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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

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.

Hi, I am asking this question for a friend who has met his first Chinese woman and may be serious about marrying her and trying to bring her to the States. He is a convicted felon. He served his time and is now on parole. Does anybody have any information on if this situation will cause him problems down the road in the visa process for her? And will it even affect his chance of obtaining a travel visa to go to China? Any input would be greatly appreciated. m-coon

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.

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.

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

Hey all.....long time no see! Well.....after waiting for a very long time for a decision in our case. I did, in fact, move here to China last year in September with the assumption and hope that USCIS would approve the petition within a few months at the most (silly me). Here it is 1 year later and still nothing. All I get every time I call is "Your case is pending and is currently being processed". I am told every time that if a decision has not been made within 3 months to call back. For those of you who do not know, we have been going through all this heartache because of the fact that I am a convicted felon from 10 years ago (no it was not for domestic battery or any violent crime). I even waited for 1 year for the FBI to complete a background check on me before they returned our case back over to USCIS in May of this year. So, here is the issue I am wondering about now. With a case currently pending with USCIS at the Vermont Service Center, and my criminal history, would we be able to do a DCF in Guangzhou? I have more than met the 6 month residency requirement, but I am concerned about my current petition and my criminal history. The form to file for the DCF is only the I-130, which does not ask about the petitioner's criminal history (when we filed the I-130 for spouse visa in 2009, it was required to file an I-129F form as well, which DOES ask about the peitioner's criminal history). Basically, would I need to/be able to withdraw my current petition at the Vermont Service Center, and them file a DCF in Guangzhou? Since it is a DCF, would they do a background check on me or just my wife? Also, would they be able to get on their computer and see that I had a petition pending at the VSC and ask why I withdrew it and/or see that I have a criminal history? Anyway.....since I have no idea when/if USCIS will make a decision in our case, I was wondering if we could file a DCF since I have lived here with her for more than 1 year. Any input is appreciated. Thanks.

My wife petition was denied. We are currently our appealing the decision. Does anybody have any information on the appeal process?

We are preparing to apply for K-1 visa. I have a total of 3 misdemeanor DUI convictions 24 to 30 years old in Oregon and California (CA). According to the CA. Department of Justice (DOJ), based on my livescan fingerprints,there is no record of my CA conviction. I also checked with the arresting police department, their records department and also the courthouse and all indicate in writing that I have no record in CA. I have contacted 3 CA. law firms, that claim to specialize in arrest records, and requested they obtain this 1987 record for my K-1. All 3 firms advise me that if DOJ has no record then it's not possible for anyone to obtain this for me and they doubt that USCIS will find anything - that in 1987 files for misdemeanor DUI were paper files as were fingerprint files and most likely my fingerprints were never sent to DOJ which is why no record is found - they suspect my paper file is in the basement and was never entered into the computer database (all over the phone speculative advise/opinion). In Oregon I can only find record of my 1981 arrest from the State Police records (Oregon's clearing house for all arrest records). I have hired an Oregon lawyer to obtain the required certified copies of my 2 Oregon arrests. I am afraid that if I don't disclose my 3 arrests it will come up in the USCIS check and we will be denied, however if I do disclose and don't provide the required certified records (that I can't obtain) then we will be denied. My lawyer advises me to obtain the records but so far has not told me how to accomplish this. How do I obtain these required records? Should I disclose this at all? Please advise.

i just read of one mans petitioner interview?i do not recall seeing in that in any of visajourneys website. will i be interviewed in the united states? and if yes, where? also, if i could pull off being in china when liu and her daughter go to the interview, how much will that help? i am running out of vazation time!thanks...todd

Hey all! It has been awhile since I have posted here. I hope everyone is doing well. As you can see from our timeline, I recently received a notice from USCIS informing me that our petitions were transfered from CSC to VSC. My question is....why? Our K-1 petitions went to CSC, our I-130 and I-129F went to CSC, all of my evidence documents went through CSC. Then, all of the sudden they decide to transfer everything to the VSC. I asked my attorney about it, and he has no clue why they did it. The notice they sent me said that they transfered it because the VSC has jurisdiction over petitions in Indiana. Which, according to the USCIS website and form instructions, Indiana petitions go to CSC. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that CSC already denied our K-1 petition, and the USCIS wants to give the responsibility of making a decision to the VSC. I am hoping that it will end up being a good thing that our petition is at the VSC. Any thoughts as to why the transfer? Anyone else have their petitions transfered between service centers?

I fell in love with a Chinese lady and am wading through all the forums and learning all I can about the long and relentless process of marrying someone from China. My biggest question right now is I have been convicted of growing marijuana 2 times in my past. That's 2 felonies. 14 years ago was the last time. Nothing since then but I did get a DUI. I also have one maybe two domestic violence convictions from the same time period. I know this sounds terrible and I hate to think how bad it looks. The thing is I am wondering if anyone has had any experience or info regarding getting a fiance visa with all this bad stuff on record? Any and all comments are welcome.

Well.....got a swift kick in the nads while here with my Xiaorong. I found out yesterday that our petition was denied. They said that based on the evidence I provided, they are not convinced I do not pose a threat to her safety. I included a statement from Xiarong, a letter from 2 different Psychologists stating in exact words that they do not believe I am a threat to her, as well as other documents. But that was not enough. I really don't understand what makes the USCIS qualified to make the decision when they don't know anything about me other than the little info they have on paper. Oh well....nothing I can do about it anyway. I could file an appeal, but i think that would just be a waste of time and wouldn't change their decision. Can anyone give me some ideas what to do now? We had a plan B of getting married while I am here and then maybe trying to get her to the US with the K3. Should I contact an Immigration attorney? Please help me.

