The US Consulate thinks the DH wants to throw away his dream job and fabulous Beijing apartment for an illegal visa overstay in the US where he would be unable to work and would constantly risk deportation. Hmmm… Great job in China vs. crappy existence in the USA…
All he needed was a two week business visa to do a training course…
But the US Consulate has no heart…
Or brain…
And thinks the DH will not leave the US after his two week course is finished…
And this US citizen is the one who suffers.
But I believe that where there’s a will there’s a way. And there’s got to be a way, right? Right?! DH hasn’t set foot in the US for over 10 years. We have a signed 2 year work contract. We have a 1 year rental agreement. We have my signed statement. How else do we prove he wants to come back to China? I’m at a total loss.
I am constantly moving back and forth between the stages of grief. I’m angry one minute, depressed the next. I deny to myself that this could possibly be happening and then I accept it all and work out a solution plan before spiraling once again into depression and anger.
Expect no posts on this blog until the situation is cleared up. Through my puffy eyes I can barely see the keyboard.
{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }
I don’t even know what to say. I hate that this is happening to you. Be persistent! I have all my toes and fingers crossed that things work out for you and the DH.
Stupid visas. I hope you can work something out soon.
It will work out some way. Go to the consulate yourself and DON”T go to the States with your husband. If you both go, they’ll never believe you… I can’t believe this is happening to you! Will be praying for you…
Fingers crossed!
Seriously? I am so sorry this is happening to you guys. I will say they have to make very quick decisions, and if they see a young childless male applying in a third country – particularly if his passport shows he’s been rejected before – they’re probably going to reject. Because what’s to make him return here, when he isn’t even from here? And why isn’t he applying in his own country? They have to wonder. Has he ever overstayed a visa in the past, or gotten caught working on a student visa? If so, he’s probably screwed.
Maybe if you go in with him to help explain the situation. Bring your one-year lease, your job contracts, your Chinese bank account info showing the balances – anything to prove he intends to return. Bring the invitation for the training, or a note from the boss who wants him to attend.
I wish I could help, and I’m sorry you’re dealing with this again.
There are hundreds of thousands illegals crossing over the Mexican border into the States, every year, through CA,TX and AZ. The US Immigration knows about it and are not doing or wanting to do any thing about these illegals for years and years. Cannot find better examples of stiff incompetent and mindless bureaucrats
So Stay Strong and Cool and request to see a higher ranking officer at the Beijing US Consulate. Stand up to your right as US Citizen to be heard
and treated fairly. After all, those bureaucrats are paid by US taxpayers.
If needed , get the help of DH new employer or to gurantee his return
to China after the 2 weeks course.
Perhaps the company can apply for his US Visa directly.
If they can afford a Lear Jet, they may be able to help to pull some strings at the US Embassy.
Hope this Link may be of some help
http://www.usimmigrationlawyers.com/resources/immigration-law/deportation-and-removal/reentry-waiver.htm
and related discussion forum on Deportation and Reentry at
http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/archive/index.php/f-87.html
Even with worst case scenario, you are still at the epi-center of the World’s Economic Developement and growth, in Beijing.
Better than going back to Spain ( one of the economic PIIGS crisis countries) or the stagnant USA, with only Mickey Burger Flipping new jobs available nowadays.
Plenty of English Teaching jobs/ other jobs around Beijing for you,
to tie things around while DH VISA problems are being resolved.
To despair will be destructive and be of not much use.
Stay positive and strong.
Fight these brainless immigration robots to the end.
May be the force be with you and good luck
Third Eye
Thanks for the support, everyone.
I’m really pessimistic. He has overstayed a visa before, voluntarily left and was subject to a 10 year ban. He has been out of the US now for 11 years. He had all the documents Donna mentioned with him and the VO just said that maybe if he reapplies after 6 months of working in his new company… The thing about aviation is that in order to work at all he needs the training course, which is only available in the US. This all took place in Hong Kong, not Beijing, as the wait for interviews in the Beijing consulate is currently 3 months.
I’m going to go to the Beijing consulate tomorrow for US Citizens Visa Hour to ask some questions, but I’m not sure if they can answer them. I’d really like to know if this whole situation is a dead-end. Like are they ever going to let him in to the US again? Is it possible to overcome this situation? I just need to know so we can arrange our lives accordingly. Nearly every aviation opportunity out there in the world will necessitate him visiting the US for training courses.
As for applying in his home country, Spain, I think that’s our best option, but with the challenges we have – previous overstay – I don’t know if it will work. He made mistakes in the past when he was young and didn’t understand the implications. We’ve followed the law since then and are just trying to do things the right way. Unfortunately, they do not allow anyone to accompany non-immigrant visa applicants on interviews, so all I can do is write a letter pleading my case, which the VO may or may not read.
