I returned to the US and Teti was supposed to follow me a week later. She had a son that was adopted from one of the daughter's first marriage. She went to the immigration office to add his visa to hers that was valid for another four years. The immigration saw where she had stayed in the US for 13 months on the tourist visa and scratched out her visa with a red ink pen. This was due the time she spent in America while pregnant with Tiara, our daughter. I had applied for residence for her here but it went to the wrong office. They said we would have to apply for an immigration visa. They said she had broken the law in the US and could not return for ten years. She asked them what was we to do and the lady said she should get a divorce from me so they could our daughter an American citizen back to the US. Teti was so mad. I called the immigration office later and found out all I had to do was file for waiver. They told me if I would come back to Indonesia they could do it rather quickly. This is a copy of an e-mail they sent me from the US embassy in Jakarta.
January 31, 2001 Dear Mr. Madden I received your fax dated January 30, 2001 regarding your wife and stepsons visa refusals. After reviewing the notes from the interview and the copy of her passports, let me assure you that at no time during the interview did the officer suggest that your wife obtain a divorce. The officer noted that due to the nature of your wife's case, it would be the best to get in contact with you regarding the return of your child who is an American citizen. The recommendation was given at your wife's insistence that the return of the child was now the responsibility of the embassy. We apologize if there was some miscommunication regarding the matter. As for the refusal of your stepson and your wife, the interviewing officer was obligated under US immigration law to cancel the visa and refuse the Childs application. Your wife had overstayed her tourist visa for an extensive amount of time in the United States without authorization from the Immigration and Naturalization service. This is a serious offence that directly violates the laws governing the use of non-immigrant visas. Her sons visa was not issued because he could not meet the requirements of the Immigration Act that requires an applicant to prove he/she is coming back from the United States and will not overstay while there. We understand that the purpose of their trip was only for a short visit, but, unfortunately, because of your wife's overstays, the law does not allow for the continued validity of her visa or the issuance of her sons. Your wife and her children may still apply for immigrant visas here at the embassy, though you are correct in noting that it does require frequent travel to the United States. If you choose to petition for your wife, the Immigration and Naturalization Service in the United States can decide whether or not your wife's overstay can be waived. Once again, let me apologize if there was any misunderstanding during the interview. The officers here are simply trying to execute the law as they are required to do. Please note that this refusal does not affect her status in Indonesia. If you are interested in filing the immigrant visa petition, please feel free to come by the embassy and petition here, as the process is much faster when done abroad. Sincerely Amanda Morrow Vice Consul
So I scraped together all of the money I could and went back to Indonesia to get my littler girl and wife. I filed the necessary papers with the embassy for the waiver. Then I went back to the US alone and waited. It took several months and then we got this letter with a deadline for some other kind of waiver that was about to expire.
The Waiver
X Section 212(a)(y)(B)(v) regarding a waiver for "ALIENS UNLAWFULLY PRESENT" under the Immigration and Nationality Act states: "(v) ...The Attorney General has sole discretion to waive clause (i) in the case of an immigrant who is the spouse or son or daughter of a United States citizen or of ail alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence, if it is established to the satisfaction of the Attorney General that the refusal of admission to such immigrant alien would result in extreme hardship to the citizen or lawfully resident spouse or parent of such alien ...." Your application fails to establish an extreme hardship to the qualifying relative spouse you must submit to this office a written statement explaining what extreme hardship would exist to your spouse. Only in cases of great actual or prospective hardship to the United States citizen or alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence will the bar be removed. Common results of the bar such as separation, financial difficulties, etc., in themselves are insufficient to warrant approval of an application unless combined with much more extreme impacts. Extreme hardship to an alien himself cannot be considered in determining eligibility of a waiver of inadmissibility. In Matter of Cervantes-Gonzalez, Interim Decision 3380 (BIA 1999), the Board recently stipulated that the factors deemed relevant in determining whether an alien has established "extreme hardship" in waiver proceedings under 212(i) of the Act include, but are not limited to, the following: (1) the presence of a lawful permanent resident or United States citizen spouse or parent in this country; (2) the qualifying relative's family ties outside the United States; (3) the conditions in the country or countries to which the qualifying relative would relocate and the extent of the qualifying relative's ties in such countries; (4) the financial impact of departure from this country; (5) and finally, significant conditions of health, particularly when tied to an unavailability of suitable medical care in the country to which the qualifying relative would relocate. You are hereby granted ninety (90) days from the date of this letter to respond to this request for additional evidence. Your case is being held in this office pending your response. Within ninety (90) days you may: 1. Submit all of the evidence requested; 2. Submit some or none of the evidence requested and ask for a decision based upon the record; or 3. Withdraw the waiver application. You must submit all of the evidence at one time. Submission of only part of the evidence requested will be considered a request for a decision based on the record. No extension of the period allowed to submit evidence will be granted. If the evidence submitted does not establish that your case was approvable at the time it was filed, it will be denied. If you do not respond to this request within the time limit allowed, your case will be considered abandoned and denied. Evidence received in this office after the due date will not be considered. Mario R. Ortiz
I received this letter a few days before the expiration of the 90 days they allowed me to respond. Not that I think it would have done any good. They seemed to be playing with us.