Are there any requirements for the Husband to be that must be met: I will give two that apply to me. 1)I live on a disability check. Are there Minimum Income requirements that must be met? 2) In my younger years, my drinking resulted in 3 DWI's. That made me a Felon. Does a Felon status kill the chance of a K1 Visa approval? Thanx to anyone who can help, so far I can't find an answer. Kevin

Well....received an Intent to Deny Petiton notice from USCIS! As some of you know, I am a convicted Felon. It is something that I have been trying to avoid disclosing to everyone here....but now I think it is time to do so. I served 2 years in a state correctional facility for a sex offense. I know some of you may cringe when you hear this, but all that I ask is you try your best not to judge me. I still choose not to disclose details, but I will say that it was not rape or a violent offense. I wish it never would have happened.....but it did, and I can never take back what I did. I will have to live with it for the rest of my life. My friends and family forgave me long ago, but I was not able to forgive myself until recently. I have done my best to make amends for my crime, and to better myself. I dated many women here over the past few years, but as soon as I told them about my past they assumed I was some sick weirdo and rejected me. I thought I would never find anyone that could see through the cloud of the bad thing I had done, and see me for who I truly was. Then.....I finally found Xiaorong. I told her of my past when our relationship first started because I felt she needed to know. She was upset when I told her, and I was worried about losing her, but it would not be right to keep it from her. We talked about it, and I told her everything. She told me that she knew in her heart that I am a good person that just did a bad thing. She said that the "past does not matter.....the only important thing is the future, and what I decide to do with my life to make things better." I, of course, I am going to provide as much documentation as I possibly can to the USCIS. They may still deny the petition, but WE WILL NEVER GIVE UP!! It is sad that I may be forced to do so, but if I have to I will leave the country that I love, so that I may be with the woman who is my world. I am sorry to have written such a long post, but I had to get this off my chest. Just know that I did not write this to invoke pity from anyone, I just wrote it to express my feelings, and to tell all about my past so that I may hopefully be able to help someone in a similar situation in the near or distant future.

HEY ALL! Well....I finally got my hard copy of my denial from USCIS, and I was actually happy. Of course a denial is never a good thing, but when I read the reason for the denial, my spirits were lifted. The denial was due to the fact that, according to them, there is no record of me showing up for my biometrics appointment. I DID in fact go, and the good news is......I HAVE PROOF that I was there. I have my appointment notice that is stamped, signed, and dated for the day I was there. The funny thing is....a couple months ago I was thinking "Now watch them try to say I didn't show up for the appointment." I guess it's a good thing I am an organized person and didn't lose the appointment notice. Now...of course there is no guarantee that they will approve it after I submit the document to them, but at least the denial was not for the reason I thought it would be. I want so much to call Xiao right now and tell her the good news, but it is late and I don't want to wake her up. I guess I can wait until tomorrow morning since I was going to call her anyway. I found the form for an appeal, so I plan on doing so ASAP. The instructions for the appeal form say that I need to send it to the office that made the decision, so obviously I take that to mean the CSC. You know...my appointment was on June 9th, and NOW they send me the notice that I wasn't there?! I don't want to get my hopes up...but at least there is still hope now. Except....now I will probably have to wait another 10 months. I hope not. Should I send them the original or a copy of my appointment notice? Well....just wanted to tell everyone the good news. I will continue to keep y'all informed. Later.

Hey all.....just got notice by email today that my petition was DENIED. The email said that I would be receiving a hard copy of it soon, with the reason for denial. I can't really put into non-profane words how I feel right now, so I just will say other than complete and utter sadness, I am feeling very angry as to why it took them 11 months to tell me NO. What do I do now? Will I be able to appeal? If they denied it for the reason I think, then ....it is a bunch of B.S. Can anyone tell me what my chances are for an approval if I appeal? Thanks to the wonderful USCIS, this will probably be the worst Christmas I have ever had in my life. I am supposed to call Xiaorong this morning, and I know she will be so upset. I just want us to be together. I miss her so much. I just don't know what to do!!!! PLEASE HELP ME!!!!

Hi, This is Jany, the Chinese woman who has got a lot of help from all the brothers and sisters at CFL. I am here to say thank you very much again and I really appreciate all the love and support from you. Another reason why I am here today is I want to share something new with everybody here. I just got remarried to a good man who is nice to me and also to my daughter. He has 2 daughters from his previous marriage. They get along well with my daughter. I spent one year to get to know this man and believe we can be a good family. So we got married The day before yesterday. Another happy news that I would like to share with everybody is that I have started my own business. It is a Solar Energy company. I used to be the sales manager of a big solar company when I was in China. I know this business and will try my best to do it well again here. I have got a lot of help my city government and my state government. I finally have got my normal life back. Again, I want to say thanks a lot to everybody who had cared about me and my daughter and who had helped us a lot. I will keep your love in my heart. I am doing volunteer to help the women and their children in domestic violence shelters, trying to help them to learn more English and help them to get jobs and also do some interpreting for some new Chinese new immigrants. I will keep trying as much as I can to help people, just like what you did to help me and my daughter. I am sending all of my best wishes. Jany

Is it true that I must be in China for at least 6 months, before my wife can apply for her visa? We are going to apply for the CR-1 (inside china), and I was previously here for 1 year, and left for 2 weeks. Now I heard that I must be here for a consecutive 6 months before the application. Is that true, do they really count it from the first day I come back to China, and they don't care how long I was here before? Thanks for the help, - Jordan

I am not sure if I posted this in the right place but I am in desperate need of help. I am a convicted felon in the state of Indiana. It happened 6 years ago and it was not for any of the specific crimes listed on the I-129F form. Also, my fiancee already knows about it. Since I am a felon, will the USCIS automatically deny my petition? Are there any other felons on here that went through the Visa process? If there are, could you please help me. Please feel free to email regarding this matter. Thanks

I have a question; a relative of my wife got married in China to a US citizen. He will not be returning to the US until April 15, 2008, can he file the paperwork at the Chinese Consulate or does he need to return and file with the USCIS?

