Immigration Continued
After connecting with the voluntary deportation folks, it was clear that the case was indeed screwed up. Back to Kendall ICE Office. Again the staff at that office were courteous and the possibility of filing an 1-360 related to domestic violence issues during a previous marriage would allow her to stay in the country with her daughter. Forms were obtained, documents organized, copied, collated and sent. February 2012, the information was sent to the people at immigration. Two weeks later a notice with a receipt number and information that a prima facie case had been established and that she could apply for "benefits" while the case was being investigated.
About all that was applied for was reinstatement of driving privileges and the understanding that there would be no early morning visits from officials and a trip to a detention center.
One interesting sidelight to the process was the trip to the social security office. We almost got the runaround until I asked to speak with a supervisor. Domestic violence cases are treated seriously and I got the impression from the supervisor that in some ways it could be as serious an issue as getting involved with the witness protection program. There could have been assistance to relocate, get a new SSN and other things to help people get away from somebody that could stalk and threaten them while the case is being reviewed.
Waiting has taken longer than expected and it was clear to me that almost nothing had been done related to the case until March, 2013 when a change of address was acknowledged and some additional information regarding old addresses were requested. Driving privileges were extended in March for three months and there was a daily visit to an immigration website where you could check to see if your case had been approved, disapproved or if they were requesting more information.
On July 7, 2013 the website indicated the application had been approved and to follow the instructions in the letter. I'm not exactly sure what was approved and what the next steps will be, but often during the process, I had resigned myself to much more difficult issues to face if the application had been disapproved.
I'm still waiting for Godot, but I'm pretty sure he is on the next bus and the original estimate that it would take about fourteen months to review the case was accurate.
About all that was applied for was reinstatement of driving privileges and the understanding that there would be no early morning visits from officials and a trip to a detention center.
One interesting sidelight to the process was the trip to the social security office. We almost got the runaround until I asked to speak with a supervisor. Domestic violence cases are treated seriously and I got the impression from the supervisor that in some ways it could be as serious an issue as getting involved with the witness protection program. There could have been assistance to relocate, get a new SSN and other things to help people get away from somebody that could stalk and threaten them while the case is being reviewed.
Waiting has taken longer than expected and it was clear to me that almost nothing had been done related to the case until March, 2013 when a change of address was acknowledged and some additional information regarding old addresses were requested. Driving privileges were extended in March for three months and there was a daily visit to an immigration website where you could check to see if your case had been approved, disapproved or if they were requesting more information.
On July 7, 2013 the website indicated the application had been approved and to follow the instructions in the letter. I'm not exactly sure what was approved and what the next steps will be, but often during the process, I had resigned myself to much more difficult issues to face if the application had been disapproved.
I'm still waiting for Godot, but I'm pretty sure he is on the next bus and the original estimate that it would take about fourteen months to review the case was accurate.
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