Immigration Reform Anyone?

I have been looking around for a citizen type coalition to try to influence immigration reform in the U.S. legislature. I haven't found what I am looking for and perhaps it doesn't exist. If that is the case, I am not adverse to starting some kind of grass roots movement.

I don't even want to address the 'illegal' hot topic because I honestly believe that trying to 'fix' illegal immigration is putting the cart before the horse. The 'legal' immigration needs to be fixed first, then the 'illegal' problem and all that it encompasses will follow. It's like that old saying, 'free your mind and your ass will follow.'

I would like to influence how the U.S. legislators go about instituting overhauling the whole immigration system concentrating on family immigration, since it is an obviously personal issue. Additionally, since this is such a hot topic with the American voter right now, now is a good time to get involved in this decision making process with a new administration that will soon be in place. I have been in an immigration mode since I was married back in 2005. I am still waiting for some kind of closure. I could sit and do comparisons and contrasts between the U.S. and the Canadian immigration systems for hours and I do see the good and bad side of both these systems since I have (or am) lived through both sides. With this knowledge, I think I have some good ideas for how to reform the current U.S. 'legal' immigration system.

I do not see a valid reason for:

1. Diversion of funds (in the form of fees paid by applicants) to be used for enforcement rather than application processing;

2. Waiting for 1-1.5 years (conservative estimate) to sponsor a spouse with no criminal history;

3. Waiting for a Consular interview for months;

4. Skilled worker recipients being able to bring their families to the U.S. in a matter of a couple months in comparison to a spouse (see #2);

5. Not having a 'temporary' type approval where the intending immigrant family member receives temporary work permit and allow them to live and work in the U.S. while the application finalizes after they pass a basic security check.

I have other ideas that I think would improve the current system that my mind turns over in attempts to see from all angles. I try to be open minded and am trying to learn the whole immigration process. What exactly does USCIS do with the application, for example? Which data bases do they run name checks against? Why does it take so long?

I am weary though, of wading through immigration reform bill texts and seeing mostly how this bill wants to give all illegal immigrants who have been in the U.S. and played nice and not ran with scissors a green card or the bill that wants to seal off the border with a larger than life fence and more and more border patrol officers. I am tired of reading newspaper articles about how this immigrant or that immigrant lived here since birth and lived a good life but happened to have parents of non-U.S. citizenship and will be deported. Or stories of human smugglers who extort their 'customers' for more money once they get their 'customers' across the border. Where are the stories about the normal families separated by the immigration system for months and months and the hardships they endure while their large fees paid to the U.S. government to process their loved one's forms is used to pay for the border patrol to drive around some remote area in the desert?

Why is it so hard and so difficult for me to live with my husband in the U.S. where I was born? That is the most basic of questions that it only requires the most basic of answers. Since I cannot find the answer right now, I want to invest some time and energy into finding an answer and a solution to not only my problem, but a problem that many are facing right now.

So, if anyone is aware of a group that works on this issue, that can, with clarity and an open mind, address the law makers to try to find a way to resolve the current immigration dilemma, please let me know. (You can just post a comment, link below). You never know what can happen when you get involved.

Happy Birthay mi esposo perfecto!

I tried to make your day special, long distance, and I think I succeeded. Hopefully, on your next birthday, we might even be living in the same country. I love you with all my heart and I tell your mother 'thank you' from me, just for having you. You brighten my life and give me hope everyday and I am so grateful that you picked me to spend the rest of your life with.

I love you.

Rejection!

Tuesday, January 22, 2008 was a typical Tuesday. I went to work. I sang along to the radio or cd on both the drive and the drive home. (I think I should invest in tinted windows for the car to minimize embarrassment at some point in the near future.) I usually come home and greet the dog who motors herself around in a circle by waging her tail more like a propeller than a back-and-forth type wag. I change clothes, clean up the mess she made by destroying something that I inadvertently left with in her reach (usually a book, or some junk mail, a dish rag, an orphaned sock, etc). I called my husband to let him know that I am home and we had a quick discussion about our day and our individual plans for the evening. Then I took her for her nighly walk.

This dog I have is really a great dog. She is very social (almost to a fault), very curious, rarely barks at anything, and will, when bribed, do 'sit' 'lay down' and 'shake.' She is far from perfect though. She requires a lot of attention and exercise to be well behaved. She still jumps on people to greet them, and she takes me for a walk more than the other way around. I am still hoping that since she is only 1.5 years old, she may still settle down a bit more.

She and I generally stay to the same route for a longer walks. We have a wash area behind the apartment complex and we rarely see anyone there. I used to get to that area and unleash her to let her run around a bit, but it didn't take her long to figure out where the rabbits had their holes and she would scare them up and where ever the rabbits ran, she followed. This wash runs parallel to a rather busy street and I know that when the dog is chasing a rabbit, everything else in her world seems to evaporate, including on coming traffic. And there was no getting her back until she had lost track of all the rabbits and that could take hours. So there ended the off leash time. I now have to resort to taking her to a 'dog park' near my apartment every few days since the walks alone are not nearly enough to drain a fraction of her energy.

On the return trip of the dog walk, I stop at the mail box and pick up the mail. Most of the time it is just junk mail and the apartment complex is wise enough to have a trash can right next to the mail boxes. Typically, I pull out the mail, sort through it and dump it in the trash. This particular Tuesday, however, was a 8x11 envelope with 1-2" thickness. I looked at the return address and my heart just sank. I recognized that weight and the weight in that envelope went directly to my heart. The sender of this ominous envelope was none other than USCIS Chicago.

