Someone please help
Aug 4th 2002, 5:14 pm
#1
Guest
Posts: n/a
Someone please help
My name is Jerome, and I was born in Jamaica in 1983. In 1986, when I was 3, my mother got fed up with the violence and her life in Jamaica, and took a plane to Canada. When in Canada, my mother paid her American friend to sneak me across the Canadian-american border. My mother later got her Canadian Visa, and then she legally got across the border (then later let the Visa expire, and has also since been in the country illegally.) Anyway, I grew up in Brooklyn, not thinking that I was any different from my American friends....then about 2 years ago when I was asking my mother where my social security card was, because I wanted to get my working papers (I was 17 at the time.) and that is when I found out I wasn't a citizen. She broke it down to me from the beginning and finding out that I was "different" really messed me up. Now all of my goals couldnt be accomplished. I dealt with it the best way possible...just tried to forget about it. Then, in April, I got married. My wife knew of the situation but didnt care. We got married at City Hall. After we got married, I paid an immigration lawyer in full to handle my case. He is telling me that because I was NEVER here legally EVER, that my situation is an especially sticky one. We have been married for 4 months, and the waiting around is driving us crazy. We are waiting for the 245-I bill to be approved by the US Senate, which will hopefully happen this month. This bill supposedly has a waiver system that allows an alien to stay in the country while the INS reviews my case, if I pay a $1,000 waiver (Which I've already paid.) This bill allows you to stay in the country while waiting for an immigration visa to be approved, instread of waiting for it in your birth country. Does anyone have any advice or tips for me and my wife? Please respond....at the moment this website is helping to keep my sanity.
Thank you.
Jerome and Emily
Thank you.
Jerome and Emily
Aug 4th 2002, 5:36 pm
#2
Concierge
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 46,382
Re: Someone please help
If and when Section 245(i) is ever ratified again, yes that is basically the way of it. It allows those who entered the US illegally (without inspection) to adjust status based on the family preference (i.e. marriage to a USC). However, it is a big however, it looks like this is not going to be happening for a long time to come and INS from the looks of it are deporting people like yourself and your mother when they can find them. You can buy time apparently by fighting the decision and appeals and hope that Congress re-institutes Section 245(i).
One note is that if you leave the US voluntarily to return to Jamaica you will most likely be banned for life from re-entering the US. Your wife can file a waiver but only after your I-130 is denied after going through a long time period of filing here in the US and it being forwarded to the US Consulate in Jamaica. And there is no guaranty of its approval because the onus is on her to prove a hardship in her being able to live in your country.
Sorry that you are inbetween a rock and a hard place but your mother should have thought to the future long before she did what she did. She could have stayed in Canada as they welcome refugees with open arms or at least did in time past.
Rete
One note is that if you leave the US voluntarily to return to Jamaica you will most likely be banned for life from re-entering the US. Your wife can file a waiver but only after your I-130 is denied after going through a long time period of filing here in the US and it being forwarded to the US Consulate in Jamaica. And there is no guaranty of its approval because the onus is on her to prove a hardship in her being able to live in your country.
Sorry that you are inbetween a rock and a hard place but your mother should have thought to the future long before she did what she did. She could have stayed in Canada as they welcome refugees with open arms or at least did in time past.
Rete
Aug 4th 2002, 5:45 pm
#3
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Someone please help
Im sorry to sound like I am being hard on you, but, you say it is a "big however". First of all, senate HAS to vote on 245-i by the fall closing. President Bush is going to sign for it, as it is. And, other influential people, such as Ted Kennedy, and Daschel. The bill has already been through the 1st "step" of approval. The second step is senate, and the third is the president. If it has already passed the 1st step, and will definitely pass the 3rd step, it is all about the waiting game right now for senate....and then hopefully with an INS interview, my husband will be granted permission to stay.....
with fingers crossed..
-Em
with fingers crossed..
