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.)

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!

Palinurus

    > 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?

I see this is an old post, but wondered how you were getting along with
the waiver. Our I-601 will go to Peru (from Buenos Aires) but we
havent submitted yet.

P

Nate

    > I see this is an old post, but wondered how you were getting along
    > with the waiver. Our I-601 will go to Peru (from Buenos Aires) but
    > we havent submitted yet.
    > P

Hello! Sorry I haven't had a chance to update everyone... WE GOT
APPROVED! My wife is currently here!! Couldn't be happier! I have been
meaning to find time to post our letter here for others to benefit. I
spent a great deal of time on it and would recommend not filing your 601
until you check out ours! Its really good. :) I think the strongest part
of our argument was that a psycologist disgnose me with depression. I
did end up flying to Peru to be there when we filed the waiver, though I
really don't think it mattered. They barely payed me any mind, unless
there is some check box that says "did he show up?", I don't think that
Homeland Security the people who actually make the decision) ever knew
that I was present. The people at the window just file your papers,
Homeland is who makes the decision. I'll post more later about out
story, as well as our letter, gotta run! Thank you so much, spouse, for
this site and the great help! Without your help we never could be
together. We filed the waiver twice and the first time, without your
help, we were denied.

Palinurus

    > Hello! Sorry I haven't had a chance to update everyone... WE GOT
    > APPROVED! My wife is currently here!! Couldn't be happier! I have been
    > meaning to find time to post our letter here for others to benefit. I
    > spent a great deal of time on it and would recommend not filing your
    > 601 until you check out ours! Its really good. :) I think the
    > strongest part of our argument was that a psycologist disgnose me with
    > depression. I did end up flying to Peru to be there when we filed the
    > waiver, though I really don't think it mattered. They barely payed me
    > any mind, unless there is some check box that says "did he show up?",
    > I don't think that Homeland Security the people who actually make the
    > decision) ever knew that I was present. The people at the window just
    > file your papers, Homeland is who makes the decision. I'll post more
    > later about out story, as well as our letter, gotta run! Thank you so
    > much, spouse, for this site and the great help! Without your help we
    > never could be together. We filed the waiver twice and the first time,
    > without your help, we were denied.

Hi,

Thanks for the info, and that is awesome to hear you made it :)

Yes we would really like to see your letter, if you get the time, we are
getting close to having our I-130 approved so we are preparing the
waiver now.

P

Nate

    > Hi,
    > Thanks for the info, and that is awesome to hear you made it :)
    > Yes we would really like to see your letter, if you get the time, we
    > are getting close to having our I-130 approved so we are preparing the
    > waiver now.
    > P

Again, my apologies for not responding sooner. Attached to this post is
a zip file containing the waiver letter in MS Word format (.doc). I've
bastardized it to remove the names and other info, but left the rest
intact. I put an enormous amount of work into this and thouroghly
leveraged the spouse's efforts she put into her letter.

spouse, could you make my letter more easily available for people to
see? I hope it can help bring other people together as it has brough my
wife and I.