Thread: Couples separated by false assumptions

Couples separated by false assumptions

Some binational spouses unable to return to U.S.

By Leslie Berestein
Union-Tribune Staff Writer
2:00 a.m. July 28, 2009

While in San Diego on a tourist visa, Gabriela Campos married her long-distance beau, Ben Maidhof, in a civil ceremony last fall. The couple then flew to Costa Rica with friends and family for a church wedding.

Walking down the aisle with her American-citizen groom, she could hardly have imagined that eventually she would be locked up in a detention cell.

When the couple flew back to the United States, Campos-Maidhof learned a painful lesson — one that millions of other binational spouses have encountered because they didn't do enough research on immigration laws, assumed that certain requirements didn't apply to them or tried their best to follow the rules but received bad advice.

Campos-Maidhof discovered that her tourist visa became invalid when she married a U.S. citizen. During a January meeting with immigration officials in San Diego, she was taken into custody, detained for three weeks and then deported.

“This has been the most traumatic situation I've experienced in my life,â€

GOOD

Are we supposed to feel sorry for these people? I don't.

It seems they like to pick and choose which laws to follow, while claiming ignorance of laws they refuse to follow. Too bad for them, don't care.

Anyone here on a legal visa is told by their travel agent that they cannot leave the US until they are given permission to do so. If they didn't use a travel agent, too bad, could've saved themselves alot of trouble.