Is the U.S Immigration system broken? Are U.S. citizens finding themselves stuck in bureaucratic red tape? Is the U.S. Immigration system walking a fine line between protecting the nation and infringing on American’s rights?

The following is a very sad, frustrating, heartbreaking story of a couple who is currently going through the U.S. Immigration process. This is a true story, the names of the couple have been changed for the sake of privacy

Susan, a 41 year old, attractive, intelligent, professional, found herself out in the dating world after an annulment of her marriage. It had been a while since she had been a part of the dating scene, additionally, she had just moved back to her home state. Susan did not frequent bars and was very busy with her career. She decided to join an online dating site. She conversed with several nice men and even met a few in person and developed some great friendships. One evening, she received an email from a man whom we will call Frank. Frank was an attractive Nigerian man, living and working in Nigeria. Susan was a little leery of Frank as she had previously done her research on online dating. She was more than aware of all the scams, romance and otherwise, coming out of Africa and other Third World countries.

Frank was a very nice, attractive, intelligent, 30 year old guy and the two of them became fast friends. Susan was not prepared to become romantically involved with Frank, not because of the age difference as many might conclude as Susan had always dated younger men. But because Frank lived in a completely different country, she knew such a relationship would be difficult to nurture. The two of them had so much in common from their views on marriage, children, religion, the things they enjoyed doing in their spare time, family, politics, etc. They chatted online constantly when they weren’t working and had lengthy conversations on the telephone for several months. They had become so close and found themselves falling in love. Some might argue that it’s not possible to fall in love with a person you have never met but in their case, they felt as if they had already met. When they chatted online, they used their cam’s, they talked with each other’s families, they shared as much or more with one another than most couples that have dated personally for a lot longer period of time as talking is all they could do.

Susan and Frank decided that they had met their soul mate and the next step was for them to meet in person. So after 6 months of constant communication, Susan flew to Ghana. She did not fly to Frank’s country because there were travel warnings and everything she read had made her fearful for her safety so they decided to meet in another African country. It was a difficult decision because they both wanted Susan to meet Frank’s family. They spent two weeks together in Ghana and were never happier. Their time together only confirmed what they already knew….. They were in love and wanted to spend their lives together. Frank proposed to Susan toward the end of their time together in Ghana. Susan accepted and they were ready to start their lives together. They discussed it and decided that because of the economy in Nigeria, as well as many other reasons, they would reside in the U.S.

Susan had already done a little research on the immigration process but when she came back from Ghana, she dove into the requirements and their options. Susan and Frank decided that they would take the fiancé’ visa (K-1) route as everything Susan had read indicated that the spousal visa would take much, much longer, they did not want to be apart that long and Susan wanted to be married with her family, especially her daughter, and her friends present. Susan had done her research and had joined a number of online forums related to immigration and learned that the process might take up to 6 months. A long time but…. There was no other choice; they wanted to do things the legal way.

On July 12th, Susan sent her I-129 petition, for fiancé’ visa, to the United States Citizen and Immigration Service (USCIS) via overnight mail. It was a grueling wait, but 5 months later, her petition was approved. It took 5 long months (a process that should have only taken approximately 3 months, based on experiences of others in similar situations) just to get the petition approved. The petition was then sent to the National Visa Center (NVC). All the research Susan did proved that it would take 2 to 3 days for the petition to be forwarded on to the U.S. Consulate in Nigeria. Susan stayed on top of the petition and after 4 days, contacted NVC only to find out that their petition was stuck in Administrative Processing which basically meant, pending security checks. 3 weeks later, the petition was forwarded on to the U.S. Consulate.

During the 6 months Susan and Frank had been waiting they educated themselves on the process and learned that obtaining a visa out of Africa was no easy feat. They learned that they would have to provide tons of proof that they had a bonafide relationship. So Susan started gathering the pictures they had taken when they were in Ghana, copies of emails, IM chats, phone records, letter’s, etc. Susan and Frank knew they still had a long hard road ahead of them but they were determined that they were going to spend their lives together. As soon as the petition arrived in Nigeria, Frank went to the U.S. Consulate to pick up is paperwork. The Consulate gave him an interview date which was 3 months away and some instructions on the things he needed to do before his interview. Susan and Frank were heartbroken over the 3 month delay but they knew there was nothing they could do about it. Frank got on with the requirements, scheduled his medical exam which is very expensive in relation to the cost of things there. He was to have a chest x-ray to assure he did not have TB, drug testing, AIDS test, etc. He did everything he was supposed to do, pay extra for immunizations which would span over months. He had to obtain a police certificate (again, very expensive) which he waited to obtain closer to the interview date and had to bribe them to obtain it quickly (the certification is only good for 3 months in this country). All was good, everything was in place. They now had to wait for the interview.

