Thread: New Guy

Ok my son’s case, were to start, were to start…….

Ok, from the beginning, On the first day God created, oh sorry a little to far back. Believe it or not I met my wife online, which could be a whole other discussion, but this is where it starts for my son. We decided to get married after both of us traveled back and forth from the UK. I petitioned the USCIS for a K1 visa for my fiancée and applied to K2’s for our children. They were granted as well. A K2 visa will and is granted (I know of similar cases) to the unmarried sons and daughters up to their 21st birthday by the Dept. of State to travel to US for purposes of immigrating. Although technically they are classed as a Non-Immigrant visas (form I-129F) where as a spouse of a US citizen (USC) would be granted a IR1 Immigrant visa (form I-130). I’m stating all this cus it will come up latter.

The reason that a fiancée process differs is to curtail marriage fraud. By placing a restriction on the K1 visa that a marriage has to take place within 90 days of the arrival in to the US and the AOS process started and marriage certificates filed with the USCIS. The K visa is only valid in the US for 90 days, but after the AOS is filed for all technical purposes it becomes an Immigrant visa just like the IR1, all the same criteria are met, all the same bona fides to establish the relationship are the same, the processing at the consulates are through the Immigrant sections, not the Non-Immigrant ones, and so forth. Ok on to the story………

The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) states that to be considered a child the alien, for the purposes of gaining Legal Permanent Residency (LPR) status, must have his case adjudicated before said alien reaches the age of 21. In a nutshell this means that the USCIS has to complete the entire AOS process, from soup to nuts, which includes their interview and the stamping of their passports, and approving of their GC. Not when the paper work is submitted. If the USCIS does not complete this process before the child reaches 21 the immigrant child “ages out� and would not adjust status. The child would then be placed into a different Immigrant category F2 with an approximate wait time of 5 to 7 years for a visa to be granted. The K2 child is then deported and the parents have to make the unreasonable decision of either sending them home alone and breaking up the family or returning to their place of origin. You see where this is going?

So our son comes in a K2 at the age of 20 and 9 months, within a couple of weeks of his arrival we file his AOS, we notify the Immigration Officer (IO) at the Washington desk that he will be turning 21 in less then 3 months. He checks with a supervisor, tells us everything is in order, takes our fees, and files the paper work. We receive notice a month later as to when to pickup is EAD, where and when to get his finger prints done, and the date of his AOS interview which is in nine months. We assumed all was in order.

We go to his AOS interview the Adjudication Officer (AO) goes through the motions, asks the normal questions and completes the interview. We leave expecting a GC shortly in the mail. None Came. We made an appointment to see the AO some 4 months later to chase up the status, his EAD is getting ready to expire, and we need to either get the GC sorted out or apply for another EAD permit (more money) so he can continue working, he’s a vet tech. That is when we found out he “may� have aged out. Because the IO at the front desk didn’t follow the expedite procedure, and the supervisors didn’t follow the internal SOP which instructs them track these types of cases, the USCIS failed to schedule and adjudicate our son’s case by the time he reached 21.

Ahh, but recently, Aug 2002, the President signed into law the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) A law designed to stop children aging out due to the USCIS processing delays and screw ups!!! The Congressional record shows what the intent of this legislation was, but they way they worded it, and the way the USCIS interprets it are far from the intent.

The CSPA states that a Legal Permanent Resident’s children are covered, IF they are the beneficiary of a form I-130, the CSPA states sec 204 of the INA which is where this form comes from. The K visa, uses form I-129F, sec 214 of the INA, so the USCIS determined that the intent was to exclude the K’s. Another visa category, the V, was excluded as well for the same reason, but the 9th circuit court of appeals just recently over turned this, and now the USCIS has removed the age out restrictions on the V. Only the K visa’s are not covered by the CSPA as interpreted by the USCIS.

So at this point the USCIS District Director Phyllis Howard has our son’s case sitting on her desk, it’s still “pending� this has been going on for over 2 years now. We have a lawyer who has submitted several letters, all unanswered, we have spoken to our Senators and Congresswoman all have made inquires, and our Congresswoman has sent a letter of support asking for our son’s case to be approved. The deal is the USCIS knows they cocked up, and now find them self in a dilemma. The District Director has the authority to just approve our case. The strange thing is other Immigration offices are just approving these cases, I know of one personally in Texas that the K2 child didn’t file his paper work until AFTER he turned 21, he was granted his K2 3 days before he turned 21. It is impossible to expect that the USCIS complete the process before a child’s 21st birthday if they are granting visas up to their 21st birthday. But until either the law is changed or the USCIS sends out another memo removing the age out restriction for these cases others face the same scenario as we do. The stress has weighed very heavily on our family as we never know from one day to the next what our future holds for us.

Sorry for the long winded post, I only touched on the major points, I could write a book on this stuff now.

Hi Glad you found us, thanks for sharing your story!

So I take it then William that people that try to come here legally and follow all the proper procedures have trouble right? Our system sounds like a big mess, everythings a mess too me...I thought if a person comes over to this country fills out paperwork, takes a class, learns English, takes a test, says the Pledge of Alg. to the Flag then they become a citzen? Maybe the movies and mainstream media and global agenda has brainwashed me, lol. I am talking legals not illegals of course. Help me out here.

WELCOME TO ALIPAC WV USC!!

You're in for a ride and I hope you like it!!

This problem is way out of control!! Thanks for sharing your story. I hope everything works out for your family.

Please send a big welcome from US to your wife and children.

TMS--the US Immigration System is not easy; it is very difficult to legally migrate to the United States and, while it may seem cumbersome and full of red tape and I'm sure "agents" that vary in competency and in attitude towards their public service role, is a long and winding road. BUT, if and when everything is verified then the system should work properly, but not easily.

THAT'S WHY illegal immigration is so unfair to legal immigrants as well as being a total disaster for American Citizens.

I'm glad you found our site USC and we look forward to your reading all our articles we have found as well as our many posts that react to them and analyze them as best we can.

Thanks Judy!

And wsv_USC Keep us updated on you and your family....