Nate

Hello, I am the USC with a question. :) My wife had overstayed a tourist
visa by 9 months. This resulted in a 3 year ban, 2 of which have passed.
Two days ago she went to her K3 visa interview at the US embassy in her
country, Peru. She was told we would need to apply for an I-601 waiver.
This was expected. My question is, will it help if I am present at the
US embassy for any of the remaining petitioning process?

She left the
US to go back to Peru to attend school. Had we realized the
ramifications of leaving the US after her overstay I would have married
her on the spot! As it is, we are now married and it has been two years
since she left the US. We contacted a US senator and the senator sent a
letter of support for us to the US embassy. I know we need to prove
extreme hardship on the USC (me) for the waiver, but all we really have
is the usual being 6000 miles from the person you love more than
anything for 2 years. I feel our dues have been paid for the crime (the
overstay), I just hope the consulate feels the same. Does anyone care to
take a guess at our chances?

Eric S.

I won't venture a guess as to your chances. But I will recommend that you
consult an immigration attorney. From what I hear, you don't want to apply
for a waiver on your own. Who knows, the lawyer may be able to come up with
something you hadn't thought of.

As far as paying your dues, you already know how the consulate feels about
that. That's what the 3 year ban is.

One last thought. You only have one year left on the ban. By the time you
go through all the processing of the waiver, several more months may pass.
If you are denied, you'll only a few more months to wait.

Good luck.
- Eric S.



"Nate" <member9542@british_expats.com> wrote in message
news:...
    > Hello, I am the USC with a question. :) My wife had overstayed a tourist
    > visa by 9 months. This resulted in a 3 year ban, 2 of which have passed.
    > Two days ago she went to her K3 visa interview at the US embassy in her
    > country, Peru. She was told we would need to apply for an I-601 waiver.
    > This was expected. My question is, will it help if I am present at the
    > US embassy for any of the remaining petitioning process?
    > She left the
    > US to go back to Peru to attend school. Had we realized the
    > ramifications of leaving the US after her overstay I would have married
    > her on the spot! As it is, we are now married and it has been two years
    > since she left the US. We contacted a US senator and the senator sent a
    > letter of support for us to the US embassy. I know we need to prove
    > extreme hardship on the USC (me) for the waiver, but all we really have
    > is the usual being 6000 miles from the person you love more than
    > anything for 2 years. I feel our dues have been paid for the crime (the
    > overstay), I just hope the consulate feels the same. Does anyone care to
    > take a guess at our chances?
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

Utopiacowboy

Peru is one of the Latin American countries where it is almost necessary
for the USC spouse to attend the embassy interview.


Originally posted by Nate
    > Hello, I am the USC with a
question. :) My wife had overstayed a tourist visa by 9 months. This
resulted in a 3 year ban, 2 of which have passed. Two days ago she went
to her K3 visa interview at the US embassy in her country, Peru. She was
told we would need to apply for an I-601 waiver. This was expected. My
question is, will it help if I am present at the US embassy for any of
the remaining petitioning process?
    >
She left the US to go back to Peru
to attend school. Had we realized the ramifications of leaving the US
after her overstay I would have married her on the spot! As it is, we
are now married and it has been two years since she left the US. We
contacted a US senator and the senator sent a letter of support for us
to the US embassy. I know we need to prove extreme hardship on the USC
(me) for the waiver, but all we really have is the usual being 6000
miles from the person you love more than anything for 2 years. I feel
our dues have been paid for the crime (the overstay), I just hope the
consulate feels the same. Does anyone care to take a guess at our
chances?

Lpdiver

ITlike giving a dead man an enima...Might not help but won't hurt
either! Unless you think you are going to say something stoooopid... go.


An GOOD attorney experienced with the Peruvian embassy and waivers can
certainly give you much valuable insight...spring for the bucks for a
good consultation even if you don't retain them.

Originally
posted by utopiacowboy
Peru is one of the Latin American countries
where it is almost necessary for the USC spouse to attend the embassy
interview.

Nate

Thanks for the replies!

I had talked with one immigration lawyer,
referred to me by a friend, but they weren't very helpful. Wasted $200
to talk for an hour, left me with a very sour taste. They weren't as up
to speed on things as I was, and that is just from reading the internet!
They mentioned they had access to their colleagues and other sources,
which is fine, but I want someone with first hand knowledge and
experience.