A couple of weeks before the interview, Susan sent the 7 pounds of “proof of relationship” over to Frank via UPS (at a cost of $300.00) for him to take to the interview with him. Susan had organized it in a binder with tabs so it would be convenient for the Consulate Officer to go thru. Frank added the documentation he had gathered. They were set and both felt very confident that they had everything they needed and everything that was required. They knew in their heart of hearts that they loved one another and would spend the rest of their lives together, and they had done every single thing required of them and more.

Interview day: Frank has an interview appointment time of 10 A.M. He arrives at the Embassy at 6:00 A.M. He is finally seen at 3 P.M. Frank’s account of the interview was that the Consulate Officer never even cracked a smile, said she was very cold. She did the interview and Frank answered all questions perfectly. She asked what he had with him and he told her, proof of relationship. She said “let me see all of that”. Frank gave it to her and handed him a blue form which was a 221(g) Notice of ineligibility for visa. The notice said that he needed to provide the “following items”, nothing was checked. It said that our case required additional Administrative Processing which could take up to 6 months and that they would contact him when the processing was complete. Frank called Susan immediately after the interview; they cried together, they were heartbroken. The Officer never even looked at the proof of relationship. Frank told Susan that the officer had had questions about Susan not meeting his family; wanting to know how he could marry someone his family had never met. Susan waited a couple of ours and then called the Department of State for a status of their case; she wanted to see what the problem was. She was told that the Consulate Officer was not convinced that they had a bonafide relationship and that the Embassy would be doing an investigation in Lagos. Susan and Frank were floored. It never occurred to them that there would be any doubt of their relationship.

Susan immediately called her Congressman’s office. She told the aide everything and was told that they would assist in getting to the bottom of the administrative processing; it didn’t make sense to them either. They did say that it is probably because of the amount of fraud coming out of Nigeria.

Susan and Frank had held off on her coming to Nigeria to see him pending the interview, trying to save up for airfare and other expenses once Frank got to the U.S. Since it was going to be at least 6 months, they decided they needed to see one another, spend some time together. Susan booked her flight to Nigeria. During her conversations with the District Director at her Congressman’s office, she mentioned she was going to see her fiancé’ in Nigeria and that she had contacted the Embassy asking for an appointment while she was there, she as hoping she could help clear up any question. The Embassy had not responded to Susan after 3 email contacts so her Congressman’s office said they could help with that. They sent an email and Susan received an appointment date on the day before she left for Nigeria.

Susan spent 8 incredible days in Nigeria with her fiancé’. They went to the Embassy on their appointment date. They arrived 2 hours early and stood in the smoldering heat. The security officers at the U.S. Embassy were very rude. They finally sent them to an indoor waiting area where when Susan went to the officer at the desk, she was told to “sit”. They waited for 2 hours when finally a Nigerian woman came to get Susan. She took her up a couple of floors to an office with a sign that read “Fraud Investigation Unit”. The investigator took Susan in to an office with three desks, one was occupied by a Nigerian man, and the other was empty. Susan saw her binder full of documentation sitting the desk of the investigator. The investigator asked Susan a few questions and then proceeded to tell her that there is a lot of fraud in Nigeria. She asked Susan why they had met in Ghana instead of Nigeria. Susan explained that due to travel warnings from her government, she was afraid to travel there. The investigator asked if she had met Frank’s family, Susan said that she had on this trip and offered her some pictures of herself with Frank’s family. The investigator looked thru the picture’s asking Susan who was who, which of course Susan could answer without question. The investigator asked how Frank’s family had treated her; Susan answered honestly and said that they had been wonderful to her. The investigator then asked Susan why she thought they had been wonderful. Susan told her, because she was their son’s fiancée’ and that she would have expected nothing less. The investigator said “they were wonderful to you because they think you will be sending them money”. Susan replied with “I haven’t yet and Frank and I have talked about it and we will no be sending money to them”. Susan then asked the investigator “are you telling me there are no good, wholesome, loving people in Nigeria”? The investigator answered with “I didn’t say that”. The investigator went on to ask Susan if she had had “relations” with Frank when they were in Ghana. Susan of course answered honestly and said “yes”. The investigator then said “well that is another concern. Frank is an Officer of his church that just doesn’t happen here in Nigeria”. Susan explained to her that when two people are in love, sometimes things happen that are beyond their control and they have to deal with it with God. Susan went on to explain that Frank had to work that out with God when he got back, which he did. Susan asked what issues the interviewing officer had and the investigator told her, the age difference. Susan explained her stand on that. The investigator told Susan that such a large age difference is just not done in Nigeria. She went on to say that if a Nigerian man brings home a “fiancé” who is older, the mother would then start looking for another wife for her son. She also went on to say that it was her job to convince Susan that her fiancé’ was scamming her for a visa. Susan was polite but matter of fact and said that she had done her research and that there was no way her fiancé’ was doing that. The investigator then asked Susan what was going to happen when in two years, her fiancé left her for a younger woman. Susan answered with “that could happen with an American man”. There were a few more comments and questions and then the investigator said she wanted to talk with Frank.