-Em
Aug 4th 2002, 6:10 pm
#4
Concierge
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 46,382
Re: Someone please help
Originally posted by LeightonJ
Im sorry to sound like I am being hard on you, but, you say it is a "big however". First of all, senate HAS to vote on 245-i by the fall closing. President Bush is going to sign for it, as it is. And, other influential people, such as Ted Kennedy, and Daschel. The bill has already been through the 1st "step" of approval. The second step is senate, and the third is the president. If it has already passed the 1st step, and will definitely pass the 3rd step, it is all about the waiting game right now for senate....and then hopefully with an INS interview, my husband will be granted permission to stay.....
with fingers crossed..
-Em
Im sorry to sound like I am being hard on you, but, you say it is a "big however". First of all, senate HAS to vote on 245-i by the fall closing. President Bush is going to sign for it, as it is. And, other influential people, such as Ted Kennedy, and Daschel. The bill has already been through the 1st "step" of approval. The second step is senate, and the third is the president. If it has already passed the 1st step, and will definitely pass the 3rd step, it is all about the waiting game right now for senate....and then hopefully with an INS interview, my husband will be granted permission to stay.....
with fingers crossed..
-Em
Rete
Aug 4th 2002, 6:54 pm
#5
Concierge
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 46,382
Re: Someone please help
Okay I did a little research myself and found that the House voted on an amended more restricted version of the previously Section 245(i) bill. Here is the quote:
Section 245(i) Update
May 9, 2002
Senator Tom Daschle (D-SD), the Senate Majority leader, today introduced the Uniting Families Act of 2002 that extends Section 245(i). Under Senator Daschle’s proposal, the filing deadline would be extended until April 30, 2003, and people still would have to prove physically presence in the US on December 21, 2000.
Unlike the House bill, this extension does not include any date by which someone would have had to have established a relationship or filed a labor certification in order to qualify.
The bill does state that persons are ineligible for Section 245(i) based on marriage fraud and security and related grounds.
As our readers are aware, the House passed a more restrictive extension of Section 245(i) that includes a requirement that the family relationship, or a labor certification application, must have been filed by August 15, 2001.
Further I doubled check your insistence that the President was going to sign it into law regardless of what the Senator votes.
http://gi.grolier.com/presidents/nbk/side/congus.html
Floor Consideration and Passage
On the floor of the chamber the bill is subject to debate. Amendments to it may again be offered and voted on. The bill can be returned to the committee that reported it. If passed in one chamber, the bill must then be sent to the other chamber, where the entire process begins anew. Because a bill will rarely pass both chambers of Congress in the same form, a conference committee is selected to work out differences between the Senate and House versions. Any agreement reached by the conference committee must be approved by both chambers. Only then can the legislation be sent to the president of the United States, who must sign it before it can become law. If the president vetoes (disapproves) a bill, it requires a two-thirds majority vote of members present in both houses for passage.
As you can see the President's signature is worthless if the bill does not pass the Senate vote. I, for one, never heard of Senator Tom Daschle from SD until his office got a tainted Anthrax letter.
It still has to pass the Senate, however, and Mr. Daschle does not like the amended form by the House passed and therefore, there is much work left to do on it to get it to pass to his satisfaction. One of the things needed is the affirmative nod from the Senator's constitutients. Not that that means much now or in the past. They say they will work for the people who elect them and then do their own thing according to favors owed, given and gifts received.
I would not hold my breath Em for its passing. It is still, in my opinion at least, an iffy thing.
Either way good luck to you and Jerome.
Rete
Section 245(i) Update
May 9, 2002
Senator Tom Daschle (D-SD), the Senate Majority leader, today introduced the Uniting Families Act of 2002 that extends Section 245(i). Under Senator Daschle’s proposal, the filing deadline would be extended until April 30, 2003, and people still would have to prove physically presence in the US on December 21, 2000.
Unlike the House bill, this extension does not include any date by which someone would have had to have established a relationship or filed a labor certification in order to qualify.
The bill does state that persons are ineligible for Section 245(i) based on marriage fraud and security and related grounds.