Hi, all the brothers and sisters at CFL. How are you doing? I wish everything is going well with eveybody. This is Jany who survive here with your help. I want to let you know my daughter and I are doing well. We have moved out of the shelter and have our own apartment. My daughter is going to school and is happy with her friends. I work hard to make a new life for us. I usually work 2 jobs sometimes 3 jobs. Our life is getting better and better. Thank you very much again for your help. Our case is over and my husband will have to stay in the jail for 40 years. So I can tell you all about our story. This story is a long story, a scary story but a real one. It really happened to me in my life. ******************************* When I was running my nightschool, I noticed some students were adult women without any kids in my school. Usually some mothers came with their kids. So I was so curious about them and was wondering who they were and why they were learning English so hard. I tried to talk to some of them and found out that all of them were correspondencing with some foreign men on internet and some of them were in the process of getting their visa for moving out of China to marry the men they met on internet. At that time, I didn't believe people could find their love from internet because it is too hard to get to know each other. But after they moved out of China, they sent me e-mails and told me they had the greatest men in the world to spend the rest of their life with and they said a lot of nice words about their new husbands and also sent me some pictures of them showing how happy they were. By then I believed what had happened was true and I believed that some people could find happiness on internet. I started internet love searching when I got the address of the dating websites. I got a lot of e-mails from USA, Canada, Australia, Ice Island, Sweden. I told all of those men that I have a 2 years old daughter. Most of them stopped talking to me. Only 3 of them kept sending e-mails to me. One of the 3 was my American husband and he was the only one who accepted my 2 years old daughter ( Cindy was only 2 years old at that time ) without hesitating. The other two hesitated for a while and had stopped talking to me for about one week. So I picked my husband and kept talking to him and tried to get to know him better. We called each other and talked via e-mails and telephones. He was not the most wealthy one with good financial situation and good carrer but he sounded so kind, caring, understanding,romantic and emotional normal. And later on we talked about marriage. I suggested him to visit me in China when he proposaled. I wanted to see if he was really serious and also wanted to see if he was as good as he sounded. He went to China to visit me. He was so nice to me and to Cindy when he was in China. I talke softly and he was very polite. He didn't smoke, didn't drink. He was clean and neat. He was so kind and patient to Cindy. He carried her wherever we went and read her bed stories every single night and held her hand all the time. He met with some of my family and my friends there. My family and my friends all said he was a nice man that I should not miss. So I agreed with him to marry him and move to the USA. Actually I had tried to discuss with him about the place where we were going to live because at that time I was doing pretty good with my business and made good money there. I made about 32,000 Yuan Chinese money( after tax ) per month. It was about 4,000 US dollars. I knew I wonld not be able to make that much money in the USA if I marry him and stay home as a housewife or work part time. I tried to persuade him to live in China for a couple of years first and then we could move to the USA later. But he said he could not do that because his 93 years old mother was living with him and needed him to take care of. In Chinese culture, children usually take care of their old parents when the parents get old and need help. So I understood. And he also said he made more than 3,000 US dollars after tax and that was enough to support the family. So I agreed with him again about relocating and moving to the USA to live with him. While I was waiting for my visa, I felt so happy because I thought I got the real love and got a real good man although he was not handsome and not wealthy either. I got my visa in March 2004. It came quicker than I expected. So I tried to delay my trip to the USA and wanted to fly over here after 5 months because I needed time to finish something that I had to finish before I moved out of China but my husband complained. So I started for the USA for the new life. I gave up my career, my business, my money for coming here to marry the man that I thought he was" a real good man ", and a man who had promised he would love to take good care of me and my daughter , and also promised he would help me to adjust to this new country and would love to work hard with me to make our marriage a success. I got to Boston Logan Airport at 6:30 in the morning. That was a cold morning in March 2004. I had been standing outside waiting for my husband till 9:30am and believed that that man who said he would come to pick me up was not there. So I decided to take a taxi for his place. I paid $160 US dollars for the transportation plus $40 dollars tips for the taxi to bring us to New Hampshire. When I walked into that house, I hesitated because there was a big mess in the house. That was not really a place I would like to live in. But when thinking about my husband was so nice to me when I was in China and that he had promised me he would love me and love Cindy and would give us a happy family life, I walked in and unloaded my luggage. I thought the Place is not that important, the Person is more important. Everything went well at the beginning. We got married in 1 month. When we had our marriage registered, I found that my husband's age is much older than the age he wrote at his profile at the website and his education level is High School, not like what he wrote in his profile " Bachelor's Degree ". I was a little bit upset because he was not honest. I don't like arguing or fighting. So I had a talk with him and asked him to explain why what I saw on his divorce paper was not the same as what he had told me. He ignored me. I was wondering if he had anything else hiding behind me but I could not get the answer because he avoided that subject when I tried to bring it up. We could not talk about that. I was so patient to wait and wish someday we could talk about everything and he would tell me everything true when he was ready. After I moved to his house, I did all of the housework like cooking, cleaning, organizing, laundry, gardening. His house was really messy. There were a lot of plastic boxes in the hall way, near the door, And there was no any space for my foot in the computer room. I spent about two weeks working very hard to organize and clean the house and it looked much better after I worked. The sink in the kitchen was so nasty. It seems that is had not been washed for harf a year. I tried all of my best to make that home a clean home. After my hard work, the house and the kitchen looked much much brigter and better. And I also planted a large garden of vegetables like green beans, pumpkins, squashes, zukkenis, cucumbers, different colour tomatoes, different shapes and colors of pepers, beets corns, strawberries, radishes, The vegetables I planted were more than enough for us to eat. I did whatever my husband wanted me to do like unloading the heavy concrete blocks and built the retaining wall with him and cut the wood with him and built the deck with him at our backyard. I tried all my best to be a good wife and a good housewife. His mother is a very mean old woman and not friendly to Cindy and me. She yelled at Cindy and me whenevery she was not feeling comfortable and didn't allow Cindy and I watching TV in the living room. We argued and fought because I felt being abused and hurt. I asked for divorce and wanted to move back to China. But my husband tried to protect us when his mother yelled and and persuaded me to stay and said he really loved me and loved Cindy and didn't want me to leave. And he even tried to send his mother to his sister's home but his sister refused to take care of his mother. And he tried to send his mother to a nursing home but his mother didn't want to go and said that house was her house. I was so confused. My husband had told me that he owned the house. How come what his mother said was different. I wanted my husband explained. He said that was hid house. He put the house under his mother's name just because he wanted to pay less property tax. So I suggested we move out to live, stay away from his mean mother. He said he could not afford to pay for the rent if we live out. And he also said his monthly income was $1.100 dollars after tax. My God! I was wondering