
    > >
    > > I don't understand. The House and Senate are the ones who passed the law banning
    > > people that overstay visas by over 180 days. He did it for 4 years. Are you
    > > asking them to make an exception in his case simply because he got married?
    >
    > YES. And I do not care if you do not agree. I posted this message because I am
    > looking to correspond with people who have had similar experiences in order to
    > discuss the outcomes, feelings, etc, sort of as a support group. Not so that I
    > could solve this problem. This problem is only solvable in ten years, I understand
    > that. I know I was naive and uninformed entering this process.

Heather

"Andy Platt" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
    > You didn't answer my question about the lawyer. Let me try another one. Did you
    > include the evidence that it would be very difficult for *you* (the law doesn't
    > care about your husband however much you think it should) to move to Spain. This is
    > the sort of hardship evidence that needs to be included in the waiver application.
    > A good attorney should have been able to address this.
    >
    > Andy.
Well unfortunately we didn't contact a lawyer. As I stated before, we were simply
extremely naive and uninformed. We could not afford a lawyer, and the pro bono
lawyers we spoke to in Spain had no idea what we were talking about, but we only
contacted them after the waiver had been filed. Let me tell you something that
bothers me, but of course I can do nothing about it. Since we were not even aware of
the 10 year ban rule, we filed all our papers honestly in the embassy in Madrid,
thinking that if we told the truth it would be okay. The immigration secretary told
us we needed a waiver because of my husband's overstay. She gave us a form, told us
to fill it out, pay $170, and said we should get the waiver in a few weeks. Well this
woman was extremely uninformed, because what we got in a few weeks was a letter from
INS in the embassy stating that they needed a letter, stating that it would be a
hardship for me if my husband could not enter the US, in order to grant the waiver. I
wrote a letter stating my reasons, with the idea that it was part of the process, but
with no idea that it was as serious or difficult to get as it is. NOONE in the
embassy or INS told us that. As I said, we were naive. I do believe that I had good
reasons for extreme hardship, and had we contacted a US immigration lawyer I feel we
would have had different results. (My reasons included a frail diabetic mother, who
needs me close by, that I am in the middle of a bachelor's degree program which upon
completion would have allowed my student loans to be forgiven, that now that I am not
enrolled in university my $20,000 loans have come due and my parents must help me pay
them, causing a large financial burden on them, that I can't work in my chosen field
in Spain, that I don't speak the language, (although after 10 months in Spain waiting
for this to resolve, I do now), and that my career is highly in demand in the US due
to an extreme nursing shortage. Those are MY reasons and I felt they were good,
although I am sure everyone thinks they have good reasons and I am not the one making
the decisions.) Anyway, wish I would have had your advice a year ago, wish I would've
known this board existed a year ago, wish I had done a lot differently a year ago.

Mrtravel

Heather wrote:

    > > Trained in what??
    > I am a Registered Nurse, my husband is a FAA licensed pilot. Neither our educations
    > nor our licenses are recognized in Spain, which means that we have to repeat
    > educations at exorbitant costs.

Your latest post indicates you have been there for 10 month and you were considering
teaching English and he was considering manual labor. What kind of work have the two
of you been doing for the last 10 months? I would think a claim of hardship would be
harder to prove if you have been living in the country for that much time. I realize
that you are staying with his family, but having lived there for 10 months would seem
to go against the hardship claim. No, it is NOT that I am uncaring about people
wishing to immigrate. If that was the case, I wouldn't be here. However, I take a
very realistic view of how harsh INS can be, and those are the people you need to
prove the hardship to.

    > > >We have asked for assistance from my senator and representative but I am very
    > > >pessimistic.
    > >
    > > I don't understand. The House and Senate are the ones who passed the law banning
    > > people that overstay visas by over 180 days. He did it for 4 years. Are you
    > > asking them to make an exception in his case simply because he got married?
    >
    > YES. And I do not care if you do not agree.

Right, I do not agree that simply being married should, in itself, exempt him from
the ban. And, since congress enacted the law, it makes sense for congress not to be
too much in a hurry to help. Do you know how they voted on the legistlation that
enacted this ban?

    >I posted this message because I am looking to correspond with people who have had
    >similar experiences in order to discuss the outcomes, feelings, etc, sort of as a
    >support group. Not so that I could solve this problem. This problem is only solvable
    >in ten years, I understand that.