As our readers are aware, the House passed a more restrictive extension of Section 245(i) that includes a requirement that the family relationship, or a labor certification application, must have been filed by August 15, 2001.
Further I doubled check your insistence that the President was going to sign it into law regardless of what the Senator votes.
http://gi.grolier.com/presidents/nbk/side/congus.html
Floor Consideration and Passage
On the floor of the chamber the bill is subject to debate. Amendments to it may again be offered and voted on. The bill can be returned to the committee that reported it. If passed in one chamber, the bill must then be sent to the other chamber, where the entire process begins anew. Because a bill will rarely pass both chambers of Congress in the same form, a conference committee is selected to work out differences between the Senate and House versions. Any agreement reached by the conference committee must be approved by both chambers. Only then can the legislation be sent to the president of the United States, who must sign it before it can become law. If the president vetoes (disapproves) a bill, it requires a two-thirds majority vote of members present in both houses for passage.
As you can see the President's signature is worthless if the bill does not pass the Senate vote. I, for one, never heard of Senator Tom Daschle from SD until his office got a tainted Anthrax letter.
It still has to pass the Senate, however, and Mr. Daschle does not like the amended form by the House passed and therefore, there is much work left to do on it to get it to pass to his satisfaction. One of the things needed is the affirmative nod from the Senator's constitutients. Not that that means much now or in the past. They say they will work for the people who elect them and then do their own thing according to favors owed, given and gifts received.
I would not hold my breath Em for its passing. It is still, in my opinion at least, an iffy thing.
Either way good luck to you and Jerome.
Rete
Aug 4th 2002, 10:20 pm
#6
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Someone please help
In article <[email protected]>, Rete
<[email protected]> wrote:
> One note is that if you leave the US voluntarily to return to Jamaica you will most
> likely be banned for life from re-entering the US. Your wife can file a waiver but
> only after your I-130 is denied after going through a long time period of filing
> here in the US and it being forwarded to the US Consulate in Jamaica. And there is
> no guaranty of its approval because the onus is on her to prove a hardship in her
> being able to live in your country. Sorry that you are inbetween a rock and a hard
> place but your mother should have thought to the future long before she did what
> she did. She could have stayed in Canada as they welcome refugees with open arms or
> at least did in time past. Rete
If the original poster is not yet 19 years old, would he perhaps incur a 3-year ban
upon leaving? If he is less that 18 years and 6 months old, I think he would not have
any ban at all, would he? Does not illegal time start accruing only after his 18th
birthday? Just a thought....
matta
<[email protected]> wrote:
> One note is that if you leave the US voluntarily to return to Jamaica you will most
> likely be banned for life from re-entering the US. Your wife can file a waiver but
> only after your I-130 is denied after going through a long time period of filing
> here in the US and it being forwarded to the US Consulate in Jamaica. And there is
> no guaranty of its approval because the onus is on her to prove a hardship in her
> being able to live in your country. Sorry that you are inbetween a rock and a hard
> place but your mother should have thought to the future long before she did what
> she did. She could have stayed in Canada as they welcome refugees with open arms or
> at least did in time past. Rete
If the original poster is not yet 19 years old, would he perhaps incur a 3-year ban
upon leaving? If he is less that 18 years and 6 months old, I think he would not have
any ban at all, would he? Does not illegal time start accruing only after his 18th
birthday? Just a thought....
matta
Aug 6th 2002, 10:20 pm
#7
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Someone please help
it is situations like this (and like the one another poster posted about in another
thread-the indian kid) that upset me. how can a child under the age of 18 be held
accountable for their own INS status? Personally, I don't think any child should be
forced to leave what they thought was their "home" simply due to their parents
mistakes/ignorance/lies.
"Rete" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> If and when Section 245(i) is ever ratified again, yes that is basically the way of
> it. It allows those who entered the US illegally (without inspection) to adjust
> status based on the family preference (i.e. marriage to a USC). However, it is a
> big however, it looks like this is not going to be happening for a long time to
> come and INS from the looks of it are deporting people like yourself and your
> mother when they can find them. You can buy time apparently by fighting the
> decision and appeals and hope that Congress re-institutes Section 245(i).
