Digidan

Ok..heres my story.

I went to the US to visit my girlfriend in April of '07. We ended up falling in love and i went back on May the 26th of 07. We ended up getting married on June 16th '07.

I had tried to file my immigration papers before the fee increase but was too late and they got rejected (due to them wanting more money) so we tried to save up the now $4,500 or there abouts that we needed. Inbetween something came up and we had to spend our savings. So since then weve been living at her parents who have pretty much supported us. It got to the point where we saw that the only way to progress would be me coming back to England and earning some money and getting established again.

So i came back on the 19th of July (08) and now im worried i wont be let back into the US. I dont even know where to start or who to talk to. Weve been married over a year now, i dont know whether that makes any difference, but i know i have stayed 180 days over my waiver.

Any advice on where to turn or what to do next would be greatly appreciated. If you need any more info just ask.

Dan.

Ray

so you overstayed over a year ...
Then she can move over to join you

Digidan

Thanks for the reply but im wondering where i stand beeing married etc for getting back into the US. Not for her coming over here.

Ray

You now have a 10 year ban ....Your wife could try for a waiver .....
but wanting to be together will not be enough reason ..
time for a lawyer ...

neil

Wouldn't the dates indicate he didn't quite rack up a year of overstay? (assuming 3 months on visa waiver was up late August last year), so wouldn't that be good news in that he can go back in 3 years time rather than 10?

Ray

I never believe people dates ..always assume the worse ..
but you may be right

Digidan

Neil you are correct, i have not stayed a year over my waiver.

Ray, to be honest i dont care what you believe or assume. I made the dates specific so that people could see how long ive been there. If you have something that can help then im most grateful, but as for your negativity and assumptions you can keep them thankyou.

Like i said before, if theres any more info from me that would help let me know and thankyou again all for your time.

Noorah101

It seems that you've incurred a 3-year ban from returning to the USA. You should discuss this with an immigration attorney. If you both feel you want to try for a waiver, your wife can file an I-130 for your immigrant visa. It will take about 8 to 10 months for that to process, and when you go for your interview, your visa will be denied because of your overstay and ban. At that point, you should have a waiver to present to the officer, and they will review your case again based on that, and it could take another several months to adjudicate.

Keep in mind that the waiver must show extreme hardship TO THE USC, to your wife...not to you. She has to show extreme hardship why she cannot stay in the USA without you, and also why she cannot move to the UK. Waivers are not usually a do-it-yourself thing, most people use an attorney so they can get the very best results. I've heard that with waivers, wording is crucial and an attorney will know what to say and what not to say.

So overall, if you're looking to move back to the USA, you will be in the UK a year or more, and you'll be luck if your waiver gets approved.

Best Wishes,
Rene

Digidan

Thankyou for the advice Norah. From what you know what kind of price are we looking at for a lawyer for this?

Thanks again.

Noorah101

I don't know, you'll have to call around and get some quotes. I'm sure the cost will vary greatly from lawyer to lawyer. Make sure when you're calling (or emailing), to get an attorney who has experience in marriage-based waivers. Not all of them do. You want someone who has done this before and knows what he's doing.

Go to www.ailalawyer.com to start looking for an attorney.

Best Wishes,
Rene

meauxna

Something went wrong here (duh).
Where on Earth did you get $4500 for fees? To be fair, you say that is how much you were missing.. explain?

How did it seem cheaper to go back to Eng...


You know what? You're gone, it's done. You need to learn how to determine your amount of overstay down to the day and see which penalty applies to you. There is a good user group for waivers at www.immigrate2us.net so check it out there. You will find a couple of lawyers there who *specialize* in this unique type of case; try to get one who works with London cases specifically.

Noorah101

I forgot to mention that as well. To the OP: It's only $1,010 for the AOS filing fees...plus a medical...I wouldn't say the total would have been over $2,000.

Too late now, though, you're back home and have to get a visa to return.

Rene

Folinskyinla

Hi:

A FUBAR of his own making, notes his poverty -- and although Immigration Lawyers are not the richest people on the planet, they do try and make somewhat of a living at this.

It will cost what it costs based upon an agreement between him and the lawyer. I hope he doesn't expect it to be in the hundreds of dollars.