The problem may be solveable in less than ten years if he can make the tough
requirements of the waiver. If you feel you do meet the requirements, then you may
just need more evidence. Regarding the loan.. Your inability to pay it might be
considered a hardship, but... you stated that if you didn't pay it then your parents
would have to and that would be a hardship to them. If so, then you would have to
document that to the INS. For instance, what are the consequences in them not paying
it? Did they cosign? Will they lose their house or not have enough food? I am NOT the
one who you have to convince, it is the INS. And the questions and proof will be
difficult.

Andrew Defaria

Heather wrote:

    > Well unfortunately we didn't contact a lawyer. As I stated before, we were simply
    > extremely naive and uninformed.

I'm not trying to be a hard ass here however when the embassy refuses to issue a visa
they should give you a piece of paper stating why as well as explain the available
relief you might seek (i.e. wavier). Contained there are references to the law. You
could have easily looked them up at the INS' web site and read about the charges and
the relief and could have gained a much better understanding of what you were facing.
It's not that hard to at least gain an understanding. From there you could have made
a better decision whether to go it alone or seek help. I know, I know, it's a very
difficult thing to deal with when you are reeling from the emotional stress of the
separation and the uncertainties involved.

    > We could not afford a lawyer, and the pro bono lawyers we spoke to in Spain had no
    > idea what we were talking about, but we only contacted them after the waiver had
    > been filed.

Don't know why you were attempting to take to lawyers in Spain. The issue is with the
INS and DOS in the US not Spain. Perhaps that's because that's where you were living
at the time.

    > Let me tell you something that bothers me, but of course I can do nothing about
    > it. Since we were not even aware of the 10 year ban rule, we filed all our
    > papers honestly in the embassy in Madrid, thinking that if we told the truth it
    > would be okay.

Interesting but, as you have already stated, naive. Yes you need to be truthful or
rather you should not lie. But exactly how much truth you let out appears to be an
art form for successful social behavior. I know, I suck at it too! However you
wouldn't think, if you were faced say with an accusation of murder, that merely
telling the truth (Yes your honor - I shot him!) would be a good course of action.

Well what's done is done I guess. I'm unclear as to whether your wavier has been
denied yet. Perhaps you can amend it still?

    > The immigration secretary told us we needed a waiver because of my husband's
    > overstay. She gave us a form, told us to fill it out, pay $170, and said we should
    > get the waiver in a few weeks. Well this woman was extremely uninformed, because
    > what we got in a few weeks was a letter from INS in the embassy stating that they
    > needed a letter, stating that it would be a hardship for me if my husband could not
    > enter the US, in order to grant the waiver. I wrote a letter stating my reasons,
    > with the idea that it was part of the process, but with no idea that it was as
    > serious or difficult to get as it is. NOONE in the embassy or INS told us that.

While it seems to make logical sense that they should it's really not their job to
insure that you are informed of the laws. It's supposed to be your job! However I
agree with you that they could do a much better job than you and that they should
assist you.

    > As I said, we were naive. I do believe that I had good reasons for extreme
    > hardship, and had we contacted a US immigration lawyer I feel we would have had
    > different results. (My reasons included a frail diabetic mother, who needs me close
    > by, that I am in the middle of a bachelor's degree program which upon completion
    > would have allowed my student loans to be forgiven, that now that I am not enrolled
    > in university my $20,000 loans have come due and my parents must help me pay them,
    > causing a large financial burden on them, that I can't work in my chosen field in
    > Spain, that I don't speak the language, (although after 10 months in Spain waiting
    > for this to resolve, I do now), and that my career is highly in demand in the US
    > due to an extreme nursing shortage. Those are MY reasons and I felt they were good,
    > although I am sure everyone thinks they have good reasons and I am not the one
    > making the decisions.)

All sound like good reasons. What did they say about it? I forget, have they denied
you anyway? Even with these reasons?

    > Anyway, wish I would have had your advice a year ago, wish I would've known this
    > board existed a year ago, wish I had done a lot differently a year ago.

Maybe there's still time. I believe you can appeal a denial but I'm not sure.

Also, I did ask, isn't these hardship waivers good only for spouses and not fiancé's?
Nobody ventured a guess about that but I only saw the term "spouse" used WRT this and
have yet to see the word "fiancé".

I wish you the best and hope that there is still time to amend your waiver and
achieve success.