how many more false things he still had ? The age was not true, The house was not true. The income was not true. Anyting else? He said no more. I said OK. since your income is not enough to support the family. I will go out to work. But he didn't allow and said my oral English is not good enough to work. I said OK. I will go to a local language program setting for new immigration to learn more English. That's a free program and my husband didn't have to pay a penny. He said not OK. I was so confused but I could do nothing because we lived in the countryside and there is no public transportation there. I was like staying in the jail and being controled when I didn't have the driver's license and could not drive. So I told my husband that I needed a driver's license and I wanted to drive. He said OK if you could pass the driver's license examination. He gave me a driver's license manual and wanted me to finish if in two weeks. I worked very hard on the book and told him and I was realy for the examination by the end of the 2nd week. But he didn't take me for the examintaion and told me he was busy, too busy to take me for the examination. I kept trying to talk to him about the examination but he gave me a lot of excuses like it was raining or windy or snowing and he felt sick etc. I know he didn't want me to drive but I didn't understand why. Later on I registered in a medical asistant training program and wanted to learn some skills for working. But that program was canceled by my husband and he said I could not get the driver's license because I didn't have the green card. And he didn't want to give me rides to school and pick me up from the school. I said, OK, please try to get me the green card. Do you know what he said? He said I didn't need the green card because I didn't have to work. I could stay at home forever and I didn't need the green card till I die. I told him I didn't want to stay here illegally. He said no problem. There were 8 million illegal immigration in the USA. I could stay in the USA just like those people. I was confused again. My husband was so stange and what he was doing was so different from what he had promised before. One day I tried to get a job from internet, teaching Chinese in a local Chinese school. When I told him and wanted him to give me a ride for the interview. He was not happy but still gave me the ride. The boss said they were going to hire me and I was so happy because that was my first job in the USA. My husband promised that boss he would give me a ride for work every Saturday morning. But when we got home, he yelled at me and wanted me to call my boss and tell her that I was not going to take that job. I stared at him and said: NO! Unless you can explain why! My husband acted very strange after we got married. After we got married, he was not interested in sex any more. He stayed up late at night till 3:00am or 4:00am at midnight. I thought he might have too much work to do. So I tried to stay up late too to wait for him. But he said he didn't feel well and didn't feel like to have sex. Hey, we were new married and I am much younger than him. But my husband didn't want sex. So why did he want to marry me and brought me from far China? I didn't understand. I had once talked to a girl friend of mine on internet when we chat on line. She said I might have high sex drive and wanted a lot and not satisfied with my husband. I said no. Then I told her that we had not have sex for a couple of months. I was wondering if I was not beautiful enough or not attractive enough. She said it might not be the reason. She said the reason might be my husband's age. I thought that could be the reason why because my husband is much older than me and he needs the pills for having sex. So I didn't give him stress about sex. I stayed home doing all the housework like a stay home housewife. But I was looking forward to going to school to learn more English. There was an English as a Second Language Program providing for new immigration where I can learn English for free. But my husband didn't allow me to go. He had promised me that he would like me to go to school to learn more English for the future job and he would like to help me to adjust to the new life in this new country before. How come he broke his promise? I asked him Why? He ignored me. He didn't allow Cindy to go to the preschool. He said that cost a lot of money and he didn't have that money to pay. I said," OK, I will pay. I will go to work and make money to pay for Cindy's preschool." Then I tried to get a lot of telephone number of the local Chinese restaurants and started calling, trying to get a job. He stopped me and promised he would send Cindy to a preschool. I still stayed home, having the bored housewife's life. Time flies. The life there was not good but peaceful till September 2004. One day in Sepptember, I occasionally found that my husband's hand was on Cindy's Panties and Cindy's skirt was up to her waist while they played in the bedroom. I could not believe my eyes and hoped that was not true. I found something wrong but was not sure if they were playing or if my husband intended to take off Cindy's panties. What was he going to do? He even was not able to have sex with me without the pills. What can he do to Cindy? I did hope what I saw was not true. But since then, I didn't allow Cindy stay out of my sight and always put her under my supervising and watch her all the time. I was nervous and could not sleep well at night. Because I was not sure about what I saw and didn't know what to do. I wanted to protect my daughter and didn't want anything bad happened to her and didn't want to misunderstood my husband because I appreciated him had brought us to the USA, the best country in the world. If he didn't intend to hurt Cindy and what I saw was just because they were playing too wild, my misunderstanding might hurt my husband. I was confused and nervous and didn't know what to do. I tried to get some telephone numbers of some Chinese organizations in Boston and called them. A Chinese woman from Hong Kong talked to me on the phone and she said if I was sure my husband intend to hurt me or hurt my daughter, I can call her again and she would help me. I felt better. After we got married, I found that my husband didn't have any friends to visit and nobody came to visit him and no any calls from his friends or from his children. He had never wanted to go to the church with me and didn't want me to go to the church. And he even didn't walk into the supermarket with me when we went grocery shopping. He just dropped me off at the entrance of the supermarket and then said he would come to pick me up in 40 or 45 minutes. So I didn't have the time to browse the stuff in the supermarket. I just went in to pick what we need on our shopping list and then came out. And he didn't bring us to any restaurant for dinner. He sometimes order some pizza for pick up but never want to eat out. It seemed he didn't want people to see me with him. I didn't understand why. I was not too old nor too ugly. I could not get the answers. He got mad at me and yelled at me whenever I mentioned about his children. At the beginning when we got married, I was wondering if we should call his children to let them know that we were married and invited the kids coming back home for a visit. He was so mad and yelled at me loudly. A couple of days before Father's Day, his mother said she was going to buy something for him for the Father's Day. I asked if he got any present from his children for the Father's Day. He was so mad and yelled at me loudly again. I didn't understand why. I thought even if the American children are too indepent and don't want to keep in touch with their parents, he was not supposed to yell at me like that. He tried to take my money away. I put part of my money to buy a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom home in China before I came to the USA and put part of my money into the bank. Because I thought I would have a secure life with my new husband in the USA and he would help me to learn more English and more skills and help me to get a part time job and then a full time job. That was what he promised me in his e-mails. So I brought only $1,000 US dollars with me just in case I might have some expense on the way to the USA. After we got married, he borrowed me the money gradually when we went out shopping and promised he would return me the money after we got home. Believe or not, the TV sitting in the living room that his mother didn't allow me and Cindy to watch was from my pocket. But he had never returned me any penny when we got home. After a couple of times , I refused to give him any money. I don't like people can not pratice their promise. I like honest people who don't promise anything that they are not going to do or that they are not able to do. I was upset because my husband didn't keep his pormise. I