Reddragon75

Hello all. Some of you may remember me. My name is William and my wife's name is Lily. I joined the site here about 9 years or so ago. It had been a long time since I had logged in, so I couldn't remember my password or the email I used to create the account, so I created a new one. My old username was Reddragon75. I have a conviction related to the Adam Walsh Act and have been fighting with USCIS since January 2008 to get a petition approval, but because of my AWA history from an offense back in 2003, each of the 3 petitions were denied, the most recent denial being last week for a DCF we filed here in China where I have been living with my wife since 2011. For those of you who don't know, due to the Adam Walsh Act, any US Citizen convicted of an AWA offense who files any family based petition is automatically denied unless they can prove "beyond a reasonable doubt" that they pose no threat to the beneficiary. The burden of proof is almost impossible. Despite providing evidence showing rehabilitation, polygraph report, and even psych eval, our petitions continue to be denied. You may ask "What training or qualifications does a USCIS adjudicator have to be able to determine if someone poses a risk to their spouse or is likely to reoffend?" The answer to that is...NONE. They have the absolute power to decide whether or not to approve the petition and just say they are not convinced. I know everyone will say "you need an attorney". I appreciate the advice, but I know we need one. But, due to my lengthy fight with USCIS and having to relocate to China so I could be with my wife, my finances are in no shape to be be able to afford an attorney, whose average cost is $4000. I would't necessarily mind so much living in China, except I can't get a good paying job here via work visa because of my criminal history, which is why I ended up having to move to China just so I could be with my wife. On a happy note...my wife and I had a baby girl born on September 30, 2015 and she is now almost 18 months old. Her name is Kayla. She was conceived via IVF and the procedure was successful on the first try. We had always wanted a family of our own and had planned to do so after she got to the US. But, since we have been fighting with USCIS for more than 9 years now, and neither one of us were getting any younger, we decided to try to have a baby here. Despite us having a child together (who is a US Citizen) USCIS still denied the recent petition. So, now it is not only effecting me and my wife, it is effecting our daughter as well. We want us to be able to live in the US together as a family and for her to be able to grow up where she will have better opportunities and a better life. If there are any members here who are in the same situation, please feel free to contact me. Also, please do not judge me based on the fact that I have an AWA related offense. I have always taken full responsibility for my actions. I wish it would have never happened, but all I can do is look to the future, be a good husband, father, and better myself, which I have done, and continue to do. Anyway...I just wrote this to say hello again and to give an update about our situation to long-time members and introduce ourselves and our case to new members. If anyone does know of any good attorneys who have experience with AWA cases (not Ellis) please let me know. If we can find a good attorney who has at least some success with these cases, then we would try to figure out some way to raise the money for their service. NOTE TO GUESTS TO THE SITE: IF YOU ARE AN AWA OFFENDER AND ARE CONSIDERING FILING A PETITION FOR YOUR GF/WIFE, BASED ON MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE...I WOULD ADVISE YOU TO LOOK INTO OTHER WAYS TO GET HER TO THE U.S. FIRST AND THEN WORK ON GETTING A GREEN CARD TO ALLOW HER TO STAY IN THE U.S. IF YOU NEED SOME ADVICE, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME

No...really?! I already knew that

Was it difficult for your wife to get a visitor's visa due to the fact that you are married?

As stated, it depends on what the conviction was for. I can tell you from experience, I am a convictd felon under the Adam Walsh Act for an offense that happened 10 years ago. My wife and I have been trying to get a petition approval for more than 5 years, but have been unable to do so because of my conviction, despite the fact that I have sent a huge amount of evidence to try to overcome their denials. Our case has been denied 2 times and I filed an appeal with the Board of Immigration Appeals. In regard to your friend getting a Chinese visa being a convicted felon, I don't think there would be a problem with that. I have received one 4 times after disclosing my conviction to the Consulate. In fact, the funny thing is that for the previous 3 visas I got I didn't even have to go to the Consulate to get it. I had a visa service company do it for me. They knew about my conviction and never even wanted to interview me. But, this recent time I put on the visa application that my occupation was Broadcasting/Journalism. THEN....they wanted me to come in for an interview with the Consulate Officer before they would gve me a visa. So, your friend will have no trouble going to China and meeting someone. However, if the offense was anything related to the Adam Walsh Act, unless he is willing to go through a lot of pain and hardship and put her through it too, or willng to spend the rest of their lives together in China, then tell your friend not to waste his time. He should just find someone who already lives in the US.

