Back again.........

[Dehcbad25]

well, I had been quite busy, thought you guys probably don't realize because I am not missed (J/K)
I just returned from a couple of weeks vacation. In part the vacation was in order to go with my wife to the US embassy in Italy (my wife is an italian citizen now) and apply for a turist visa for her. Well, it got rejected (again)
So, we pretty much have decided that it won't be possible for her to come to US now, and we are thinking into moving to Canada, so at least we can live together.
So, if any of you guys know someone in Canada, don't forget you have here a friend looking for a job over there ;)
Still working hard, since I have lots of bills to pay, plus the added job hunting now. I have a maximum of 2 months to find a way to be together, or otherwise move to Europe with my wife. She is currently living in Spain.
During my vacation I visited Spain, and Italy, and passed thru France, since we did the trip in a rental car. Italy is really nice, but there were lots of NICE cars passing me like if I was a slowpoke :p
Maybe I should move to Australia since there are so many members from there.
Is anyone going to give me a place to crash for a couple of........years?? :D

[Big Booger]

well, I had been quite busy, thought you guys probably don't realize because I am not missed (J/K)
I just returned from a couple of weeks vacation. In part the vacation was in order to go with my wife to the US embassy in Italy (my wife is an italian citizen now) and apply for a turist visa for her. Well, it got rejected (again)
So, we pretty much have decided that it won't be possible for her to come to US now, and we are thinking into moving to Canada, so at least we can live together.
So, if any of you guys know someone in Canada, don't forget you have here a friend looking for a job over there ;)
Still working hard, since I have lots of bills to pay, plus the added job hunting now. I have a maximum of 2 months to find a way to be together, or otherwise move to Europe with my wife. She is currently living in Spain.
During my vacation I visited Spain, and Italy, and passed thru France, since we did the trip in a rental car. Italy is really nice, but there were lots of NICE cars passing me like if I was a slowpoke :p
Maybe I should move to Australia since there are so many members from there.
Is anyone going to give me a place to crash for a couple of........years?? :D


David,
Just to ask a question, why are you applying for a tourist visa? When my wife came to the US, she came on a 90 day short stay with NO visa. I then filled out all the paperwork for her to stay in the US. We went to the INS office and had an interview. It took about 30 days to get the interview. But once we got it, I brought all of the letters, pictures, our wedding certificate, a several notarized statements from my employer and a friends. I had at that time about 7 shoe boxes full of letters I had written my wife while we were engaged. And we had 5 photo albums chocked full of pictures. I think that is what won over our interviewer.

But my main thing is why are you applying for a tourist visa in Italy? Apply for a greencard it stateside. Once you have applied she can overstay her 90 short stay pending the result of your interview with the INS. BUt this was 7 years ago so I am not sure if the rules have changed or what.

[tarun]

Glad to have you back...

If you ever want, or rather have, to come to India, you've got a place to stay :D

[rohitk89]

Great to have you back Dehcbad

PS: If you're in South India and want North Indian food, you know where you can find it :D (tell him how bad Madarasi food is, Tarun :p)

[phishhead]

but still no pictures. ;)

[Dehcbad25]

To come to US you always need a visa. When you come for 90 days it is the visa waiver or I-94 form (green card filled in the airplane).
I think it was in 2001 or 2002 that US took Argentina out of the visa waiver program, so if you are coming from Argentina you have to apply for visa. Back when my wife and I were dating, she tried to apply for a student visa, since she was going to come to study English. Even thought she had all the requisites she was denied the visa (At that moment there was political tension between Argentina and USA) After having one visa application denied you cannot use the visa waiver either. She had tried applying a total of 4 times over the last 2 years.
The last application we even thought she was going to get it accepted since she was starting a nursing school, which she studies at home, but has to go in person for the exams. On top of that she had an invitation letter from my mother who works in the superior court of Camden NJ, but still was rejected. INS has gotten extremely tough after 9/11, which I believe it actually hurts USA economy, because working visas and student visa have gotten difficult to obtain.
In all the applications she applied as single also, since being married makes getting a visa more difficult (because she has more reason to stay) and I am still not a citizen (it takes about a year to process the naturalization application).
So, basically the tourist visa was a great option because my wife can live with me most of the time that we have to wait. Every 6 months she would have to go out, but it was not a problem since she has her family to visit and exams to take.
PS: I have a couple of pictures, but I left the camera with my wife :p

[Big Booger]