don't think a liar can be a good quality person but unfortunately we were married already. One day in December, I found out again my husband did the exact same thing that I had seen before. I knew that I didn't misunderstand him. He really intend to hurt my daughter. I cried loudly and didn't eat the supper that night and called my brother in China and told him what had happened. I asked him to mail me some money for the airplane ticket and told my husband I wanted a divorce paper and I would go back to China. He still said No Way. And I thought I just go back to China even without the divorce paper. My brother called me and asked if I had a bank account number to give him, so he could send me the money via bank. I said No. And then he said if I had an American ID number that he could send me the money by Western Union, a money transfer service. I said No. Suddenly I found myself under his control. I could not get out of that place even if I wanted to give up the divorce paper that I had been trying to have. That means I was giving up the opportunity to come back to the USA in the future. I turned to the Chinse organization for help to see if I could borrow some money for the airplane ticket. I will never forget what had happend in that morning. I dared not make the telephone call at home because of the safety reason. I tried to borrow a neighbour's telehone to call that Chinese woman. I was walking up and down the road to see if anybody home. No body near my home was home. All the door was shut. I kept walking farther. I found a car parking on the driveway in front of a house. I went up and knocked at the door. When the neighbour came out, I told him I had something emergency and needed to borrow his telephone. He was so nice to let me in and let me use his telephone. While I talked to the Chinese lady, my tears was falling down my face and at last I could not help myslef crying loudly. My neighbour didn't understand Chinese that I was speaking but he understoold my tears and knew something had happened. After hearing about what had happened, that Chinese woman said I should called the police because that was a crime. I was not sure if the police would trust me or not. So I hesitated. She said if what I had told her was true, the police would find out and encouraged me to call the police. I told her I didn't know the police telephone number. She told me that was 911. I told her my English was not good enough to tell the police what had happened in English. She talked to my neoughbour and told him what had happened. My neoghbour called the police. Because when I went to my neighbour to borrow the telephone, I didn't want to call the police because I was not sure if the police would trust me. I just wanted to get some help from the Chinese organization to get out of my husband's place to go back to China. So I didn't have my passport and Cindy's passport and any necessary stuff like clothes, documents with me when the police sent us to the domestic violence shelter. I had only $35 dollars in my pocket. And the police said I was not allowed to go back to get my documents and my money in case my husband escape. It was really a difficult start with only $35 dollars. When I went grocery shopping with the staff of the shelter, I found out the price of the wine and the cigarette. I also found out that my husband's bad smoking and drinking habbits costs almost all of his income every month. So why did he marry me and why didn't he allow me to work? If he married a foreign woman for making the new wife to work to make money to support the family and share the expense. I understand. But his income absolutely not enough to support the family but he did't allow me to work. Where did he get the money to support the family? I had been living with him for more than half a year and did not see him doing any profitable business. So how long can he support me? If he can not support me too long time, what would he do? A terrible word came out to my mind: Life Insurance Compensation. I asked the people in the shelter if my husband could buy my life insurance on line without me knowing it if he wanted to. They said Yes if he had my SSI# and my signature. It scared me and made me thinking about something strange that had happened. One day in the summer, I think that was after I saw my husband trying to take off Cindy's panties, my husband said he was going to bring me to pick up some blueberries. I asked for what. He said we need some blueberris for making some muffins and he said that was very expensive in the supermarket and the wild ones tasted much better. I said OK. He wanted me to wear my winter boots. I asked why. He said there were a lot of mosquitos there and if I wear the boots, the mosqitos would not bite me. He brought be to a large wetland. I had read a book about Chinese Red Army Walking the Long March. In that book, I read a lot of stories happened in the wetland and knew it was very dangerous. And I also had watched the moive about the wetland and knew what it look like. It looks normal just like a large piece of grass but actually the grass just grow on the top, Underneath, it was water with mud. Nobody can survive if he or she bogs into it. he wanted me to go first. I was scared and didn't want to go. I said," You go first, I will follow you." I followed him on his step, walking very carefully into the middle of the wetland. We picked up the wild fruits there for about ONE Minute and then I turned around and found my husband disappeared!! Oh, my God!! What happened? I called my husband again and again loudly but nobody answered. What should I do? I was so scared! But I tried to make myself calm down and tried to keep my mind clear and tried to find the way out. I looked around and tried to remind about the way we came in. I finally find a couple of grass still down and I found out the footmark or our stepmark over there and I got the way out slowly. I tried very very carefully to move out and ran to the highway, waving my hand with $10 dollars, trying to borrow somebody's cell phone to call police for help because I thought my husband might get in trouble and fainted away because of the hot weather. Only 2 cars passed by in 15 minutes but none of them stopped. I kept running up and down, kept trying. At this moment, I heard my husband calling me:" Jany, what are you doing? " I said," I am trying to stop a car and borrow a cell phone to call the policemen." He asked," Why are you going to call policemen? " I said, " I called you but you didn't answer me. I thought you might get in trouble. I need the policemen to find you out and help you. " He said, " I am OK, Please don't call policemen. Let's go." And then we left. At that time, I didn't realize that I was in danger. My husband tried to murder me. He didn't want me. He just wanted a little girl. That was all of his intention to marry me and also why he wanted me put Cindy's father's name blanked when we filed the documents for my visa. If he had bought my life insurance, he would get Cindy's custody and the money also if I die in accident. This is why he didn't allow me to go to school and didn't allow me to work. So nobody knows I was there and nobody knows I disappeared. And this is also why he didn't do anything to help me to get some necessary documents like my temporary green card and work permit and didn't bring me the see the doctor when I got sick. He didn't want to spend his money for me before I die. I feel so scared whenever I think about this. Now I am sure my husband was hiding somewhere to watch me and he wished I drown. Otherwise, when he tried to look for me, he should ask" Jany, where are you? " instead of " Jany, what are you doing? " See, he had been hiding and watching me. God!! Cindy was sent to the hospital the next day after we were sent to the domestic violence shelter. The doctor didn't find anything wrong. The police was not sure if what I had told was true or not. They asked if I would like to call my husband and talk to him to see if he would admit what he had done. I knew I had to do that to let the policemen know I didn't lie. I told the police I would do anything the help the police to make that case clear and let them know I didn't lie. So I called my husband and talked to him under the recording by the policemen and the investigaters. God helped me and bless me. My husband admited everything about what he did and wanted me to go back home. I am sure he would try to murder me again if I went back home. The policemen arrested him the next day after the telephone recording because they had evidence showing that my husband really did what I said and I didn't lie. My husband didn't admit the murder and the sexual abuse in the jail although he had admited the sexual abuse on the phone. He didn't know that the policemen and the investigaters were recording our conversation while he talked on the phone before he was arrested. But he knew