Hello all, Of course, I moved to China in September of 2011 thinking I would only be here for a few months. Well........almost 2 years later....I am still here. In case you don't know, our spouse visa petition was denied in February and I decided to file an appeal(EOIR-29). I have called the customer service center several times and continue to get the same run around. Does anyone have any advice on what I can do to try and get them to move faster? I mean...we have already been waiting for more than 4 years. Are there certain questions I should ask them about the case? Is there some way to pressure them to make a decision? Should I write to my Congressmen again? I don't know what to do. I am so sick and tired of all this B.S. It enrages me that just because of something in my past that happened 10 years ago has caused all this pain and hardship for us and has basically put our lives on hold.

Well...it is not that I don't like China. I love China. The problem is that due to my criminal history, I can't get a work visa and get a good job. I am stuck teaching English, and THAT is what I hate. I just feel miserable doing this job, to the point where I don't even want to get up in the morning. When I first arrived in China in 2011, I had an interview with China Radio International and was offered the job as an on-air personality. But, CRI has a policy against hiring felons, so I had to decline the job offer. And, I am pretty sure I would not be able to get a work visa anyway even if an employer did not have such a policy. To get a work visa, a person can't have a criminal history. So, you may tell me that maybe our future will not be in the US, but I refuse to accept this. Yes, we love each other very much. But, we will never have a good life here with me making so little money. You can't survive on love alone. That is why I will never give up with USCIS.

I am thinking about filing some kind of appeal about our denial. I thought I had read somewhere that decisions related to the Adam Walsh Act are considered final by USCIS and cannot be appealed. But, it does not say as such on their website, so I am not sure. Also, I have been seeing many posts of AWA related denials filing appeals on other website forums, but have not seen what the results of those filings have been. If the decision is considered final and cannot be appealed, then I would be jut wasting time and money by doing so. Would you suggest I file an appeal? I have already written to my attorney inquiring about this matter, but I wanted to see what everyone here has to say about it. If I decide to do so, my attorney will assist me. Also, there are 2 different forms for filing appeals. There is the I-290B and the EOIR-29. I think we would use the EOIR-29, but I am not sure. There is a basis for an appeal. The issue is the USCIS concern for my wife's safety. We have lived together in China for more than 1 year, and have evidence to show this as fact. Also, my wife can write a very heartfelt letter telling them that she is aware of my criminal history, that I have never hurt her, etc. If I am going to file an appeal, we would need to move pretty quick because I only have 30 days from when the decision was mailed to me: January 4th.

The thing that angers me the most is the fact that I provided ample evidence to USCIS that showed I do not pose a threat to her safety. It included a risk assessment from the psychologist I went to for counseling after my offense stating he did not believe that I was a threat to her, a signed/notarized statement from my wife saying that she was aware of my criminal history(including what the exact offense was), and even an official polygraph report that showed I have never harmed her in any way. I understand that the intended purpose of the law is to protect unsuspecting women, but I have never hidden anything from anyone. My wife knows about it, and I have been more than cooperative and forthcoming with USCIS about my criminal history. The problem is that the petitioner is required to "prove beyond a reasonable doubt" that they do not pose a threat to the beneficiary's safety. How am I supposed to do that?! These people who neither know nor care anything about me, have the power to decide whether or not I pose a threat to my wife's safety, despite the fact that they have no professional qualifications or training to make such decisions. I mean...for Pete's sake....we have lived together in China for the past 15 months. I informed them of that months ago when I called "customer service" and the person told me they would put that in the computer. I guess since I did not have any documented evidence to prove this, USCIS didn't believe it to be true. I am not sure if there is any type of document that I can get here in China that shows we have lived together for more than 1 year. My wife will contact the Public Security Bureau and ask. If so, then I need to get it. I was thinking about trying to get the document and filing a motion for USCIS to reconsider the decision based on the new evidence. But, since I know that decisions in AWA cases are said to be final, I think that would be just a waste of time and money. They would probably just throw it out. I am not sure. If I don't do that, then at least I could have the document to submit with my other evidence when I file again. But, it pains me to imagine that when I file again it could take another 3 f****** years for them to make a decision. If I can get some kind of official document that shows we have been living together for more than a year, I don't know if I should have my attorney file a motion to reconsider based on new evidence. AWA case denials are pretty much considered final by the USCIS so I might be just wasting money filing for something that will never happen and they will just ignore.

