Recently had 'denied right to enter US' waived
 

Hello
My story is a little complicated. I would appreciate any help with this...

Here are the facts:

I am 35, PhD student, gay UK citizen.
I am civil partnered for 3 years to an American citizen who is living here in the UK.
I was denied entry to the US in 2003 due to two convictions of shoplifting (the last one in 1998)
After a lengthy process i have now had that 'ineligibility to enter the US' waived and i have a nonimmigrant tourist visa, lasting until Feb 2012, which is going to allow me to meet my partner's family in Chicago this coming Thanksgiving.

Here are the questions:

When i apply for my next tourist visa, will i have to go through the same lengthy process involving police records and a trip to the US Embassy, and additionally will my past ineligibility cause additional delays to this process (as it did the last time - my application had to be considered by US Homeland Security and they decided to waive my ineligibility)?

If (and that's a very big IF!) Obama makes same-sex marriages legal throughout the whole USA, will i be able to go and live in the US with my partner and get a green card via the family method, or will my past ineligibility cause problems, even though it's now waived?

Re: Recently had 'denied right to enter US' waived
 

Yes

Obama can not.

If it did happen will unlikely to be a major road block.

Re: Recently had 'denied right to enter US' waived
 

Yes.

Maybe.

The legality of ss-marriages isn't really your issue, because that will never happen nation-wide due to the way our gov't is structured.
However, the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is the thing you are hoping will come down. That is what currently bars a legally married ss couple from immigration to the US.
If you ever did come to an immigrant visa application (you know you can immigrate via your work.. PhD makes you a good candidate) you will still have to declare your old arrests and make them part of your immigrant processing. They probably are not a permanent bar to your immigration though. There are immigrant waivers too.

Re: Recently had 'denied right to enter US' waived
 

Thanks so much.
I never knew that last part about the same sex marriage situation in the US.

Re: Recently had 'denied right to enter US' waived
 

Yes - marriage is regulated by each individual state but immigration is regulated by the Federal government and, as meauxna says, the big stumbling block to immigration benefits for same sex couples is the Federal "Defense of Marriage Act" which while it doesn't prevent individual states from recognizing same sex marriage, does say, among other things, that the Federal government does not recognize it :(

Re: Recently had 'denied right to enter US' waived
 

Waivers are PERMANENT unless you reoffend .

Re: Recently had 'denied right to enter US' waived
 

Not necessarily true.

Re: Recently had 'denied right to enter US' waived
 

Thank you. That didn't sound correct to me as I have seen many posts from people who need to reapply/renew their waiver.

Re: Recently had 'denied right to enter US' waived
 

Hi,

That's not accurate.

Here is some light reading:

http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/87150.pdf

"9 FAM 40.301 N6.2-3 When Requesting Multiple Entry Waivers Valid for More Than One Year

(CT:VISA-1641; 04-20-2011)

a. If an alien meets the criteria for a waiver as set forth above, you may recommend a waiver valid for multiple applications for admission for a period of more than one year, but not to exceed five years, except as specified in 9 FAM 40.301 N6.3 below. In general, requests for waivers of more than one year must be referred to the Department. However, if an alien has received two or more one-year (or longer) waivers, you may submit the recommendation for a waiver directly to the Admissibility Review Office (ARO) without referral to the Department,..."

Re: Recently had 'denied right to enter US' waived
 

Well , i was informed that is the case by the waiver adjudicator at the U.S. Embassy in London , after USCIS did not realise this TWICE, denying me after a waiver approval..in his words..waivers are permanent unless you re-offend ! sorry for the oversight...oh thats ok , i love being denied twice by people who dont know what the xxxx they are doing !!

Re: Recently had 'denied right to enter US' waived
 

Forgive me if, after reading the regulations, I'm not swayed to agree with your "waivers are permanent" claim because you responded with 'because some waiver adjudicator guy in London told me so'.

Re: Recently had 'denied right to enter US' waived
 

... and, indeed, this statement
would also seem to confirm that whatever andy1 might think, USCIS don't think that "waivers are permanent" either ...

Re: Recently had 'denied right to enter US' waived
 

I understand your thoughts , but , USCIS has a knack of not knowing what they are doing, if you visit Visa Journey , there are numerous similar cases of wrong denial , i was only making the point that a waiver adjudicator SHOULD know the correct procedure , other than that its just a lottery , get the right USCIS officer and your ok , get the wrong incompetant one and your denied. Oh , and the people that do the applications for USCIS are not qualified Immigration officers , and have a check list to work to apparently .

Re: Recently had 'denied right to enter US' waived
 

The same thing goes for internet contributors on forums, I suppose.

I'm puzzled as to why you would think that USCIS had anything to do with a nonimmigrant visa application submitted to the DOS that required concurrence/approval by DHS/CBP for a waiver of inadmissibility. Where exactly did USCIS become involved in the OP's situation?

USCIS had nothing to do with it. Kettle.... pot.....

Re: Recently had 'denied right to enter US' waived
 

Finally! I've been waiting patiently for you raise this point and kept hoping that you would... and all I could do was wait! :)

Ian