I opened it right there next to the perfectly placed trash can. My dog tugging at her leash, bored with standing in one spot more than 2 minutes. The face page was this:





I stood stunned for a minute but the dog pulled the leash one more time. Behind the ominous face page, was my original application to sponsor a spouse and all if its required attachments (the marriage certificate, birth certificate, proof of relationship, and hosts of other papers the government wants to see). I packed the contents back into the envelope and headed back to my apartment. Upon arrival, I kicked off my shoes, unleashed the dog, and prepared for a very long and depressing night.

I read the Notice of Action a few times to actually digest what it was trying to communicate to me. It said the I-130 was not signed. I looked at the attached I-130 and saw my signature. It took me only a second or two to see the problem. I transitioned from confusion to complete despair. On the bottom of the second page of the I-130 are two signature lines. One for the petitioner (me) and one for a person completing the form, if other than the petitioner. I had signed it on the second line. I felt so completely stupid. Because of my mistake, our entire immigration package and payment was returned. We had to start over.

I debated telling my husband about this problem. I hated myself so much for such a silly mistake that will probably cost us months of more time apart with our lives in limbo, or perhaps purgatory is more of an adequate term, that I didn't want him to hate me as well. I don't think he could beat me up better than I was doing to myself, but I certainly wasn't looking to be chastised by him. I know I deserved it. I had it coming.

In the end, I told him of our most recent news from USCIS. I was initially met with complete silence on the other end of the telephone line. After I failed to gain a response from him, I just told him I would talk to him later and hung up. He called me back 20 minutes later and said, "All I can say, is I am glad it wasn't something I did." Then we both laughed. We were both disappointed at this latest turn of events, but you can't turn back time and 'undo' history. All we could do was sign an new I-130, write a new check since the original check was 3 months old now, and resend the application.

The following day, I made the trip to the U.S. Post office and had the application sent overnight to the USCIS Chicago office. The I-130 application was received by USCIS Chicago on January 24, 2005. I guess the clock starts then.

The world is, in fact, not flat...

My apologies to the few remaining readers. I have not posted in some time and I did not fall off the edge of the planet. Sometimes I feel like wandering to the edge though, and just peeking over just to say that I have...

As you know, I have a job and lately it has gone beyond just 'busy' and entered a whole new dimension of 'insane.' I feel I spend about 10 hours a day just trying to keep from drowning in a sea of work. On the upside, it is definitely job security and another big bonus and one I have not felt in a very long time: I actually like my job. I have a good staff and they are very nice to work with and for. I view my position as their manager of one of working for them rather than vice versa. They teach me everything they know and sometimes things they don't think they know. My boss generally leaves me to own devices to figure things out, which is fine with me most the time. Sometimes, it is frustrating, but generally, when I am patient with myself, I figure them out and I tend to learn best in that environment.

My husband is still stuck in the Canadian prison system and we are still trying to get him paroled. He gets issued passes occasionally for conjugal visits, which I enjoy very much. I jest of course, he is not incarcerated in the justice system sense, but he is in the immigration meaning of the word. He will be here next weekend for a long weekend visit and I am very much looking forward to going out to dinner for his birthday which is on February 11th. All he wanted as a big steak dinner and I made reservations at a very nice restaurant. I will try to put on a restaurant critic hat and critique the joint in a couple weeks.

I do have updates to my U.S. immigration process and I will get to those (including visual aids) in the next few days. In the meantime, I am still keeping a log of I-130 processing which is linked in the upper right hand corner of this page. I don't update it daily, but I do get to it a few times a week.

Keep fighting the good fight!

I love my husband!

I love my husband so much that I will shout it on the street, out the window of my car, out the window of my apartment, and tell any passing stranger this fact if I wasn't in fear of being involuntarily committed to a mental health institution.

He called me late last night and I could tell he was in bed, in that super relaxed state immediately preceding sleep. The conversation goes like:

Me: "Hello miel" (I have Caller ID although all it says is Ontario and no number when he calls me.)

Husband: "Do you love me?"

Me: "More than anything. Why aren't you sleeping?"

Husband: "I've been bad."

Me: *pause*

Husband: "I hope you can forgive me, but I cheated."

Me: "Were you surfing internet porn or something?"

Husband: "No, I was bad. I cheated. *pause* I... I did it... I bought a ticket and I am coming to see you on Jan 28."

Me: "Oh my god, are you serious???"

Husband: "Yep! I couldn't resist. I found a round trip ticket for $550 I couldn't wait to see you anymore."

We spent another 20 minutes going over the itenary, what we want to do with his week with me, my schedule at work and his, and all that other fun stuff. He is going to help me buy a 'real' bed when he gets here (better than this sleeping on a quasi-air mattress that I have currently) and he wants to buy a dinette so we can do our traditional New Year's Eve dinner for two (we find some new recipe for something we have never had before, cook it at home, play music and chat and have a lovely candlelight dinner around midnight). After all that, it is lay around and just 'be' with each other.

Now do you understand why I love this man? He makes me feel like the luckiest woman in this vast universe that I have him.

I've lost that Christmas feeling

*envision Maverick and Goose singing ala Righteous Brothers here*

I was never much of a 'holiday' person to start with. I was never the one with the house all dazzled out in lights and light up santas and reindeer. I didn't have Christmas paraphernalia scattered all over the house. I never owned those little guest towels for the bathroom that had embroidered Christmas trees or candy canes on them. I never owned a Christmas scene snow globe nor a Nativity scene. I have seen 'Miracle on 34th Street' and 'It's a Wonderful Life' but I never liked them much. I do candidly confess that 'A Christmas Story' (the one about the boy who wants a Red Rider BB gun more than anything for Christmas) is one of my favorite movies.