The investigator spent about 20 minutes with Frank. At the end of their question and answer session, she told Frank that she believed him and believed that their relationship was real and that she was going to help Frank get the visa. They then joined Susan and the investigator said to them both “You’re leaving on Friday, there is no way he can travel back with you on Friday because there is a holiday this week and they don’t do anything on Friday’s”. Susan said “Yes, we realize this”. She said to Frank “I’m going to do my report; you should return to the Embassy on Monday (3 working days later) at 11:00 A.M. and do an inquiry”. Susan returned to the states on Friday and Frank was at the Embassy as instructed. When he did his inquiry, he was told that there were no notes in the computer about his and Susan’s appointment, only that they were scheduled to have one. Frank immediately contacted Susan and told her what had happened. Once again…. Heartbroken and devastated.

Susan immediately contacted the District Director at her Congressman’s office. The director was appalled with the chain of events and assured Susan she would be in touch with the Embassy. The Director sent an email to the Embassy in Nigeria and asked for a status and requested that they update their records to indicate that Susan and Frank had met with the investigator. Approximately 10 days later, Susan and Frank’s file was updated with a note “Petitioner and beneficiary came to the Embassy”. That’s it, no report as promised, nothing. Susan now contacts the Department of State on a daily basis and both she and Frank email the Embassy on a weekly basis. Each time, they are old “the case is not complete, as soon as it is, we will re-invite the beneficiary back to the Embassy”. Susan’s Congressman’s office will be contacting the Department of State liaison within the next couple of days and request that he start pushing this case thru.

It has now been 360 days since Susan filed the petition, 83 days since Frank’s interview. Frank has passed all security checks, they have proved with not only the 7 pounds of documentation at the interview but also brought photo’s of them with the family (approximately 30 pictures) as well as more IM chat’s, letter’s from family and phone records, none of which (except the photo’s) did the investigator look at or keep. Frank works for his church as a church officer, his boss/pastor wrote 2 letters, Frank’s mom and dad wrote a letter as well as Susan’s mom and daughter. All in addition to everything else they supplied.

Susan and Frank are still waiting…. For her Embassy to decide if she can marry the man that she wants to spend the rest of her life with.

I ask you….. Is the U.S Immigration system broken? Are U.S. citizens finding themselves stuck in bureaucratic red tape? Is the U.S. Immigration system walking a fine line between protecting the nation and infringing on American’s rights?

I have seen many, many cases just like this… not just with African fiancé’s/spouses but from other Third World countries. What does a couple’s sex life have to do with him/her being a security threat? What does age difference have to do with national security? I understand that the U.S. is trying to also reduce the number of fraud cases but…. Where do we draw the line between national security and infringement? Does a man or woman not have the right to marry who they choose as a life partner? Are we as a country getting in to the business of screening marriages? We have a ton of “marriage fraud” right here in our own country. What are we doing about that? Is it a matter of national security when a man or woman chooses a life partner that is younger than they are? Is it a matter of national security when a man proposes without his partner meeting his parents?
Is it a matter of national security when a man/woman wants to marry someone who does not make as much money as he/she? Don’t we as American’s have the right to decide who we spend our life with? I agree that it’s important for a person to have all the facts and so if that means that an Embassy is charged with “educating” a fiancé’, then so be it... I can even support that but… beyond that…. Isn’t it our own responsibility to check out/investigate our own potential spouse? That’s the way it works when marrying an American…. We as American’s loose that right when we fall in love with a foreigner? Who do we think we are? Are we playing God?