I am sitting in The Bookworm right now with no shame in the world, crying. I just can’t control myself and our Internet is not working at home. Plus I think I need to be around people right now.
BTW, I once went to a US Citizens Visa Hour in Shanghai to ask the consular officer if it would be possible for the DH to enter the US again after his visa overstay. It had been 9 years since he left at that point. The consular officer was so surprised that the DH had not been back in the US at all. He said, “What about your family? He hasn’t seen your family?” And I said, “No, of course not. They said he was banned so we never even tried. He hasn’t seen most of my family in 9 years and missed funerals, births, etc.” The consular officer told me that it didn’t even seem humane and that he should definitely apply for a visitor visa. Was this guy just being an absolute jerk?! I do believe that it is possible for the DH to enter for 2 weeks. It has to be! Come on! I just have to figure out how to convince the visa officers that he will leave after two weeks. How!? Everything I can think of he had with him already. Will it make a difference if he applies from Spain?! All these thoughts are constantly spinning through my head and I just can’t stop them. Tomorrow afternoon can’t come fast enough.
Sorry, thinking out loud. On my blog.
When you go to the Visa Office, just tell them two words, The Gabe. All of your problems will mysteriously vanish and all will be well again.
I only wish it was that easy. When I helped a friend of a friend make a movie in college, they didn’t know my last name, so they listed me as The Gabe. I’ve always thought it was a frightening.
All joking aside, I do hope they listen to you and understand that all he wants is two weeks to train.
The Gabe sounds powerful! It’s worth a try!
So I was pretty sure the world was out to get me today when my Internet stopped working at home. Then my phone ran out of money. Then I went to Starbucks to use their Internet and it wouldn’t work either. Then I bought a phone card to recharge my phone and the English menu had no choice for recharging cards and I had to find a random Chinese person to help me navigate the Chinese menu. Then I tripped on the sidewalk in front of a whole restaurant of people eating chuanr. Then I came home and ate an entire chocolate bar and now I’m feeling a little ill. Good news is I restarted my computer, and the Internet works again. What a day. And I’m writing all of this in the comments because I can’t bring myself to post yet.
I think applying the US Visa at the Beijing Consulate is a better choice,
than trying in Spain. There is no US Immigration law barring reaplication
of temporary US Entry visa.
Your chance of success is higher in Beijing than Spain,
as Spain is in economic trouble too with high unemployment rate.
The Beijing Consulate bureaucrats firsthand, the actual better economic situation in China. So no reason for the DH to Overstay in the US for a “crappy existence”.
After stealing Trillions ( Thousands of Billions, 12 Zeros US$ ) from the US law abiding citizens, by the greedy Wall Street robbers, and corrupt Politicians alike, the good old USA is basically bankrupt, for generations to come. How sad.
Today, China is the USA’s Banker and the US Consulate’s Robots in Beijing know this fact, clearer than any other US Consulates around the world. So your leverage of sucesss in resolving the DH Visa in Beijing is the highest. Thousands of temporary US Visitors Visa and US Business Visa are issued by the Beijing Consulate everyday, so they must have
real Human expertise there to resolve your Visa issue, instead of a HongKong Consulate Robot just punching on the keyboard and deciding
mindlessly.
It never is the end, there are always other choices, albeit not the holy grail.
Stay Coooool.
The problem with reapplying from within China is although our ties to China are actually stronger than to Spain, (our work is in China, we’ve lived here 5 years), because the DH is not a Chinese citizen, this works against him. Because Spain is his country and he has strong social-familial ties there, (and money), then he might have a better chance. I really don’t know if this is 100% correct, but it is what I have heard from others. For example, a Dutch friend who has worked in China for the same amount of time as us, in the same industry, was denied a business visa in China, but got it easily by flying back to The Netherlands and applying from there.
The wait time for visa interviews in Beijing is currently three months, although expedited interviews are sometimes given. I think the fact that they have such a heavy workload might mean that the visa officers are MORE skeptical and much less forgiving in the Beijing consulate. That’s just my assumption, however.
I’m also learning that the fact we own no property and have no children is actually working against us, too. And here we thought we were just being financially wise in these turbulent economic times! haha I’m certainly not going to have kids if he’s denied the visa! That means no health insurance, no job, no home and uncertain future. If he gets the visa, however…
I’m so sorry to hear about this. Actually I may have similar problems soon. I would like to take my boyfriend back to my country to visit my family, but it seems so unlikely to get the visa for him. He’s young and not educated. He has a poor job and not much wealth. i can imagine that my country is afraid he’s going to stay and never leave.
EuropeanGirl´s last blog ..Can you be too honest?