Heather

mrtravel <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
    > Your latest post indicates you have been there for 10 month and you were
    > considering teaching English and he was considering manual labor. What kind of work
    > have the two of you been doing for the last 10 months? I would think a claim of
    > hardship would be harder to prove if you have been living in the country for that
    > much time. I realize that you are staying with his family, but having lived there
    > for 10 months would seem to go against the hardship claim. No, it is NOT that I am
    > uncaring about people wishing to immigrate. If that was the case, I wouldn't be
    > here. However, I take a very realistic view of how harsh INS can be, and those are
    > the people you need to prove the hardship to.
Actually, at the time we filed the waiver, we had been in Spain for only 2 months (we
came so I could meet his family, have the wedding, and go on our honeymoon. I should
state here that the year before we had been living in Costa Rica, where I was
involved in a study project through my university. My husband haddn't been in the US
since 1998.) We stayed in Spain until we heard that the waiver had been denied, which
was 5 months later. I came back to the US to settle many of my affairs, my husband
went to Canada to check out the situation there, how to change the pilot's license,
immigration, etc. So basically I exaggerated a little, when I think about it, I was
only in Spain for 7 months, not 10. My husband is returning to Spain this week to
look for work. (most likely as a fork lift operator). I will be returning once I have
enough money to pay for the flight.
    > > > >We have asked for assistance from my senator and representative but I am very
    > > > >pessimistic.

    > And, since congress enacted the law, it makes sense for congress not to be too much
    > in a hurry to help. Do you know how they voted on the legistlation that enacted
    > this ban?
My father is actually the one who contacted the congressmen. He is probably the most
law abiding, conservative republican you will find, however, he was just appalled
that his daughter might not be able to live in the US. The reason I said I was
pessimistic is because I do not believe talking to congressmen will do any good, as
our waiver has already been denied. However, our representative is pro-immigration
and a large percent of his district is filled with illegal aliens. (We live in south
texas where illegal immigrants basically keep the farming and ranching afloat.)

I kind of have to thank you for the wake up call. I had been hiding some hope that we
could live in the US, but after reading these posts and thinking about it all day, I
realize that although living in Spain would mean a drastic, and I do mean drastic,
cut in our financial lives, it may also just be the way it has to be. So I am
accepting of it more now. (btw our waiver has been denied dead and I don't think
there is anything more we can do.)

I would like to know if anyone has any idea from what dates we are supposed to count
this 10 yr ban. I asked the INS office in the embassy in Madrid and they literally
could not tell me. They said they just didn't know. I swear I think that Madrid is
where they send all of their underachievers. My husband left the US in Dec of 1998 of
his own free will, INS had no idea he was there, there was no deportation. So.. do we
count the 10 yrs from that date, or when INS applied the ban, Sept of 2001?

Andy Platt

"Heather" <[email protected]> wrote:

    > I would like to know if anyone has any idea from what dates we are supposed to
    > count this 10 yr ban. I asked the INS office in the embassy in Madrid and they
    > literally could not tell me. They said they just didn't know. I swear I think that
    > Madrid is where they send all of their underachievers. My husband left the US in
    > Dec of 1998 of his own free will, INS had no idea he was there, there was no
    > deportation. So.. do we count the 10 yrs from that date, or when INS applied the
    > ban, Sept of 2001?

It's from the day he left the US. If I were you I would still contact an attorney and
see if the waiver denial could be appealed and/or another one filed.

Andy.

--
I'm not really here - it's just your warped imagination.