he would get in big trouble if he admit the murder after he was arrested. The chief of the local police station said what had happened to me was really scary. With the investigation, the investigaters found out my husband had been in the jail twice before. Both of the victims were little girls. One of the victms was his own daughter! Our case was the 3rd one! This is why he had no friends because he had spent more than 10 years in the jail and also why his children had never called him because they hate him. This is why he didn't want me to go to the church because he didn't want anybody know me and didn't want anybody tell me anything about his criminal history. This is why he had never walked with me in the public because he didn't want any neighbourhood know me and tell me he was a sexual offender. This is why he accepted my little daughter without hesitating because he wanted to have a little girl for abuse and this is why he did't want to have sex with me because he is not interested in any adult woman. He is not a normal man. Actually he could have the chance to have a good life style with me if he could change. I knew nothing about his criminal history and really appreciate him bringing us to the USA although his finacial situation was not really good. I will be happy if Cindy could grow up in this wonderful country. So she would have a good life and easier life if she works hard when she grows up. She doesn't have to work hard and work smart for a good lifestyle. But in China, because of the competition, people who want a good lifestyle have to work smart and work hard at the same time for it. I wish my Cindy could make a good living more easily. Because of the appreciation, I accepted everything of my husband, like his bad habbits, his mean mother, his low income and I even tried to work to make money to support the family with him. And I took care all of the housework, gardening, mowing, and took good care of his old mother, wiping the shit and her pee on the floor, in the bed, washing all of her shit and pee sheets, blankets, clothes. That was the job that nobody want to do but I did it very well without complaining. Because I consider my husband's family my own family, my husband's mother my own mother and my husband's children my own children. I can say my husband himself ruined his own life. I feel lucky to get away from a dangerous man who has no a good intention to marry me. If a person doesn't love his spouse, anything bad could happen. I feel happy Cindy and I are safe right now. We are totally safe although I had a difficult start. At least I can sleep well at night without worrying about our safety and our future. The two nights before I called that Chinese lady I didn't sleep.I worried my husband might kill me and kill Cindy because I found out him twice doing that bad thing to my little daughter. I guess he didn't kill me just because he might think I would shut up my mouth because of the green card. He might think that I dare not call police even if I found out something wrong. Because too many people want the green card and don't mind to suffer a lot for getting the green card. To me the green card doesn't mean that much. My Cindy means much more than that. When I found out it was not a good place for my Cindy to grow up, I choosed leaving without the green card. Two weeks after I stayed in the shelter, a staff who was working in the shelter asked me if I would like to have the green card. She said if I wanted to go back to China, the American government would buy me two airplane tickets and Cindy and I could go back to China after the case finished. But if I wanted the green card, the American government would pay for an immigration lawyer to work on my green card. I had never thought that I could get my green card without my husband's signature. I didn't know what to answer. Everybody said the USA is a wonderful country. But I noticed some people here don't have a good life in this wonderful country. Some people can not afford to see a doctor when they get sick. Some people don't know how to use a computer and can not afford to use a car even a cell phone. It might not be easy for everybody to make a good living here especially for a new immigration who has to start everything from the very beginning. I hesitated and didn't give the answer right away. I needed time to think about that seriously. Some women living in the shelter said:" Hey. Silly girl, choose the green card. This is really a wonderful country. So many people come to this country from all over the world even if some of them can not have the green card. Now you have the choice the get the green card. why don't you take it? " I knew they were right and understood what they said. In China, some people have to pay 450,000 Yuan Chinese money ( it is more than $80,000 US dollars for coming here ). It was really easy to go back to China, just go take the ticket and fly back to China. But it is really hard to come back to the USA again. It is very difficult for Chinese people with the Chinese passports to get the visa to travel to some countries even if you put more than 250,000 Yuan Chinese money ( it is about 30,000 US dollars ) as a security deposit to guarantee you will return back to China after the trip. So having the green card means a lot. At least it means you might have the citizenship someday and you can feel free to travel all over the world if you can afford. So I choosed the green card and stay here because I thought since I was able to make a good living in China where there were more competition, I might be able to do it again here. I wanted to have a try since I have the chance to try. No matter I could be successful or not, it is an experience at least. Now you see, I didn't use the marriage although I came from a foreign country. People think some foreign women use their marriages for coming here to get the green cards and then divorce their American husbands after they get the green cards. That happens sometimes. But I didn't do it because I didn't have to. I think If you can work hard and work smart, you can have good life in anywhere. I like family life and like being loved. I came here just because a man told me he loved me so much and had described me a wonderful family life. Another reason why I came here was that I was really curious about this country and wanted to see how wonderful it is. I came here because I was silly. But I had never wanted to use the marriage for getting the green card. If I could have met a good man, my life must not be like this. My husband used me and used the marriage for having a little girl. The police told me it was impossible for my husband to adopt a little girl because of his criminal history and it also impossible for him to marry a local American woman with a little girl because the people here might find his criminal history from the website before getting married. So the only way he could get a little girl was to marry a foreign woman with a little girl. I was in the scam and was in a dangerous marriage in which I might die in an accident someday. Who knows. To be honest, I want to settle down and I want to love and to be loved. That's a wonderful feeling and I think family life is a wonderful lifestyle in my eyes. Both of the couple work hard and do their own things during the daytime and the kids go to school during the daytime. In the evening or at night or at weekend when they don't have to work or go to school, they can enjoy the peaceful family life, good conversation, some nice movie and nice music, good food, gardening, traveling, doing something together like playing balls, going bicycle riding, and enjoying the clean and enjoyable sex when they are together, thinking about each other when they are apart. This is the ideal life style I really want. I don't want too much money. I think enough money for what we need is enough and if we work, we can have what we need. But if we could have more than enough money, it sure will be more wonderful. I can enjoy a very wonderful lifestyle if the money means but also can have simple lifestyle and feel happy too if I can have a good quality man to live with. I was not lucky to have got a really bad man to be my husband. I made a big mistake that I can not forgive myself. But I believe there are a lot of nice American men out there. I might get remarried someday and I still want an American husband. But next time, I will spend more time to get to know the man very well to make sure if he is a really kind and normal and trustworthy man before I step into marriage. I was not lucky because I had to go through all of these that nobody want to go through. But I am lucky to so many kind American friends' help and survive here. I will work harder to make my life better and give my daughter a warm home with love. So she will grow up here happily. I want to say Thank You Very Much for your kindness and love. I love you all too.