But, for the first time in my life, I wish I were one of those people. I want to scatter holiday cheer randomly on everyone I see, just like fairy dust. I want to greet people in the store or on the street with "Happy Holidays!" and mean it. I want to spend days shopping for gifts for everyone I know, even the postman and the garbageman. I want to spend an evening in front of the fireplace with all the lights off, enjoying a nice glass of wine while sitting on the couch and admiring the beautiful twinkling tree. I want to sit there and discuss how the kids will have such a wonderful holiday and how nice it will be to see all the relatives while enjoying the scented holiday candles.

I want to buy new mittens and a hat and put on my snow gear and go outside and make snow angels and catch snow flakes on my tongue. I want to lick icicles like a Popsicle. I want to make a snow fort and have a major snowball battle with my family until we are so cold we can't feel our fingers. Then we can go inside and drink hot chocolate with those little mini marshmallows until our noses are no longer pink. We can sip our hot chocolate and gaze in wonder at all the brightly wrapped presents under the tree and ponder what are in those pretty boxes. Perhaps, when no one is looking, I will pick up a box or two and squeeze them and shake them, and try to deduct what it possibly could be. Whatever is in those mysteriously wonderful boxes is sure to be perfect.


We could spend the colder weekends in nice fuzzy sweaters baking cookies and cakes. We could make tins full of these massive varieties of goodies for co workers and neighbors. I especially like those peanut butter cookies with the Hershey Kiss plopped right in the middle. We can nibble on those warm, just out of the oven cookies and talk about everything unimportant but cheerful or sing along to our Christmas cd's.

We could sponsor a less fortunate family and take their 'wish list' to the store and buy everything they want, plus a few extras, so that they too have a wonderful holiday. We can donate some food to the food bank and put our spare change in the Salvation Army kettles when we see them outside the stores ringing their bells.

We could sit at our dining room table and write our Christmas cards to everyone we know. We could get those glittery cards that are so fun to look at. We could collect the cards we have received and paste them all over the back of our front door and when that is full, we can start taping them to the nearby walls in the foyer. Cards with pictures of snowy villages, candy canes, reindeer romping in the snow, and snowmen with crooked hats, children on a skating rink, and even the Budweiser Clydesdales.

We could help the smaller kids write their letters to Santa. In their little kid spelling and block letters, we could help them spell things like 'pony,' 'legos,' and 'sled.' We would help them address their envelopes to Mr. Santa Claus, Christmasland, North Pole and watch their faces beam with pride and hope as we walk down to the mail box and send those letters on their magical journey.

I would give anything to be able to do just one of these with my family this year. For at fate would have it, this year, I am separated from them all. I will spend Christmas Day completely alone. I will communicate with my family via electronic means, but it it no way replaces the warmth of their hugs and the soul filling feeling of hearing their chatter and their laughter throughout the house. So, today, I send off my own letter to Santa:

Dear Santa:

Please bring my family home for Christmas this year. This is all I want.

Sincerely,

Delicia

Closing the file on CIC

I shiver with anticipation to finally announce that my case is now closed, complete, and kaput with CIC. I cannot explain the relief this is.

On November 28, 2007, my husband received a check from CIC in the amount of $975.00. While it wasn't the full refund to which I think we are entitled, it is good enough for me. The check being issued to my husband does also corroborate my earlier suspicions that those paper worshiping government employees are not the most literate individuals walking the planet. If they were adept at their positions, they would have noted that the fees were charged under my card and not my husband's, so the fee is actually owing to me. Regardless, it went into the joint checking account in Canada and promptly withdrawn as cash in the U.S. and deposited to our U.S. savings account.

Which left me with the one issue hanging of this Form IMM 5021, Voluntary Departure Confirmation. Since the refund, formerly known as Nemo, was in hand, I had no worries about informing CIC of my current address in the U.S. So, I replied to their demand with the following correspondence.

December 4, 2007

Citizenship & Immigration Canada
ATTN: D.M. Salmon
5343 Dundas Street West
Etobicoke, ON M9B 6K5

Dear Sir or Madam:

I am in receipt of your letter dated November 16, 2007 requesting me to complete Form IMM 5021 (copy attached).

Please be advised that my son and I have moved to the U.S. prior to your request to complete a Voluntary Departure Confirmation. We departed Canada on land route via Sarnia/Port Huron, Michigan on September 24, 2007. I started a new employment position in Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.A. on October 1, 2007. I am currently in process for sponsoring my husband into the U.S.

I can be reached at: name
address
address
phone

Please let me know if you require additional information.

Sincerely,

signature

While the letter by no means expresses my true feelings and it definitely does not say what I would like it to say, it does the job. I told my husband a few days ago that I have exactly 2 visits to Canada left in my body. The first is to attend his U.S. immigration interview at the U.S. Consulate in Montreal and the other is to fly there to help him drive down for the final move to the U.S. once he is approved. Therefor, telling CIC how I truly feel about their sorry excuse for an agency could no doubt hinder those 2 final visits into Canada.

Farewell CIC! I hope I never ever ever in my life have to deal with you again.

