Husband Removed for 5 Years from US
I have a somewhat complicated immigration case and I was hoping to get an
opinion from anyone who can help. My husband and I may be seeking alternate counsel. To make a very long story short, I am 27 years old and an
American Citizen, born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana. My family and I
are about as mid-west, middle class American as you can get. In the fall of
2004 I met my future Canadian husband.
My husband is a professional baseball player. He attended New Mexico Jr.
College, followed by Oklahoma City University, both on baseball
scholarships. His senior yr of college, he was drafted by the San Diego
Padres. In the late summer of 2004, he had been playing baseball in
Northern Mexico and returned to Scottsdale, Arizona post-season for some
training. Just shortly after returning to the states, he was arrested for
Possession of Paraphernalia. From that moment on, he has never touched
drugs or alcohol, at all. We met just weeks later. He hired a very
expensive Phoenix attorney that advised him to plea guilty to a felony with
the agreement that following the completion of probation, it would be
reduced to a misdemeanor. His attorney advised him not to leave the U.S.
until this was completed and his offense reduced. While continuing
probation, random drug testing, N.A. classes,... my husband signed with the
Northern League to play baseball for Edmonton, Alberta in the Spring of
2005. He filed for permission to leave the country during the baseball
season, which he was granted by the State of Arizona. We were engaged late
February, 2005 before he left for the season. During that season, he
was back and forth between the U.S. and Canada on a weekly basis playing in
the Northern League.
My husband returned to Scottsdale at the end of his season in September 2005
and we were married a few weeks later in Scottsdale, Arizona. During this
time, while nearing the end of his probation, he again asked his
attorney if he could request permission to leave the country in order to
attend our honeymoon in Jamaica. The State of Arizona again granted him
permission to leave and upon returning to the U.S. he was sent back to
Canada and Removed for a period of 5 years. When I returned to Arizona, I
immediately sought legal advise and was informed that fixing this could be a
very long process. With that being said, I put in my 2 weeks notice at my
job, packed up my condo, left my life, family and friends behind, and moved
to British Columbia to be with my husband. A sudden move to Canada put an
enormous strain on us. I was unable to work in Canada and the wedding,
honeymoon, and unexpected international move put tremendous financial strain
on us. After about 4 months in Canada, my husband was offered a job playing
baseball in Cozumel, Mexico. Struggling emotionally and financially in
Canada, we decided to move to Mexico (where we learned we could both work
immediately). We have been here in Mexico ever since. Currently I am 9
months pregnant with a baby girl and my husband has been selling timeshares and
supporting our family for the past couple of years. After much
consideration, we decided to have our daughter here in Mexico. We have met
with the US Consulate here in Mexico and they have helped us begin the
process obtaining US citizenship for our daughter. We did consider a birth
in the US, however, we could not bear the months of separation this would
cause and my husband not being present for the birth of our daughter.
Apparently the process of American Birth Abroad is quite a simple and quick
process.
We finally were able to obtain an attorney in Arizona that specializes in
criminal immigration cases. He was able to file and receive a 'Set Aside'
on his criminal case and just recently began the I-130 process,
however, this was delayed several months because his office continually sent
the paperwork to the wrong office. We were under the impression that we
were in process over a year ago. Now it is finally in Mexico City being
processed. Is there any other paperwork that we could or need to file to
prevent him being denied on the I-130 or during our immigration interview?
After reading into it at great depths, I am desperately afraid he is going
to be denied because of his past criminal conviction. Will the Set Aside
help this? Do we need to be filing a Waiver of Inadmissibility? Will he
ever be able to even visit, let alone live in the U.S. again? I am
extremely close to my family in Indianapolis and going through my first
pregnancy alone here in Mexico has been devastating. Jobs for immigrants
here are few and far between and, in addition, neither of us speak spanish.
I have been forced to choose between being with the man I love and the
country I was raised in and my family. Is there anything at all we can do
or be doing? I feel as if no one can or will help us and our attorney does
not respond to our calls or emails but every few months or so. I am
desperately seeking answers and reassurance. Any information or advise you
could give me would be so greatly appreciated. Please help us. Thanks so much for your
time.
Last edited by mspth; 08-31-2008 at 07:01 AM.
Reason: name removal
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