Here is a start to links about IMBRA... Feel free to add links as you like, but please do not editorialize a position or comment on the issue.. just give the title or brief background to the link for reference purposes... --------- IMBRA Document: http://usaimmigrationattorney.com/images/IMBRA2005.pdf USA Immigration Attorney comments: http://usaimmigrationattorney.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=2 Murthy Law Firm comments: http://www.murthy.com/news/n_vicdom.html IMBRA Forum: http://www.online-dating-rights.com/index.php IMBRA sites: http://www.internationalmarriagebrokers.com/ http://www.internationalmarriagebrokers.org/ Repeal petition http://new.petitiononline.com/imbra05/petition.html http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/...?ltl=1149219793 CFL search for IMBRA: http://candleforlove.com/forums/index.php?...&highlite=imbra ------- The links provided in this thread do not endorse any particular opinion by CFL about the IMBRA law and are for reference only. While much of the initial reaction is negative and anti-IMBRA, the links that will make up this thread should not be considered as adhering to any side. Users should use their own discretion.

I have asked this question of a couple of our old timers, but wanted to get other members opinions on the topic. For these questions, it's assumed that the marriage-based Visa Petitioner is a US Citizen. Question? The USCIS carefully publishes the reasons by which a Beneficiary could be denied a marriage based Visa. Some of the reasons the Beneficiary would be denied are: 1. HIV positive 2. Previous Visa violation (like an overstay) 3. Committed a crime of moral turpitude 4. Convicted for prostitution.... 5. Mental health history ...and a few others.... While there is a list for the Beneficiary, there appears to be NO published information that stipulates any reason whatsoever that a US Citizen would be denied a marriage based Visa for having any of these same things in their history. In other words an American Citizen with a criminal history, previous incarceration, convicted felon, HIV positive, Mental Health history, etc. Now, of course if the US Citizen is fleeing an active warrant, or otherwise wanted by US authorities they will probably get a knock on the door. Has anyone seen or experienced otherwise?