My latest visit to Toronto

I mentioned a few days ago that I went back to Toronto to visit my husband and son over the U.S. Thanksgiving weekend. We had such a good time, and I thought it appropriate to get away from this complaining about the government (or lack thereof) and provide some details. I want you, Dear Reader, not to think that this is all I do all day, find fault with Canada and both the U.S. and Canadian immigration processes. Yes, I do have a job and I have a family and a couple dogs, and I do laundry once a week and run to the grocery store and stop and put gas in my car (as painful as that is with the current gas prices), much the same as everyone else.

I arrived in Canada on the Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving (U.S.) to pouring and cold rain. The temperature hung just above freezing and that is just miserable weather. I was processed through Canadian customs rather quickly even after telling the officer that I was there to visit my husband and son. He asked how long we have been married and I answered him, "2 years." Then I added that we were in the process for my husband to immigrate to the U.S. He nodded, and waived me on. No stamp in my passport though. In my previous trips in and out of Pearson, I always had to be very careful with the words I used with the Immigration Officer. It was nice be relaxed about the process (but I carry my complete CIC file with me, including FOSS notes just in case).

I had declared on my form that I was carrying $400 in gifts, which was a slight understatement. I had an XBox 360, extra game controller, and a copy of Halo 3 in my carry-on. So, needless to say, I got waived into the duty area. I waited in line there about 30 minutes before my turn came up. I explained to the officer what I had, and he took my form and waived me through. Seems as if they are only interested in alcohol and tobacco imports. I was thankful for not having to pay more for my son's birthday gift than I already had. Those XBox's are spendy things!

I found my husband as soon as I exited Customs and he was relieved to see me. He told me after that he tracked my flight and was going to give me 1 hour to exit Customs before he started trying to reach the MP as he was sure I would be pulled into secondary because of the poor experiences we had had in the past. It was so nice to see him. I had forgotten what a good looking man he was. He even brought me my winter coat to wear leaving the airport since I had left all my coats and heavy sweaters in Toronto as there is not much call for them in Arizona. That man is always thinking of my welfare, even when I don't appreciate it.

We went straight to the my in-laws, so we could play early Santa and give the XBox to my son and my brother-in-law. I missed my son more than I thought and was thankful to see him again after 2 months. Fortunately, he looked exactly the same, so I didn't feel like I had missed anything, except his crazy, goofy, self. We dispatched our gifts, hubby hooked up the Xbox, provided them another game, Call of Duty 4, and that was pretty much the last I saw of The Kid and my brother-in-law for the rest of the weekend. They had their faces into the TV playing those games for the remainder of my visit. I take it they liked it.

My husband spent the next few days going back and forth between our hotel (very nice and glad my hubby thought enough to get one instead of me staying at the in-laws) and my in-laws house. We caught a movie and dinner out a few times. My husband likes taking me on dates and I think that's wonderful. We cooked up a traditional Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday with all the fixins. I made a huge ham (preferred over turkey at my house) and it was yummy. My husband was eating ham salad sandwiches at work for the next week, but he wasn't complaining.

The hardest part is always leaving. It is like a dark cloud that plagues the entire visit, knowing that I have to go home without my men. But, knowing I was going to be intensely busy at work takes the edge off. We decided that since airfare is completely out of control over the Christmas holidays, we were both going to stay put and plan for my husband to come for a visit sometime in late January as an early birthday gift for him. I can't wait.

Here is a picture of the dog that stayed with my husband. The dog is originally from a sled dog trainer/breeder in Quebec and he is gorgeous. I bought him for my husband's birthday last year and we drove about 5 hours one way to go pick him up. It is rather hard to take pictures of him because he won't sit still for any amount of time. Talk about a dog with ADHD.

All eyes on USCIS

Back to the U.S. immigration process for a moment before I close out the Canadian side (which I am oh so close to doing).

I have been monitoring the USCIS processing centers and in a helpful way, the USCIS posts, on their site, a weekly update. They list all the forms (well, most of the forms) and the date that the individual Service Centers are up to with that type. I, being hung over from frustration with CIC, started monitoring these updates shortly after I submitted the I-130 to the California Service Center in the end of October 2007. At first, I was slow on the uptake and had to determine when, exactly these updates are posted. It appears now, that USCIS is very reliably posting the updates every Friday, but it hits their site in the wee pre-dawn hours of Saturdays. With this revelation, I have decided to track these updates and do some quick math to see, what it is exactly, they are working on. It certainly isn't the I-130s, which is the form nearest and dearest to my heart.

So, in this light, my analytical self has developed a spreadsheet to track this information and calculate the change from week to week to keep an eye on the U.S. paper loving (although they are subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act) government employees and make sure that they are doing something. Unfortunately, the USCIS website only has the current update and is not archiving previous updates (that I can find anyway). I did some light forum reading and found all the older processing times posted in various threads and used that information to build my spreadsheet. If anyone out there can point me to either USCIS archived Application and Receipting Updates or knows where someone else may have this information posted, please drop me a line.

So, here it is: USCIS Processing Times Spreadsheet

(I have a permanent link to this sheet in the upper right hand corner of this blog.)

Enjoy!

Even more mail from CIC

Wow, those paper worshiping government employees at CIC are now working overtime on my case. Too bad they couldn't have done this, say ummmm, when I actually applied for the immigration 2 years ago. I withdraw the statement as I forgot who I was talking about.

November 16, 2007

Dear Ms. CXXXX & family

This is in reference to your application for permanent residence under the Spouse or common-law partner in-Canada class, received at our Central Processing Centre-Vegreville on 15Feb'2006.

We have received the correspondence dated 19Sep'2007, from yourself and your sponsor, MXXXX CXXXXX, indicating your sponsor's desire to withdraw or cancel the Undertaking he submitted on your behalf. His request is accepted and a copy our letter to him is attached.

