Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with INS

I-864, Affidavit of Support

degrees_of_freedom — Fri, 15 May 2009 15:00:28 -0800

My sister is marrying a man from Mongolia and wants me to be his sponsor for immigration purposes. What are the risks? My sister and I live in the US. She is not sponsoring him because her income is too low (she works part time and is a student). She assures me that it will never come to the point where I actually need to support him financially, but I am not convinced it is without risk.

I see all kinds of red flags here. I would only do this out of loyalty to my sister. As a couple they are frugal, but my sister's student debt is high and chosen career path is not very lucrative.

What are some of the risks? What are the edge cases of "sufficient support", and have you heard horror stories resulting from sponsorship? How do I establish a healthy relationship with them if I do sponsor (i.e. defining my involvement with their financials)?

Are the following sexual assault sentences typical?

evidenceofabsence — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 02:19:54 -0800

This New York Times article about an INS agent's alleged coercion and sexual assault of a green card applicant brings up several past cases. All ended in relatively lenient sentencing. And so, I have to ask: Can you even be sentenced to "weekends in jail?" The Times piece briefly mentions adjudicator Kelvin R. Owens, who was "...convicted in 2005 of sexually assaulting a 45-year-old woman during her citizenship interview in the federal building, and sentenced to weekends in jail for six months." It also names agent Eddie Romualdo Miranda, who, "charged with demanding sexual favors from a 29-year-old Vietnamese woman in exchange for approving her citizenship application...was acquitted of a felony sexual battery charge last August, but pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery and was sentenced to probation." It being that I understand little to nothing (read: nothing) about legal matters, I'm curious as to the following:

1) In terms of jurisdiction, it looks like Owens was tried on a federal level, while Miranda was tried at a local level. Any idea why?

2) Would the above sentences be considered typical for the charges on which Owens and Miranda were found guilty (sexual assault and misdemeanor sexual battery, respectively)?

3) I'm assuming that Owens and Miranda could have been tried for extortion, in addition to sexual assault or battery. Why weren't they?

4) Kind of random, but given the power dynamic, I'm curious as to whether Owens or Miranda's sentences would have differed if, say, rather than victimizing immigration applicants, either had coerced and assaulted a lower-level employee (i.e., if the crimes had a sexual harassment component)?

Apologies for the awkwardness/wordiness (this is my first post), as well as my general cluelessness. Cheers.

Daughter of a Chinese fiance/wife is facing deportation, because the gov't dragged their feet. Is there recourse?

disclaimer — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 14:22:00 -0800

I have a friend who has a dire immigration problem. He, a US citizen, married and relocated his wife and her daughter from China to the US. The INS is going to deport her daughter. We want to fight it. Lengthy details, of varying complexity involving government malfeasance, etc. inside. I'd really like some insight and pointers to resources we can use to influence some decisionmakers at the INS and elsewhere. The situation is (with some details probably wrong):
My friend and his wife began an extended long-term relationship via the Internet, and he eventually went to China to meet her. While there, he proposed and she accepted, which included relocating her, and her daughter to the US. In 2004, they applied, and about a year later, received K-1 and K-2 visas (his wife received a K-1 - aka "fiance visa",her daughter, a K-2" - which applies specifically to the offspring of a K-1 nonimmigrant). His wife came here in early 2005 and her daughter arrived in July of 2005 (as she graduated from high school). The daughter is classified as a "K-2 non-immigrant" under the LIFE provisions in immigration law. The law is pretty clear: K-2 non-immigrants must be under 21 years old. The daughter turned 21 in April of this year. If she had waited until she was 20 to apply, that would be one thing, but she didn't wait very long.

In 2005 the family applied for "adjustment of status" for the daughter.
There have been a series of quite extended delays on the part of the INS - one delay of 180 days and another of over 100 days - a rejected application and subsequent resubmittal, and a lost letter as a result of a change of address, her application for residency (form I-485) was rejected because the she is 21 now, even though she wasn't 21 at the time the application was made - she was 18. She has sixty days to depart. There is a process whereby a motion to reopen can be sent to the INS, but there is no appeal possible, she has to refile her application. They have no money to support this - refiling costs about $900.00.
Because of the visa requirements, neither the mother or daughter are allowed to work, and my friend, the husband, was disabled last year. So they have no financial resources other than some small pensions.

It's pretty obvious, when you look at the timeline, that if this process were handled in a timely manner by the INS, she would have been approved. The i's were all dotted, the T's were all crossed, the requirements were more than met by the family. The only reason they denied the change in status is because she turned 21 while on a K-2 visa. The process from applying for the adjustment to status was filed very shortly after the daughter arrived, and it took over a year to process.
The only reason she was denied, in short, is because the INS dragged their feet throughout the process.