To come to US you always need a visa. When you come for 90 days it is the visa waiver or I-94 form (green card filled in the airplane).
I think it was in 2001 or 2002 that US took Argentina out of the visa waiver program, so if you are coming from Argentina you have to apply for visa. Back when my wife and I were dating, she tried to apply for a student visa, since she was going to come to study English. Even thought she had all the requisites she was denied the visa (At that moment there was political tension between Argentina and USA) After having one visa application denied you cannot use the visa waiver either. She had tried applying a total of 4 times over the last 2 years.
The last application we even thought she was going to get it accepted since she was starting a nursing school, which she studies at home, but has to go in person for the exams. On top of that she had an invitation letter from my mother who works in the superior court of Camden NJ, but still was rejected. INS has gotten extremely tough after 9/11, which I believe it actually hurts USA economy, because working visas and student visa have gotten difficult to obtain.
In all the applications she applied as single also, since being married makes getting a visa more difficult (because she has more reason to stay) and I am still not a citizen (it takes about a year to process the naturalization application).
So, basically the tourist visa was a great option because my wife can live with me most of the time that we have to wait. Every 6 months she would have to go out, but it was not a problem since she has her family to visit and exams to take.
PS: I have a couple of pictures, but I left the camera with my wife :p


So why were you in Italy? LOL I thought your wife was Italian?? My wife came on the Visa waiver (short stay) and we applied in the US. I am a US citizen so I think our situation was a bit different from yours.

The U.S. embassy in Italy states that one may travel without a visa as
part of the Visa Waiver Program only if, among other conditions, "you
hold an individual, machine-readable, passport from a Country which is
part of the Visa Waiver Program."

VWP countries:
Andorra
Iceland
Norway
Australia
Ireland
Portugal
Austria
Italy
San Marino
Belgium
Japan
Singapore
Brunei
Liechtenstein
Slovenia
Denmark
Luxembourg
Spain
Finland
Monaco
Sweden
France
the Netherlands
Switzerland
Germany
New Zealand
United Kingdom

DOes your wife have an Italian Passport? If she is an citizen, I think with an Italian passport she can stay on the VWP.

Also I read, to get a Visa in Italy your wife needed to live there a minimum of 5 years.

I think had you gotten your citizenship, and then applied for a Fiance Visa (K1), then she could have come to the US worry free.

I think they have gotten extremely tough on immigration... they were really loose about it before. In a way I see it is good, and in a way I see that is bad. They want to keep out the criminal element.. those terrorists came over on tourist visas...

IF you want your wife to come to the US without moving to Canada and having to start over again, I suggest you to get your citizenship, have you wife enroll in classes in Argentina (with a degree it will make it easier on you both), and once you get citizenship, then apply for a spousal visa:

http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types_1315.html

As it stands now, without you being a citizen it would be hard for you to bring her here. The reason is financial. They need you to make enough money to support the both of you and her sponsor must be a US citizen. I was asked repeatedly about my financial situation. At the time I was making roughly 25,000 US (part-time and a college student). I met the requirement (I think it was 125% of the poverty line for a 2 person family).. and that soon I would be graduating with a BS degree. And they accepted it.

Get the I-130 after you get your citizenship and then send for her. Make sure you meet the requirements and travel back and forth. It will take a while for you to get your citizenship.. wait for that. Then once you have it, you can send for her. Also there is a greencard lottery:

http://www.us-green-card-lottery.org/

Try your luck there.

Further, she can if she has Italian Passport use the Visa Waiver Program.

I don't know the laws of Canada but I can imagine it is much easier to do than the US. So that is a possibility.

[rik]

Welcome back Dave

[carloc]

...
Italy is really nice, but there were lots of NICE cars passing me like if I was a slowpoke :p
...
:D :D :D
Welcome back Dehcbad!!

[Dehcbad25]

well, the citizen aplication takes about a year, and her green card after that 6 months, so it is a year and half minimum, it is kind of long time. I will still apply for my citizenship, even thought I will work in Canada.
For the lotery, it is no good, because you can't apply for other visa and it takes about 7 to 9 years now. The visa waiver program is not good for her, even with italian passport because she had a visa rejected in argentina, and one of the conditions is not having a visa application rejected.
We are pretty much against the ropes right now. There doesn't seem to be many options, beside smuggling her in the trunk of the car ;)

[Big Booger]

well, the citizen aplication takes about a year, and her green card after that 6 months, so it is a year and half minimum, it is kind of long time. I will still apply for my citizenship, even thought I will work in Canada.
For the lotery, it is no good, because you can't apply for other visa and it takes about 7 to 9 years now. The visa waiver program is not good for her, even with italian passport because she had a visa rejected in argentina, and one of the conditions is not having a visa application rejected.
We are pretty much against the ropes right now. There doesn't seem to be many options, beside smuggling her in the trunk of the car ;)

I would lastly advise you to hire an Immigration attorney. I almost did. But I had a nice lawyer *they exist* tell me that I could do everything he could do, only he could guarantee that she'd get a visa. I decided I'd try my luck on my own and did.

However several of our friends who are in international marriages, opted for the lawyer route, and it worked out smooth as silk for them.

INS is not a rushed job, especially after 9/11. Would you really want them to just let everyone in without any kind of check? :D I wouldn't.

The Canada route should be loads easier, and less restricting. But I don't know the exact rules there. Good luck with it. ANd WELCOME BACK to TZ!!!