I noted that you also have requested withdrawal of your application for permanent residence and indicate that it is your intention to leave Canada. As such, no further action will be taken on your application for permanent residence.

As you are currently in Canada without Immigration status, you are required to verify your departure from Canada. Please submit the attached Voluntary Departure Letter, for yourself and your son, to the Immigration authorities at your port of exit from Canada. Failure to verify your departure could result in you becoming the subject of a report under section 44 of the Immigration Act.

The cost recovery fee of $700 that was paid on this application is non-refundable. The Right of Permanent Residence fee in the amount of $975.00 will be refunded to your sponsor as he was the payee. This process has been refered to our Vegreville office as that office recieved the original payment.

The client number in the upper right corner of this letter is your personal identification number and it provides access to information on your file. For your own protection, do not allow any other person to use this number. If you require any further information, please contact our Call Centre at 1-888-242-2100.

Yours truly,

D.M.Salmon
Immigration Officer
Citizenship & Immigration Canada
5343 Dundas Street West
Etobicoke ON M9B 6K5

cc: my spouse

Where to start with this.... First, the fees were charged on my card, not my husband's. My daily card limit is at $1,800 while my husband's was at $1,000, so we opted to use mine. No matter, we have a joint account and the measly refund will go directly in our savings account to be used on our soon-to-be house.

Secondly, I left Canada in September 2007. Kind of hard now to provide this form they want. I am debating calling the Call Centre and informing them of such, but as is the completely inefficient CIC way, their toll-free number doesn't work outside of Canada and I do not feel like putting one more ounce of money (long distance fees) or time (an hour on hold is fairly average) into this process.

Thirdly, CIC will not issue refunds outside of Canada. So, if I give them my true and correct address in the U.S., I do not get a refund. Go figure this logic out, someone, and get back to me because I just cannot get my mind wrapped around it.

My husband's correspondence is nearly identical to mine with a few minor and unimportant changes so I will not bother with it.

The form they want to me to have completed is an IMM 5021. It just requires me to sign it and for some immigration officer to verify my airline flight number, date and time of departure and location of departure. So, bring on the report under section 44 of the Immigration Act and let us see if these officers can reach me here in the U.S. is what I am thinking now. I certainly won't make any effort to have it completed anytime before the Right of Landing Fee has been deposited and cleared our bank account.

Yippee! More mail from CIC

It appears that the one sure fire way to get a response from CIC, since it isn't by filing an immigration application, is to withdraw an application. I received this letter recently:

16 November 2007

This refers to your request for a refund of fees paid for Right of Permanent Resident Fee.

A refund in the amount of $975.00 has been requested. This refund cheque will be sent to the original payer of the fee who in this case is your sponsor MXXXXX CXXXXX.

The client number shown in the upper right corner of this letter is your personal identification number. This number provides access to information on your file and for your own protection you should not allow any other person to use it. If sending correspondece to Citizenship and Immigration Canada please include your personal identification number. Failure to include this number could result in the return of your correspondence unanswered.

Please note that if another person has paid the fee on your behalf, the reufnd will be issued to that person.

If you require further assistance, please telephone the Citizenship and Immigration Canada Call Centre, toll-free at 1-888-242-2100 and be prepared to quote your client number and your date of birth. General information and application kits may also be obtained throught our Internet Web site at http://www.cic.gc.ca.

Please notificy this office, in writing, or any Citizenship and Immigration Call Centre, by telephone, of any change in your address.

Yours truly,

Officer LWE/CSU
Case Processing Centre
Vegreville, Alberta

Very disappointing, but not unexpected, indeed.

(U.S.) Thanksgiving in Canada

I had a very enjoyable and relaxing trip to Canada to visit over the long U.S. Thanksgiving weekend. My husband took very good care of me and even booked a very nice suite for us to stay in for my visit. (more about this later as I am dog tired right now and had a return flight back that was 80% turbulent, so no sleeping for me!).

I did, however, remember to pick up my mail, and in that stack was a letter from my husband's MP. The letter reads:

October 9, 2007

The Honourable Diane Finley, P.C., M.P
Minister of Immigration
Journal Tower South
21st Floor
365 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa ON K1A 1L1

Dear Minister,

I am writing to you on behalf of my constituent, Mr. MXXXX XXXXXX, who approached my office seeking assistance with the sponsorship of his spouse, Ms. SXXXX XXXXXX.

Mr. MXXXX XXXXXX filed an inland Family Class sponsorship on February 11, 2006 to sponsor his spouse. This file was referred from Case Processing Centre in Vegreville, Alberta to the local office in Etobicoke, Ontario on November 7, 2006. The local office put the file in queue for review, which is estimated to occur in the final months of 2007.

Due to the amount of time needed to process this inland sponsorship case, the couple has decided to withdraw the sponsorship and move to a different country (see attached letter).

Minister, I am extremely disappointed that my constituent will be leaving Canada because of the time needed to process this inland spousal sponsorship application. You should be aware of this problem. Perhaps adjustments can be made to reduce the processing times of inland spousal sponsorships.

Thank you very much for your assistance in this matter. Please do not hesitate to contact me should you require any further information.