Unfortunately, it is quite possible that you will encounter problems for your boyfriend. The best thing to do is to read as much as you can about visa application procedures, especially on forums where people post about their experiences. There are several large forums specifically for Americans, but I am not sure about the European countries. See if you can go to your embassy/consulate to inquire about the visa process far in advance so you can gather the necessary documents and formulate a plan. Good luck!
That is a bunch of $%^*. I started following your blog when you use to post of the VicAd website,also since a old friend of mine also works in China.
I seem to remember that you have family here in Victoria, perhaps you can ask them to contact Rep. Ron Pauls office for you, he seems to be helpful in situations. His Victoria office info and website…Victoria, Texas
1501 Mockingbird Lane, Suite 229
Victoria, TX 77904
Phone Number: (361) 576-1231
http://www.house.gov/paul/
Hope this gets to you!
Good Luck
Thanks for commenting, Jerry. I’m glad you’re still a reader although I’ve been highly neglectful of the Vicad blog. I always meant to get back there, but it didn’t happen. I’m a registered voter in Goliad County, where my family still lives, which means our rep is Ruben Hinojosa. I have considered contacting him, although the Consulate told me that Representatives/Senators really have no effect on the outcome of visa applications. Even as a US citizen spouse, I was told I have no recourse and can only submit a letter of support with DH’s application. DH is reapplying from Madrid, Spain next week and we’ve beefed up our evidence & documents so we hope this application will be successful.
Learjet’s website says there are type rating courses for their aircraft in Canada as well as in the UK, and at CAE in the Middle East. Here’s the link;
http://www.learjet.com/en/3_0/3_2/3_2_5/3_2_5.jsp?id=4
It might be worth contacting Bombardier directly and asking them about it.
Hope it all works out for DH. Amazing how, after all the bureaucratic problems you’ve been posting about with regards to China, the biggest hurdle now seems to be from the bureaucracy of your home country. Good luck!
Thanks for your support Pilot J! We have been in contact with Bombardier and unfortunately, the only Lear60 simulator available is in Dallas, Texas. (We joked that maybe we could just convince the company to buy a bigger Lear with available simulator in Canada or elsewhere… Since the Lear60XR is brand new, I guess they probably won’t go for it.)
If we can write a letter of support or do anything let us know, it might help if my Dad or I wrote a support letter.
Christy
Thanks so much! Several American pilot friends have written letters so I think well be okay but thank you. I will let you know if we need a letter. Please keep your fingers crossed.
Just wanted to let you know I miss your posts!
Hope the application process in Madrid is more fruitful for your dear DH!
Thinking of you!
Jen
Today’s the day! I should know sometime late tonight or tomorrow morning. I’m so nervous! I just can’t blog yet, but as soon I know I will be back. Thanks!
Hi, Ive just found your post today. Im VERY sorry for you guys, after all the efforts you find this. Hopefully you will find somehow to fix it, Im sure. Its being hard, but you will get it. The worse thing is the frustration of not being able to do anything against the stupidity.
GOOD luck.
A big, big hug.
Gracias Marta! It is all very frustrating!
Oh no, so sorry to hear this! I’m going to tell you my husband’s magic secret which has never been turned down for a visa before. I’m not sure if it’s really magic or if we just think it is, but it’s true no one has ever been turned down for a visa when he used this method.
He puts all the documents in a folder with clear plastic sleeves for each doc and a colored tab on each one.
It sounds ridiculous. It is ridiculous. It probably has nothing to do with the successful visa applications. But if you try it and if it works, please let me know.
BTW if you have questions about settling in to Beijing send me an email any time – melaniegao at aol.
melanie gao´s last blog ..Open Letter to my Wii Fit
Thanks Melanie, I’m always happy to take any visa-related advice and will most definitely use this tactic in the future. Actually, I’m sure the consular officers appreciate the organization as it probably makes their lives a little easier. And thanks for the email address – I do appreciate that.
Gosh, I tuned in late to see what your big news is and I’m so very sorry to see what visa trouble there is. Here I thought that the spouse of an American citizen had the right to enter the US, barring being some sort of a threat. Shows what I know. Have you considered hiring a good immigration attorney in the US? Expensive, I know. If you would like recommendations in Washington, write to me. I sure hope that this works out well for you.
Kathy
This blog has taken a decidedly grim turn, hasn’t it!? Thanks for your comment. We do not have an immigration lawyer, but might consider in the future. We did have a lawyer after we married and applied for an immigrant visa the first time. He told us that we should have lied on the application about the DH’s previous overstay, which made us feel very uncomfortable and so we have sort of avoided lawyers since. Maybe not the best decision. :/
I really appreciate the support!