Questions:
When I review the K-2 visa information available on the Internet, it appears that the "I-485 Adjustment of status" is the only real method for someone in her position (a minor's mother married an American who brought the immigrant back with them) to get a different type of visa or status (such as an immigrant visa rather than a non-immigrant visa). Is this really the case or are there loopholes somewhere?

We will be filing a motion to reopen her application, which is the only step we can take. Is there anything we should do to prepare for, and respond with, to make this process go smoothly?

Are there any free/low cost organizations that can help us? it's obviously a complicated problem and will take some horsepower to solve.
Thanks in advance for your help.

Will USCIS visit us at home?

Anonymous — Fri, 04 May 2007 16:43:38 -0800

I'm a 2 Year Green Card holder married to a US citizen (I came on a K1 Visa). Now we're filing I-751 - Removal of conditions on permanent residency. Will USCIS visit us at home to see if there's I came to the US to be with my wife two and a half years ago on a K1 fiancee visa, and now have a 2 year conditional Green Card. The card expires in 90 days, and we're filing to have the conditions removed and get my 10 year Green Card. We are familiar with the process, have all our ducks in a row and papers in order, and know there may be an interview. Our question is whether USCIS will/may visit us at home without warning.

I read a couple of immigration newsgroups and I don't see any discussion of the possibility of a surprise 'marriage proving' home visit. However, I do see the odd anecdote, often almost in passing. I can't find anything to point to right now, but a poster will say something like "He was very nice, as was the gentleman who came to our house without notice early one morning to check we were really married..." I'm worried this is common, as the rare, scary stuff that happens to folks gets discussed ad infinitum.

So how likely is this? Our marriage is totally, awesomely genuine, but that doesn't mean we have nothing to hide! We don't have kids and tend to leave porn and various interesting sex related items around. I don't know exactly where 'passionately married' stops for USCIS and 'bad moral character' begins. Some of these items might also be 'gender non-traditional'. Please don't say 'why not just hide the porn?' unless you think it is likely they will come; I'm not going to sanitize our lives for a year plus unless I have to. I also work away from home often, potentially for a week or two at a time. I know that's not going to look so good to a marriage inspector. So does this really happen? What will they do if they come?

I would also love to hear I-751 interview experiences, but I guess that's straying into chatfilter...

Please respect that I have legitimate reasons for posting this anonymously (that are not fully covered above) and we are NOT trying in any way to defraud the immigration process.

How do I file a complaint against the USCIS for their mistake?

pikaboy202 — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 13:20:07 -0800

The INS made a mistake and took away my friend's green card. What can she do? On a recent trip, my friend had her (and her family's) green cards were taken away at the airport. They were told that the green cards were no long valid and that they need to get new ones. They were admitted into the country.

They went ahead and got new green cards and were sent THE SAME EXACT ONES BACK! There is absolutely no difference in the old cards and the new ones. Quite frankly, no one has any idea why the original ones were invalid.

Needless to say, immigration made a mistake when they made my friend spend a thousand dollars to get their original green cards card back. How does she go about filing a grievance?

I'm a soon-to-be attorney but don't know how to go about this. You can always sue the government but there has to be a less painful way of filing a grievance. I've checked the USCIS website and of course there's no form you can fill to complain.

Please help me hive mind!!

Help bring hubby home

evariste — Tue, 07 Feb 2006 19:13:34 -0800

ImmigrationFilter: my good friend is in a serious same-sex romantic relationship with a Bolivian man. They've been a couple for several years, and they would marry if it was possible. They would like to live together as a couple in the US. If they were heterosexuals, they would have wed by now. Since gay marriage isn't exactly recognized by the feds/Immigration & Customs Enforcement, can you help these lovebirds make their nest? If you have questions for my friend that would help you answer this question, I'll forward them to him and then answer on his behalf.

Overstaying a visa

veronica sawyer — Mon, 24 Oct 2005 09:27:57 -0800

I'm asking this two-part question for a friend. He's overstayed his holiday visa. He came to the US 3 years ago on a 3-month holiday visa, which he's overstayed. He's returning to Italy in a month, and these are his two concerns: 1) Is there a possibility that he could be hassled/detained by Immigration on his way out of the US? 2) How long will he be banned from returning? I've looked on different newsgroups, and the very dense US Immigration site, and have found varying info: 3 years, 10 years, forever. Some more info: This is the only time he's ever overstayed a visa. And although he's Italian, he came here via the UK, where he was living at the time. I've suggested he talk to an immigration lawyer before he leaves, but in the meantime: Does anyone have any idea about what he should expect?