Yours sincerely,

Hon. Roy Cullen, P.C., M.P., Etobicoke North

Catching the deluge with a paper cup

It's been a few weeks since we submitted our first round of paperwork to the USCIS (U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Service) for my husband's immigration. I figure it is just our luck that USCIS is completely backlogged right now due to the fee increase that happened in July. They are still trying to catch the deluge with a paper cup. All I can do is at this point, keep hopeful and pray that they are close to the end of it. I think that we will be behind the same eight ball when the case is sent to the National Visa Center for even more processing. The only thing we can really do is have everything ready to go when the government is ready to receive it so we minimize any delays in processing on our end. I am calculating by the current backlog and watching other people's time lines for processing, that we won't receive any communication from USCIS until January 2008.

I was digging around on the USCIS website last week, when I came across the Diversity Lottery. It's a very interesting concept. The U.S. basically raffles off green cards, or at least the ability for qualified people who would like to immigrate to the U.S. to have their applications 'moved to the front of the line.' I am not entirely sure how the processing of the winner's applications happens and if they are given an abbreviated process or not, but we decided that since my husband was eligible via his Chilean citizenship and his job skills, we might as well throw his name into the hat. At this point it couldn't hurt and since our luck with cash lotteries is zero, we are due for something good sometime very soon. The winners aren't drawn until May - July 2008 and with fingers crossed, his IR-1 (spousal) application should be well on its way to being finalized. If any readers have been through the DV Lottery process, please post your thoughts and any details you care to share (and no, you don't need an account to post, just use the comments link at the bottom of this post).

I miss my husband so much my heart aches. I wonder why we torture ourselves going through these various government processes. I also joke with him that as soon as this process is complete, we will have to pick another country to move to, any random country will do. We have been married for just a little over 2 years and for the complete life of our marriage we have been in some type of immigration process somewhere. I laugh and tell him that our marriage won't survive unless we are battling 'the man.'

But, through all the battles we have waged with everything and everyone outside of our little 'bubble of a perfect world,' our life goals have never wavered. We know where we want to go and what we want out of this crap shoot of a game called life. The location of where we accomplish our goals is simply the background, the scenery. It doesn't really matter if we do it in Canada or the U.S. or even somewhere else. We become an incredible force when we are together and nothing is impossible.

Right now, all I want is to curl up in his arms and fall safely asleep.

Gentlemen, start your engines!

I dropped of our U.S. immigration package on Friday, Oct 26, 2007 on its way to the California Service Center. I checked the tracking this morning and found it was delivered this morning and signed for by an L. Franklin. L, whoever you are, I think I love you. So we are on our way.

I also dropped my husband's MP a quick email. He had sent a courtesy copy of a letter he had issued to the Minister of Immigration Canada. Unfortunately, the letter was lost while my husband was back in Canada cleaning out the last of our items from our town home. I requested another copy and received a response from Len, that he would drop one in the mail to my husband's residence in Canada. I will post it after my husband forwards it to me.

Take your vegemite and shove it.

I still have outstanding issues with CIC, namely Moby. But aside from Moby, let me move forward today's issue. I still frequent a certain message board which I found to be helpful when I was attempting to immigrate to Canada. My husband and son are still there after all, and I still have this outstanding refund. More recently, my husband received courtesy copy of a letter issued by his Member of Parliament, the Honourable Roy Cullen, directed to the Minister of Immigration, requesting improvements to the system and not allow overdrawn cases, such as mine. The MP thoughtfully attached a copy of my withdrawal letter for the Minister to reference. Not to mention, I still remember processes and people ask for help, and occasionally I do have an answer. Nonetheless, there are always those rude individuals who like to think they rule the world from their keyboards on those forums just to make everyone else look bad. Guilt by association may definitely apply here.

Here was my post today: Finally started on U.S. immigration

---

I arrived back in the U.S. late Sept and started work Oct 1. I love being a productive member of society again. I like that I can walk into the SSN office and get a name change on my card and have the card mailed to me in less than 2 weeks. I love knowing that some Immigration ijit on the other end of the phone can't threaten to deport me (but they are still very rude to me at CIC, but that's another story). I love being able to register my car and go to the doctor and the dentist. I love feeling like a 'real' person again.

Just dropping in to let you know that yesterday, I dropped off that paperwork to start my husband's U.S. immigration paperwork. I am doing the happy dance. A time line tracker for U.S. immigration estimates his file should be adjudicated in May 2008. I am trying not to get my hopes up on that part, but that would be awesome.

Hope everyone here is doing ok!

And here was his/her response:

And its all Canada's fault right? They forced you to take the long immigration route didn't they? All you ever do is post negative stuff so why don't you just leave already! And don't let the door hit your ass on the way out!

Sadly, in case the responder hasn't read up, I haven't had too much positive feedback from CIC, which was 99% of any of my topics in my original posts. I haven't found relief in writing letters, seeking assistance from politicians, or any other avenue I had tried. I guess the responder would of been happier if I posted fairy tales and complete fiction, rather that post my own true experiences. But some people are just like that.

My topics and my beliefs, even to this minute, are simple: The Canadian Immigration system is seriously broken. Nothing much will be done about this and for one simple reason: the people most directly effected by these problems cannot vote. But the newspaper coverage is there. There are articles all over the place about the problems with the system. Just within the last few days, this article was published about the scam of Canadian immigration. There are many others, if one cares to do a bit of internet surfing.

Today, I have moved on and do my best to boycott Canadian products. Fortunately, I don't see much with the 'made in Canada' label, so it's not that hard. I do, however, have incredible sympathy for any person, regardless of their origin, attempting to start a new life in Canada. whether it be to reunite a family, a refugee, or a skilled worker.

God be with them.

30 days and 30 nights

It has been 30 days and 30 nights since I have seen my husband and son. Although I talk to them a few times a day, I still miss them terribly.