Andrew Defaria

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <meta
http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1"> <title></title>
</head> <body> Heather wrote:<br> <blockquote type="cite"
cite="[email protected] le.com"><!TEST->Actually, at the
time we filed the waiver, we had been in Spain for only 2 months (we came so I could
meet his family, have the wedding, and go on our honeymoon. </blockquote> So then
this is not a fianc&eacute; issue rather a spouse issue.<br> <blockquote type="cite"
cite="[email protected] le.com">I should state here that
the year before we had been living in Costa Rica, where I was involved in a study
project through my university. My husband haddn't been in the US since
1998.)</blockquote> Doesn't sound like it is an extreme hardship for you to be living
outside of the country for long periods of time. Sounds like your sick mom is able to
get on without you. That was his point.<br> <blockquote type="cite"
cite="[email protected] le.com">We stayed in Spain until we
heard that the waiver had been denied, which was 5 months later. I came back to the
US to settle many of my affairs, my husband went to Canada to check out the situation
there, how to change the pilot's license, immigration, etc. So basically I
exaggerated a little, when I think about it, I was only in Spain for 7 months, not
10. My husband is returning to Spain this week to look for<br> work. (most likely as
a fork lift operator). I will be returning once I have enough money to pay for the
flight.</blockquote> Again, it doesn't seem to me, nor the INS I would bet, that it
is an extreme hardship for you to live outside the US for long periods of time. As a
contrast, if I were forced into living in the Ukraine with my fianc&eacute;e I would
probably lose the house I just purchase, would most likely not be able to gain
employment in my field nor make enough money to pay my child support which is court
mandated, let alone not be able to jet back and forth to visit my daughter with any
frequency. In short I would not be able to spend even 3 months away from the US
without losing my house and getting into trouble WRT child support. Seems like you
were able to spend a year in Costa Rica and 7 months in Spain without any
<b>extreme</b> hardship already. This does not bode favorably with your appeal for a
waiver.<br> <blockquote type="cite"
cite="[email protected] le.com"><!TEST->My father is
actually the one who contacted the congressmen. He is probably the most law abiding,
conservative republican you will find, </blockquote> Irrelevent.<br> <blockquote
type="cite" cite="[email protected] le.com">however, he was
just appalled that his daughter might not be able to live in the US. </blockquote>
And why would you not be able to live in the US? Seems to me like you have spent time
living abroad as well as in the US without much trouble. Or has all of your living
lately (1 year + 7 months) been abroad?<br> <blockquote type="cite"
cite="[email protected] le.com">The reason I said I was
pessimistic is because I do not believe talking to congressmen will do any good, as
our waiver has already been denied. </blockquote> You're right - it probably won't -
even if it had not yet been denied. IMHO congressmen are largely ineffectual in these
matters though not always. IOW it worth a shot. However, since it's been denied you
now need to look into whether an appeal is an option and then have a lawyer persue
that.<br> <blockquote type="cite"
cite="[email protected] le.com">I kind of have to thank you
for the wake up call. I had been hiding some hope that we could live in the US, but
after reading these posts and thinking about it all day, I realize that although
living in Spain<br> would mean a drastic, and I do mean drastic, cut in our financial
lives, it may also just be the way it has to be. So I am accepting of it more now.
(btw our waiver has been denied dead and I don't think there is anything more we can
do.)</blockquote> Usually you can appeal things. I'm not certain about a denied
wavier. You should look it up at the INS site or ask a lawyer. Perhaps somebody here
can give a definitive answer...<br> <blockquote type="cite"
cite="[email protected] le.com">I would like to know if
anyone has any idea from what dates we are supposed to count this 10 yr ban. I asked
the INS office in the embassy in Madrid and they literally could not tell me. They
said they just didn't know. I swear I think that Madrid is where they send all of
their underachievers. My husband left the US in Dec of 1998 of his own free will, INS
had no idea he was there, there was no deportation. So.. do we count the 10 yrs from
that date, or when INS applied the ban, Sept of 2001?</blockquote> It's 10 years
since he left the US. If you wish to claim Dec 1998 then fine. You just need to prove
it. Prove would consist of airline tickets and/or visa stamps or other records. As
you said, the INS does not know when he left. They do know that as of Sept 2001 he
was not there so that's the date they are using. You could make the argument that it
was sooner provided you can prove it. Dig up the proof and save it.<br> <br> <br>
</body> </html

Andy Platt

BTW, the law that says it's from departure is here (from Sec. 212. [8 U.S.C.
1182] ):

"(i) In general.-Any alien (other than an alien lawfully admitted for permanent
residence) who-

(I) was unlawfully present in the United States for a period of more than 180 days
but less than 1 year, voluntarily departed the United States (whether or not
pursuant to section 244(e)) prior to the commencement of proceedings under
section 235(b)(1) or section 240, and again seeks admission within 3 years of
the date of such alien's departure or removal, or

(II) has been unlawfully present in the United States for one year or more, and who
again seeks admission within 10 years of the date of such alien's departure or
removal from the United States,is inadmissible. "

http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/lpBin/lpext...-21/slb-1891?f
=templates&fn=document-frame.htm#slb-act212

Andy.