Dear Ms. Hartwell: Thank you for your letter regarding background checks for individuals seeking to sponsor finace's and their children. I welcome the opportunity to respond. What you write about is certainly disconcerting. In the 108th Congress, Senator Cantwell introduced the "International Marriage Broker Regulation Act of 2005," which among other things, would require fiance visa petitioners to undergo a criminal background check so that cases like the you mention do not occur. Please know that I will keep your letter in mind should this legislation be reintroduced. Again, thanks for writing. If you have any further comments regarding this issue, please do not hesitate to contact my Washington D.C. staff at (202) 224-3841 Best Regards, Diane Feinstein This is good news but I think we need to keep making noise about this issue. If you haven't sent your letter to your representatives in Congress and Senate, please do so. A nicely drafted letter posted by Bruce is pasted in below. It is really easy to send it to all of your reps at this website: http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/cgi-bin/...code=&plusfour= Dear Congressman ______ , I am writing because of my concern over a very alarming case of child abuse that was recently in the news, and because I would like your help in ensuring that such a thing cannot happen again. Last year, a man by the name of Harold Baird, a resident of Danville, New Hampshire, sponsored two immigrants from China. One was a woman who had agreed to marry him after her arrival; the other was her 5 year-old daughter. Unknown to the woman was the fact that Mr. Baird had served time for sexual assault on a child under the age of 13, and was on the state~{!/~}s Child Sex Offender Registry. Although, in order to obtain a visa, she had been required to produce a certification from the police in each place she had lived that she had no criminal record, no such proof was required from Mr. Baird. Naturally, no loving mother of a 5 year old girl would move her into a house with a convicted child molester, especially given what we know about the rate of recidivism for this type of offender. But she knew nothing of his record, because no one had told her, and no one had any duty to tell her. Tragically, the inevitable happened. In January of this year, she called the Danville Police to report that she had caught Mr. Baird in the act of sexually assaulting her child. He was arrested and is currently being held in jail pending trial. The police believe this was not the first time this had happened. Since that time the woman and her daughter have been staying in shelters and hoping they will be able to begin a new life with the assistance of sympathetic people who have offered help after hearing the story. Currently the process for obtaining a visa for an alien fiance or wife, and any alien minor children, can be a long one, requiring the submission of numerous applications, documents, and financial statements, but at no time is a petitioner who is seeking to sponsor a child ever asked whether he is a convicted child molester. Certainly neither our government (nor any other) would allow such a person to adopt a child, but this loophole is tantamount to permitting such a thing. Many of the people in Danville knew about Mr. Baird, and so could protect their children from him. This woman and her daughter had no way of knowing. Mr. Baird was no doubt aware that this was a way that he could get a young child into his house, without the child's parents being aware of his conviction for child molestation. What I am suggesting is a revision or amendment to the current law that would require any petitioner seeking to sponsor a minor child, as part of the application process, to provide certification from the local police department that he has no convictions for this type of offense, and would require that the petition of anyone who does have such a conviction be denied. As this revision would only apply to persons seeking to sponsor children, and would only require certification with regard to sexual crimes against children, it would not create a major burden on either the government or most petitioners. Much time and effort has been expended in enacting laws (such as Megan's law) to protect children from predators, and I firmly believe that our children are safer because of these laws. People in a community can know that such predators will not be allowed to work in schools or other settings where they will have access to children, and the people (and the police) can know where such predators live and work, and use this information to protect their children. I urge you to help make sure that child sexual offenders cannot use this oversight in our immigration laws to prey upon children who come from outside of the United States. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Please feel free to contact me at any time in regard to this. Sincerely, Name Address Phone P.S. I am attaching a copy of the news article about this case. ________________________________________________________ Man Accused Of Molesting Stepdaughter From China Woman Marries Man After Meeting Online POSTED: 4:50 pm EST January 13, 2005 DANVILLE, N.H. -- Police said a convicted sex offender molested the young daughter of a woman who came from China to marry him. Woman Turns To Neighbor For Help Harold Baird, 68, of Danville, was accused of molesting his 5-year-old stepdaughter. Neighbors said they had their suspicions about Baird's relationship with his new family from the beginning. "At first he said he was going to marry a woman," neighbor Gary Forcier said. "Then when he showed up with a woman and a little girl, everyone started saying, 'Oh, there's something wrong here.'" Forcier said he's convinced Baird didn't have good intentions when he brought his bride and her young daughter over to the United States from China. Investigators said Baird met the woman online. "I think it was perfect that he married a woman from China because she would say nothing, and her daughter would say nothing. She hardly spoke English," Forcier said. "So, he was hoping she would maybe shut her mouth and not say anything." Police said Baird may have assaulted the girl more than once. "It's very disturbing, especially in our community," Chief Wade Parsons said. "It's a bedroom community with approximately 4,500 people. These things happen, but when they do, it's very upsetting to the community as a whole." Baird is on the state's sex offender registry list, convicted of a similar offense in 1990. Police said Baird's new wife probably had no idea of his previous conviction. They said she was disturbed, scared and confused when she allegedly caught Baird molesting her child. With her family and friends far away, the woman turned to a neighbor for help. That neighbor called police. Forcier, who was not the neighbor the woman approached, said Baird's wife and the young girl are now staying at a women's shelter, but they have nowhere else to go. "And she's got nothing and her daughter with her," he said. "They must feel terrible. Everything is odd over here. You come from China, and this is what happens to you." In court Thursday, Baird's lawyer asked a judge to lower his bail. The judge refused, saying that he's a threat to the community. Bail remained set at $100,000. Copyright 2005 by TheWMURChannel. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.