I landed in the U.S. on Sept 24, 2007 shortly before midnight at Port Huron, MI. My husband and I drove our trusty Jetta (God, I love that car!) and all my worldly possessions (including a dog) , from Toronto, Ontario to Phoenix, Arizona. We left late on Monday (had bank and other administrative last minute dramas to clean up before we left) and arrived in Phoenix, AZ on Thursday morning. The drive was peaceful and only encountered some thunderstorms in southern Missouri, but it was a beautiful light show on the horizon watching the storms roll in over the farm fields through the car window. I enjoyed all the time alone I had with my husband, singing along to the radio, talking about our future or just talking about some strange person we saw at our last fuel stop.

We arrived on Thursday and ran around to get a lease on an apartment for me (easy but seriously time consuming). By the time we finished signing the lease and this that and the other thing, it was late. We were tired, hungry and 'srung out from the road,' as the song goes. We got a hotel (pretty tired of hotels by this time, but I certainly appreciated the king size bed), ate some pizza and fell into a crazy sleep. Friday found us calling utilities to get service turned on and shopping to buy a couple basics: a floor mattress, linens, towels, desk, hangers for the clothes, more dog food, towels, shampoo and stuff, a few dishes, pots & pans, and all that other stuff you generally take forgranted that make modern life possible at the minimal levels.

My husband flew off back to Toronto on Saturday (he had work pending and was already past his original return date). I was very sad. But at least when he left, it didn't feel like it was going to be a long term thing. I know, deep in my heart of hearts, that he will be back and living with me permanently soon and this seperation time needs to be used efficiently in order for us to have the life we want. We both have things we need to accomplish in our home countries to make the next, and hopefully final, transition smooth and peaceful.

I dropped him off at Sky Harbor just 30 minutes before his scheduled take off time (Walmart hung us up for a bit and he was focused on getting all my electroncis hooked up and ready for connection before he left and we were missing a cable connection for the TV). I needed to call him desperately to make sure he got on a flight without problems, but having no cell phone or home phone or even internet to text his cell with, I was forced to buy a calling card and use a pay phone. I left the airport and exited on the first exit to find a convenience store and get to a public phone. Naturally, I exited in some office park region and I couldn't find one store. All I found was many curving roads around office buildings. After driving around (no idea where I was as I am new to this town) I find a 7-11. I run in and buy a calling card off the rack and go back outside to use the phone. I look at the card I just purchased a bit closer and it's a card to recharge a cell phone's minutes! I can't use it. I go back into the store and check out their assortment of calling cards and that is all they have on display, various kinds of cell phone recharge cards. I ask the clerk and she informs me that is all they have. I ask where I can buy a 'normal' calling card and she directs me to a Circle K up the street about 3 blocks.

I find the Circle K without problem and purchase a calling card. Go outside and don't see a phone anywhere in my field of vision. I go back inside and ask if they have one. The clerk is busy with a line up of about 5 other people, so when she finally answers me, she informs me that they do not have a pay phone and the closest one is down the street about 3 blocks at the 7-11. You can imagine what I am thinking at this point!

I get back to the 7-11 and use the calling card and get a hold of my husband's cell. He tells me that he didn't make it on his flight but that he got a ticket for the next flight (with a stop in North Carolina) which leaves in about an hour, so he is all good. I am just thankful to hear his voice again as I can't talk to him until the following day when my home phone is connected.

He arrived safely back in Toronto and was back at work Monday as was I. I started my new job and felt so liberated. After having sat around frustrated for 2 years, with a government that refused to allow me to work or do anything for that matter, I felt like a new person. I am very happy and grateful to be 'home' again and to be able to join the ranks of 'real' humans again. I am grateful to my husband and his family for putting up a small amount of funds so that I could buy some basics and eat food while I get my own feet under me again. (A special thank you to mi swagra toxica.)

I'm Going Home

I'm staring out into the night,
Trying to hide the pain.
I'm going to the place where love
And feeling good don't ever cost a thing.
And the pain you feel's a different kind of pain.

Well I'm going home,
Back to the place where I belong,
And where your love has always been enough for me.
I'm not running from.
No, I think you got me all wrong.
I don't regret this life I chose for me.
But these places and these faces are getting old,
So I'm going home.
Well I'm going home.

The miles are getting longer, it seems,
The closer I get to you.
I've not always been the best man or friend for you.
But your love, it makes true.
And I don't know why.
You always seem to give me another try.

So I'm going home,
Back to the place where I belong,
And where your love has always been enough for me.
I'm not running from.
No, I think you got me all wrong.
I don't regret this life I chose for me.
But these places and these faces are getting old,
So I'm going home.
I'm going home.

Be careful what you wish for,
'Cause you just might get it all.
You just might get it all,
And then some you don't want.
Be careful what you wish for,
'Cause you just might get it all.
You just might get it all, yeah.

Oh, well I'm going home,
Back to the place where I belong,
And where your love has always been enough for me.
I'm not running from.
No, I think you got me all wrong.
I don't regret this life I chose for me.
But these places and these faces are getting old.
I said these places and these faces are getting old,
So I'm going home.
I'm going home.

-Daughtry (or someone else who wrote it)

While I am busy moving & driving

Perhaps you all, Dear Readers, can post comments so that when I finally get to my destination I can read what you all think. It would be nice to know I am not sitting here writing to myself, but it probably won't change anything (as in I like talking/writing to myself and I am a good conversationalist).

Ladies & Gentlemen! In the Center Ring...

Welcome to my life, as I like to refer to it, Cirque de Delicia!

