Return to US denied ~ PLEASE HELP!
Annie moved to the US from China last spring, and had her green card application in process. Everything was going along fine, when an emergency necessitated her return to China to bring her daughter Ella from a previous marriage to the US earlier than planned. Since Annie's green card was in process, she filed paperwork as required to depart and return to the US.
Annie made arrangements to enroll Ella in school, on Orcas Island, for the start of the new year. Her future classmates and the Orcas community were eager to welcome a new 7th grader to the community. Annie then flew to China to bring her daughter home. They travelled to Guangzhou, China, where the US consulate was to issue travel documents and the visa for Ella based on Annie's status in the US.
Annie, on the other hand, had nothing. No travel documents, no explanation and no way to return to her home and her husband in the US. Despite multiple assurances from US immigration officers that her travel documentation would be processed, nothing happened. Immigration officers communicated dates by which this could be processed....one deadline passed, many deadlines passed and then yesterday, with only three weeks until the expiration of Ella's visa on February 13, Annie received a letter of denial. The letter includes an order to depart the US within 30 days. That would be quite a feat, given that the US won't let her back into the country.
You’ve got to know Alex, letter of the law guy. Therefore, before Annie left, all documentation was filed for her return. So what happened? All I know is that Alex was sent on an incredible rollercoaster bureaucratic journey starting in September (when Annie was not able to return to the US as scheduled). This theatre of the absurd took many turns, including requiring Alex to again prove his ‘legal status in the US’ as recently as 27 December…yes, being born in New Jersey does count for US citizenship! Worried about Ella’s 13 February visa expiration date, he recently contacted Congressman Larsen for help, only to receive a letter from USCIS Director Robert Cowan yesterday. Re-entry for Annie denied. Find out more about Robert Cowan of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services and what others say about his history of prejudice and discrimination here.
I read the letter from Robert Cowan and both the justification & reasoning for the denial are a confused recitation of form numbers and regulations, which fly in the face of logic. Furthermore, the refusal directly contradicts multiple affirmations of Mr. Cowan’s own staff of senior immigration officers over the last six months! The real kicker is: No appeal allowed. Need I say more? Oh, yes had it not been for congressman Larson the letter might have taken another 30 days to reach Alex.
I work on a number of things with Alex, including our startup so I’ve been following this nightmare from the beginning ….. sadly it runs some scary parallels with what my father told me about his time in Germany in the late 1930s.
And most of all please send this around. Please tell everyone about it. Email Congressman Larsen and urge him to help reunite this family! I’ll be posting updates here and on twitter. Stay tuned……