<p>The thing that angers me the most is the fact that I provided ample evidence to USCIS that showed I do not pose a threat to her safety. It included a risk assessment from the psychologist I went to for counseling after my offense stating he did not believe that I was a threat to her, a signed/notarized statement from my wife saying that she was aware of my criminal history(including what the exact offense was), and even an official polygraph report that showed I have never harmed her in any way. I understand that the intended purpose of the law is to protect unsuspecting women, but I have never hidden anything from anyone. My wife knows about it, and I have been more than cooperative and forthcoming with USCIS about my criminal history. The problem is that the petitioner is required to "prove beyond a reasonable doubt" that they do not pose a threat to the beneficiary's safety. How am I supposed to do that?! These people who neither know nor care anything about me, have the power to decide whether or not I pose a threat to my wife's safety, de

I thank you for your encouraging words, as well as from others. We did not file from China. I filed from the U.S. 3 years ago and received the denial from the Vermont Service Center. I wish I was able to do a DCF, but I can't due to my history. Unfortunately, the Consulate doesn't deal with petitions that involve a criminal history. We will do our best to hang in there. We are not sure yet what to do. Good news is that I got a PM here from someone who has a friend who was in the same boat as me that may be able to help me. We will see.

I did have an attorney. I got one in my home state as Marc Ellis suggested to me. From what I have gathered during research on the internet and my own attorney, a lawyer can't really do much in cases like mine. I submitted all the evidence that was suggested by my attorney, including a signed letter from my wife stating that she was aware of my criminal history, and a polygraph that showed I have never hurt her in any way since we have known each other. I had also notified USCIS that we had lived together for 3 months during the summers of 2009 and 2010. I even called them and let them know we have been living together for more than a year. But, that did nothing to help get an approval.

Well.....I received another email from USCIS today letting me know that our petition was denied. Words can't express how I feel right now. I mean....after making us wait for over 3 years, and allowing us to have the hope that it will be approved, they decided to deny it. I don't know what to do. I want her to come to the U.S. to be with me. But, if they denied this one, then they will only continue to deny any petitions I file. I am filled with so much hate and anger right now that I feel like I am going to explode. I don't want to stay living in China for the rest of my life, especially since due to my criminal history, I can't get a good job here in China. I just don't know what to do. I love my wife with all my heart, but I don't want to stay here in China forever.

Well....finally after 3 years and 2 months of waiting...USCIS has finally made a decision in our I-130 petition. I received an email today notifying me that a decision was made on December 31st. However, it did not tell me what the decision was. Instead, I have to wait for it to come to my mothers house in the mail. It is a great relief that after all this time a decision was finally made, but now we will be totally stressed out waiting and worrying about what the decision is. If it is a denial, I don't know what we will do. Anyway.....please pray for us that it is an approval.

Thanks for the advice all. I contacted Guangzhou and found out for sure that we can't file DCF due to the circumstances. This thread can be closed.

Hey all, Well....found out for sure from Guangzhou that DCF isn't possible anyway given my circumstance. I have been living here in China for 14 months teaching English. I hate teaching with a passion. I want to be able to save money for when USCIS finally approves the I-130 petition and she gets the spouse visa. I can't do that being in China. I also owe the US Department of Education almost $30,000 in student loans, and I have already had to defer the payments 3 times while living in China. I did contact an attorney, and I will possibly be filiing a Writ of Mandamus to get USCIS to make a decision in our case. However, I have no idea how long it could take for USCIS to make a decision. It could be a month, it could be another 6 months or more. Basically, my wife and I have talked about me returning home soon. However, I was thinking about having her apply for a visitor visa while I was here in China. If she got it, I planned to return home and she would come to visit me and my family later. In terms of financial support, my old boss will give me a job upon my return to the states. Basically, I have the financial support aspect of the visitor visa interview taken care of. The concern is the part of proving she will return to China when the B visa expires. She does not have a job, she sells jewelry and women's hair bows that she makes herself, as well as other merchandise such as scarves. She doesn't own any property. She does have a home, but it is her parents' house. She does have money in bank accounts. I know that there have been many posts on here about this issue because I read most of them. I also know the chances of her getting a visitor visa are very, very, very slim, but we are going to try anyway. However, I was hoping that maybe I could get advice on what documents we could take to the interview that would help show that she does not intend to overstay the visitor visa and she intends to return to China upon its expiration. I was thinking maybe a letter from me, stating that we are aware that we have a petition pending, that I would like for her to come to spend time with me and my family while we are waiting for petition approval, that we are aware if USCIS approves our petition she will have to return to China for the interview to get the spouse visa, and that I will ensure that she returns to China upon the expiration of the visitor visa because we know if she doesn't, then we will never be able to get the IR-1/CR-1 visa. We have already decided to at least try to get the visitor visa. What kind of documents could we use to show she will return to China? Should I go back home first and then she apply for the visitor visa, or would it be ok if she applied for it while I am here? Again...if she would get it, she may travel back to the states with me, or she may come later. Again...I know this is a topic that has been discussed many times, but I would appreciate any advice on this matter. Thanks, William