I am moving to the U.S. from Toronto in exactly 5 days. Because Phoenix is not known for their public transportation system, I am forced to drive since no buses or trains go anywhere near my new office. I am giving myself 3 days to make the trip, and I will go solo so staying awake on the passes through places like Oklahoma may be my biggest concern. Our original plan was for me to fly there and then purchase a low-rent car, one good enough to keep running for about 6-9 months, then fly back to Toronto and pick up The Kid either after the end of his first semester this year or at the end of the school year, but me having a car in Phoenix seems like a bigger priority than we originally calculated.


So, the real circus started yesterday. We were in flux about if the husband and The Kid and the two dogs, would stay living in our rental town home or move to someplace smaller or any other viable alternative. Yesterday, it was planned that the husband, The Kid, and the 2 dogs will move in with the in-laws. The Kid will come to live with me either at the end of the semester or the end of the school year, whichever he chooses at a later date and the husband will come as soon as USCIS (U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Service) will allow. We are planning on about 1 year for that process, but as CIC has shown us, anything can happen and we have to stay prepared for that.

With my remaining 5 days here in Canada, I not only have to pack myself up and get my ducks in order, I have to move an entire house, much of which has to go into a rented storage facility for the time being. By the time my husband gets to Phoenix, I will pretty much have a furnished place, so not much of that 'stuff' will have to make the trip to the U.S. but we don't have time to sort it all out now. We save that joy for another day.

I will be making another solo drive back to Toronto for Christmas (employer vacation approval permitting) and picking up dog #1 for transport back to the U.S. The return trip, at least my husband will accompany me and keep me company and help with the driving and then he can visit in Phoenix for a bit before returning back to his dreary life in Toronto. Dog #2 will have to wait and move with husband, simply because most apartments in the U.S. allow 1 dog, which leaves me with having to purchase a house the day after my husband gets the nod from USCIS. yeah. right.

I feel like I just did this big relocation to another country... oh wait... I did!

Nemo was swallowed by Moby

Yes, in my preparations for moving back to the U.S., I have that one last open issue with CIC: Nemo. Since I now am withdrawing my application, Nemo has since met with an unfortunate demise. Nemo was swallowed whole by Moby. Now Moby, is huge compared to poor little Nemo; Moby is $1,600.00 wonderful, Canadian, monopoly colored, dollars. Moby is the entire set of fees that I paid to CIC back in October 2005 (including the $975.00 Right of Landing Fee). I almost feel bad for Nemo, but I have bigger fish to fry (pun very much intended).

I decide that CIC, just like every other person or entity on this planet, does not get to have their cake and eat it too. According to CIC's website, the refund of the overpayment is automatic once the file begins processing; there is no need to request the refund, no forms to fill out, no paper to send the friendly paper worshiping Canadian government employees. Recall, that I have been around this circular logic with the Call Center employees already regarding getting an overpayment refund that is still outstanding. I decide now is the time to put it to paper and post it for all the world to see. Either way, at a minimum, I am obligated to receive the Right of Landing fee of $975 refund, since I will not be landing. To add insult to injury, I was informed by the friendly Call Center employees, that CIC can take up to 1 year to refund the Right of Landing fee. I do not think I have ever come across anyone or anything that thinks it is ok to hold a refund that they don't dispute for 1 year, but whatever.


So, I sit down and pen this letter:

September 18, 2007

Citizenship & Immigration Canada
5343 Dundas Street W
3^rd floor
Etobicoke ON M9B 6K5

RE: Withdrawal of Application & Request for Refund of Fees
Client ID 563XXXXX
my name, DOB: XXMarXXXX
my husband's name, DOB: XXFebXXXX

To Whom It May Concern:

We would like to withdraw our applications for In Canada Application for Permanent Residence. This would also include withdrawal for Spousal Sponsorship application and all other related applications for the primary applicant, spouse, and dependents. The file was originally filed with the CIC Vegreville office on February 11, 2006 and noted as received by Vegreville on February 15, 2006. The file was transferred to your office on November 7, 2006.

Due to the time it has taken for your office to even start processing the file, we have elected not to pursue residency in Canada and have instead decided to move out of country. Additionally, the utter lack of communication from your office regarding this file has made this immigration process frustrating and completely unproductive. I hope, for the benefit of future immigrants, your Ministry can find ways to improve the efficiency of this system.

We also request a full refund of fees (excluding the $75.00 processing fee). Enclosed please find a copy of our receipt of payment of $1,675.00 made October 9, 2005. This refund can be mailed to our current address:

our address
our address

Please note that we have not received the refund of overpayment of the right of landing fees in the amount of $485 to which we became eligible in May 2006, although several requests have been made for that refund. The basis for our full refund request lies with the CIC itself that advised that the $485 overpayment refund is issued automatically when the file begins processing. Obviously, since we have not yet become eligible for the overpayment refund due to the file not being processed, it only stands to reason that as such, we should be eligible for the full refund for the file not being processed.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact either of us at our phone.

Regards,

me

my husband

CC: Citizenship & Immigration Canada
Case Processing Center
6212 55^th Ave
Vegreville, AB T9C 1W5

Office of Hon. Roy Cullen, MP
815 Albion Road

I figure Len at our MP's office might appreciate a copy, so why not?

Moreover, I have a note in my calendar for April 15, 2008. I will start resending this letter on a weekly basis to the parties listed if I have not received a refund by that date. I am sure they will appreciate the regular reminders. I think 6 months is gracious on my part, and occasionally, I can be nice and accommodating (tongue firmly set in cheek).