Thread: Hockey Coach in Immigration Dispute

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/11979239.htm
Posted on Fri, Jun. 24, 2005

Hockey coach in immigration dispute

By Adam Williams
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

Stanislav Tugolukov, coach of several area hockey teams, including the Colleyville high school team, is waiting for the U.S. State Department to tell he whether he can stay here or must go back to Russia.

Tugolukov has lived in Arlington and studied at UT-Arlington since 2001. He holds a student visa, but his attempt to obtain a green card and permanent citizenship has hit a snag.

Tugolukov came to Arlington on a 24-day exchange program in August 2000. The State Department-sponsored program stipulates that he must return to Russia for at least two years to share his experiences from the U.S.

He went to Russia but left months later to visit New York with his father. At a basketball game at Madison Square Garden, a woman overheard them conversing in Russian.

The woman, Marina, was living and studying in Arlington. He ended up marrying her and moving to Texas.

He never fulfilled the two-year obligation of the exchange program but obtained a student visa, learned English and began coaching hockey. In July 2002, he applied for a green card as an "alien with extraordinary abilities," based on his hockey coaching and professional playing experience. He was granted a petition for permanent residency, but because he did not fulfill his two-year stint in Russia, he was unable to take the next step in the application.

I'm sorry to say it, I truly am, but he must fulfill the terms of the agreement and go back to Russia for two years. It's a sad case, but there are other sad cases like this in America. I'm sure he is a great guy, but if he really is then he will accept the laws and the rules for the sake of the USA, and his own country as well.

We have to learn to respect the laws of each other's countries. If I were in Russia, it would be necessary for me to accept their terms. This is life.