>
> One note is that if you leave the US voluntarily to return to Jamaica you will most
> likely be banned for life from re-entering the US. Your wife can file a waiver but
> only after your I-130 is denied after going through a long time period of filing
> here in the US and it being forwarded to the US Consulate in Jamaica. And there is
> no guaranty of its approval because the onus is on her to prove a hardship in her
> being able to live in your country.
>
> Sorry that you are inbetween a rock and a hard place but your mother should have
> thought to the future long before she did what she did. She could have stayed in
> Canada as they welcome refugees with open arms or at least did in time past.
>
> Rete
>
>
>
> --
>
>
>
> Posted via http://britishexpats.com
thread-the indian kid) that upset me. how can a child under the age of 18 be held
accountable for their own INS status? Personally, I don't think any child should be
forced to leave what they thought was their "home" simply due to their parents
mistakes/ignorance/lies.
"Rete" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> If and when Section 245(i) is ever ratified again, yes that is basically the way of
> it. It allows those who entered the US illegally (without inspection) to adjust
> status based on the family preference (i.e. marriage to a USC). However, it is a
> big however, it looks like this is not going to be happening for a long time to
> come and INS from the looks of it are deporting people like yourself and your
> mother when they can find them. You can buy time apparently by fighting the
> decision and appeals and hope that Congress re-institutes Section 245(i).
>
> One note is that if you leave the US voluntarily to return to Jamaica you will most
> likely be banned for life from re-entering the US. Your wife can file a waiver but
> only after your I-130 is denied after going through a long time period of filing
> here in the US and it being forwarded to the US Consulate in Jamaica. And there is
> no guaranty of its approval because the onus is on her to prove a hardship in her
> being able to live in your country.
>
> Sorry that you are inbetween a rock and a hard place but your mother should have
> thought to the future long before she did what she did. She could have stayed in
> Canada as they welcome refugees with open arms or at least did in time past.
>
> Rete
>
>
>
> --
>
>
>
> Posted via http://britishexpats.com
Aug 7th 2002, 2:48 am
#8
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Someone please help
"Mrs_Blackross" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> it is situations like this (and like the one another poster posted about
in
> another thread-the indian kid) that upset me. how can a child under the
age
> of 18 be held accountable for their own INS status? Personally, I don't think any
> child should be forced to leave what they thought was their
"home"
> simply due to their parents mistakes/ignorance/lies.
I totally agree. I feel very sad for your situation, and I sincerely hope that
everything works out okay for you. It's really sad that you have to go through all
this being raised all your life in the US and having no knowledge of being any
different from any other american. I'm sorry I don't have any info or advice for
you, I don't know a whole lot about all this stuff yet... but I just wanted to add my
support and deepest sympathies for your situation.
It really puts things in perspective for me.. I mean, at least, when I decided to
marry my American fiance, I knew what I was getting into, and I knew there would be
struggles and hardship. You just had this kinda sprung on you! I really hope
everything works out, and I'll be sure to keep you and your wife in my prayers.
> it is situations like this (and like the one another poster posted about
in
> another thread-the indian kid) that upset me. how can a child under the
age
> of 18 be held accountable for their own INS status? Personally, I don't think any
> child should be forced to leave what they thought was their
"home"
> simply due to their parents mistakes/ignorance/lies.
I totally agree. I feel very sad for your situation, and I sincerely hope that
everything works out okay for you. It's really sad that you have to go through all
this being raised all your life in the US and having no knowledge of being any
different from any other american. I'm sorry I don't have any info or advice for
you, I don't know a whole lot about all this stuff yet... but I just wanted to add my
support and deepest sympathies for your situation.
It really puts things in perspective for me.. I mean, at least, when I decided to
marry my American fiance, I knew what I was getting into, and I knew there would be
struggles and hardship. You just had this kinda sprung on you! I really hope
everything works out, and I'll be sure to keep you and your wife in my prayers.