I would love to find a great lawyer, familiar with the
waiver process and the US embassy in Peru... but how do I know what kind
of person I'm talking to? I can't be wasting $200 a pop to screen
lawyers. But if someone was really good I would be more than happy to ay
them to help us compile and submit the waiver.

I want to get the waiver
submitted ASAP, they are waiting for us to submit it. Then its 1 to 3
months and we'll have an answer. 1 to 3 months is so much better than
another year! Its been "just a few more months" for the past 2 years...
it has been really hard.
Originally posted by utopiacowboy

Peru is one of the Latin American countries where it is almost
necessary for the USC spouse to attend the embassy interview.Why
is that utopiacowboy? When should I appear at the embassy? My wife will
hand the waiver over to the embassy and they'll say, "we'll contact you
in 1 to 3 months". I didn't mention it before, but we initially tried
for a K1 visa and waiver. After 3 months she received a letter saying
the waiver was denied. We have since gotten married and people have said
that our chances are much better. We only hope they are right.

SecretGarden

Originally posted by Nate
    >
    >
    > I would love to find a
great lawyer, familiar with the waiver process and the US embassy in
Peru... but how do I know what kind of person I'm talking to?


Go here for a referral:

www.aila.org

Hope this helps.

~SecretGarden

Nate

Thanks SecretGarden, I have sent them an email with the required
information to request a referral.

Utopiacowboy

I guess they feel if the USC spouse/fiance is present, that is
sufficient proof to show that the marriage is not a sham. I know that my
presence was noted in Bogota. You might want to read about another Peru
experience posted on another board:

http://www.k1k3.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=149


Originally posted by Nate
Why is that utopiacowboy?
When should I appear at the embassy? My wife will hand the waiver over
to the embassy and they'll say, "we'll contact you in 1 to 3 months". I
didn't mention it before, but we initially tried for a K1 visa and
waiver. After 3 months she received a letter saying the waiver was
denied. We have since gotten married and people have said that our
chances are much better. We only hope they are right.

Nate

Originally posted by utopiacowboy
    > I guess they feel if
the USC spouse/fiance is present, that is sufficient proof to show that
the marriage is not a sham. I know that my presence was noted in Bogota.
You might want to read about another Peru experience posted on another
board:
http://www.k1k3.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=149
Interesting thread! I think that those people were at the US
embassy in Lima as the same time as my wife! I posted over there to see.
The situation is a little different since we are applying for a wiaver,
I'm not sure when I need to make a cameo.

Spouse

Hi. I am not so sure you need to make a "cameo". We didn't file in
Peru, but we did file in Ecuador. I made my cameo for the interview,
but the guard wouldn't even let me in the embassy (later my husband made
friends with the guard, etc. and I did get in, but I really don't think
it made any difference - he was denied anyway as expected)

I was also
there for fingerprints... but for the actual I-601 submission, I was not
there. What I did do was keep in contact with the embassy, especially
as the end of the processing time got closer, but would not have been
particularly helpful in a "normal" situation. (There was a screw-up on
my case and being in contact helped me to fix it before being actually
denied! But that is another story.)

Anyway, what does matter is your
hardship letter. Saying I have no hardship except for being 6000 miles
away from my spouse, probably won't cut it (although most of Latin
America has pretty good approval rates!)

What you do need to present is
information regarding a hardship to you, current or future. And you
most certainly have those - what would your life be like in Peru (Think
standard of living, medical - what if you and your wife want to have
children, differences in mortality rates, family ties to the USA. etc.
etc. etc.) and don't forget psychological (stress, depression, anxiety!)


Also, from my experience, as much as people will tell you that lawyers
are necessary, they are at best helpful. And often only in a role of
consultant. At NO time should you completely trust a waiver to a
lawyer. You MUST be very involved in the process, or there is a very
good chance that you will not be happy with the result (trust me, I
learned this the hard way, and several other people have told me the
same story).

Anyway, I would recommend checking
www.immigrate2us.net. It has a strong community of people
going through the I-601 process, and you might be able to find some help
there (it is also the best way to contact me, as I generally check that
site several times a day - and this one only every few days!)

Anyway,
as a side note in case it wasn't clear. My husband (Ecuadorian) is now
here in the USA, with a green card etc. So our waiver was approved.
(Several other people on immigrate2us.net have also been approved!) So,
please don't let anyone tell you that this is impossible!!!!

It is far
from impossible, it is just a hassle and requires a lot of hard work!