--
I'm not really here - it's just your warped imagination. "Andy Platt"
<[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
    > "Heather" <[email protected]> wrote:
    >
    > > I would like to know if anyone has any idea from what dates we are supposed to
    > > count this 10 yr ban. I asked the INS office in the embassy in Madrid and they
    > > literally could not tell me. They said they just didn't know. I swear I think
    > > that Madrid is where they send all of their underachievers. My husband left the
    > > US in Dec of 1998 of his own free will, INS had no idea he was there, there was
    > > no deportation. So.. do we count the 10 yrs from that date, or when INS applied
    > > the ban, Sept of 2001?
    >
    > It's from the day he left the US. If I were you I would still contact an attorney
    > and see if the waiver denial could be appealed and/or another one filed.
    >
    > Andy.
    >
    > --
    > I'm not really here - it's just your warped imagination.

Heather

Andrew DeFaria <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
    > I'm not trying to be a hard ass here however when the embassy refuses to issue a
    > visa they should give you a piece of paper stating why as well as explain the
    > available relief you might seek (i.e. wavier). Contained there are references to
    > the law. You could have easily looked them up at the INS' web site and read about
    > the charges and the relief and could have gained a much better understanding of
    > what you were facing. It's not that hard to at least gain an understanding. From
    > there you could have made a better decision whether to go it alone or seek help. I
    > know, I know, it's a very difficult thing to deal with when you are reeling from
    > the emotional stress of the separation and the uncertainties involved.
Our visa was not denied at the time they told us of the waiver. At no time did they
ever "refuse to give the visa", as such, we never received a paper stating why or
what our recourses were. We were in our interview, and the immigration person simply
told us to fill out the "request for the waiver" form after we told her that my
husband had overstayed his visa. She said once we received the waiver in the mail, we
would get the visa. Every time I spoke with the visa office in the embassy while we
were waiting for the waiver, they would tell me, your visa is "pending the waiver".
never denied or refused. Now it is denied, since we have the results of the waiver
request. We did receive a letter from INS with references to the law in the waiver
denial letter. We didn't look them up on the INS website because we didn't have
internet access, at home or in the town we lived in. No excuse, as we could have gone
to the nearest city to an internet cafe, but we just didn't think of it. I know, I
know, naive (sometimes I feel as though naive is just a euphemism for dumb).

    > Well what's done is done I guess. I'm unclear as to whether your wavier has been
    > denied yet. Perhaps you can amend it still? What did they say about it? I forget,
    > have they denied you anyway?
Even with >these reasons?

The waiver has been denied. The reason listed was that I did not demonstrate an
extreme enough hardship, and in fact "the reasons given were all self-serving."
(quote from the denial letter).

    > Also, I did ask, isn't these hardship waivers good only for spouses and not
    > fiancé's? Nobody ventured a guess about that but I only saw the term "spouse" used
    > WRT this and have yet to see the word "fiancé".
I am pretty sure the waivers are only for spouses. My husband and I were married at
the time we filed the I-130 and the waiver.

Thanks for your comments!

Mrtravel

Heather wrote:
    >
    > mrtravel <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:<[email protected]>...
    > > Your latest post indicates you have been there for 10 month and you were
    > > considering teaching English and he was considering manual labor. What kind of
    > > work have the two of you been doing for the last 10 months? I would think a claim
    > > of hardship would be harder to prove if you have been living in the country for
    > > that much time. I realize that you are staying with his family, but having lived
    > > there for 10 months would seem to go against the hardship claim. No, it is NOT
    > > that I am uncaring about people wishing to immigrate. If that was the case, I
    > > wouldn't be here. However, I take a very realistic view of how harsh INS can be,
    > > and those are the people you need to prove the hardship to.
    > Actually, at the time we filed the waiver, we had been in Spain for only 2 months
    > (we came so I could meet his family, have the wedding, and go on our honeymoon. I
    > should state here that the year before we had been living in Costa Rica, where I
    > was involved in a study project through my university. My husband haddn't been in
    > the US since 1998.) We stayed in Spain until we heard that the waiver had been
    > denied, which was 5 months later. I came back to the US to settle many of my
    > affairs, my husband went to Canada to check out the situation there, how to change
    > the pilot's license, immigration, etc. So basically I exaggerated a little, when I
    > think about it, I was only in Spain for 7 months, not 10. My husband is returning
    > to Spain this week to look for work. (most likely as a fork lift operator).

It is difficult to plead hardship to INS if post you and him have been living outside
of the US for substantial periods of time. Claiming financial issues and then talking
about all this travel. You said your husband went to Canada to check on immigration
issues and details on changing his pilot's license. I can't help but think these
things could have been done without actually going there.