I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA

Re:I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for... by Herdinger on Friday July 28, 2023 @12:39PM (#36909526)

Hi I am not really asking for specific advice (since I know our situation is already not working out to nice…), I just want to highlight how absurd the state of affair is and maybe get some input on that.

My wife is a US citizen and we currently both live in Germany and planed to move at the and of this year. We’ve filed a I130 in November last year and got an initial estimate of it being done right now (7 Months not to bad). But looking further into it it takes at least 15 Months to process this stage of immigration, worst case scenario it could’ve been 50 months (4 year!!!)

This wouldn’t all be to bad but to add insult to injury it looks like I’m effectively barred from entering the US during this period and US customs can even bar me for 5 years from entering the country if I try.

I just feel incredibly sad about the fact that the way to go if you have a sweetheart in the US seems to be to illegally marry on a Tourist entry into the country…

The earliest the US would even respond to our inquiries is in 2024, which is frankly ridiculous.

There doesn’t seem to be any workarounds other than transferring on an L1 Visa between companies that are situated in Germany and the US, every other visa is single intend (i.e illegal if you plan to stay and the US gets to decided if you’re trying to do that)

I don’t understand what the US is scared of, taking their social benefits? Especially since 90% of the I130 are approved, there is no reason it takes that long or needs such rigorous vetting.

Peter if you know any better or disagree please let me know :(

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for... by proberts on Friday July 28, 2023 @12:43PM (#36909577)

Unfortunately I've seen these terrible delays with our own clients and there's little that can be done other than what you suggest: get to the U.S. on some type of work visa and then pursue the green card when here, which is a very fast process. But one correction: you are allowed to travel to the U.S. as a visitor while your green card application is pending; you just need to maintain a home abroad and not work when here. We've had spouses in the same situation spend months and months in the U.S. while waiting for the green card process to run its course.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for... by Herdinger on Friday July 28, 2023 @12:52PM (#36909717)

Thanks for the quick response, I agree if it would be that easy, sadly I’ve had friends that were turned away by customs for that exact reasons (staying months while they visited last time) and got recommended against even trying to enter by an attorney since the I130 in flight might be used by US customs against me.

I don’t think you or anyone can assure me that if I am currently trying to enter the country for a visit I might not be turned away by customs (worst case scenario being barred from entering for years).

I don’t know how you can plan your existence around random chance of US customs.

Please correct me if I’m wrong with that assessment.

To come highlight again, this has been a huge surprise to my wife’s family who resides on both sides of the political aisle.

They assumed it would be bad, but not quite how bad.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for... by proberts on Friday July 28, 2023 @01:06PM (#36909943)

With the right advice, you should be fine to travel. Never has a client of ours in your situation had an issue entering the U.S.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for... by markus92 on Friday July 28, 2023 @07:47PM (#36914965)

I’ve entered close to 25 times since submitting a I-130, never had any issues whatsoever, barely even a question from the officer. I even got global entry just fine. Dutch citizen here with wife living in the US. My visits are usually on the order of 5-10 days and I do have a strong track record of leaving the country which might help.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for... by mavelikara on Sunday July 30, 2023 @03:13AM (#36928666)

> To come highlight again, this has been a huge surprise to my wife’s family who resides on both sides of the political aisle.

> They assumed it would be bad, but not quite how bad.

I have seen this play out many times. Everyone goes "We aren't against immigration, just the illegal crossings. Get in line like everyone else!" until they or someone close to them finally comes across the actually legal process.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for... by throwaway9971 on Friday July 28, 2023 @01:23PM (#36910185)

I am in similar situation, except wife is in India with younger kid and I am in US with elder kid in university. I am told there is a good chance she will be denied tourist visa even if not yet applied to GC, as rest of us are US citizens. And she will be denied tourist visa after applying for GC.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for... by proberts on Friday July 28, 2023 @01:43PM (#36910451)

That's a separate issue. If one already has a tourist visa or is from a visa waiver country, there really are no issues traveling to the U.S. while the green card process is pending if you are smart and careful. But it's very difficult to obtain a tourist visa if you are in the green card process.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for... by lanice on Friday July 28, 2023 @02:16PM (#36910955)

Not advice, just some words of encouragement: I am in a very similar situation (German citizen, US citizen spouse), and we started our I130 petition at the end of August last year. We got the approval notice (for the I130) literally this week.

So with your November filing, I think it would not be unreasonable to expect an update within the next 3 months or so. And from there on it should go fairly fast, probably just 1-3 months from an approved I130 to a GC.

Good luck!

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for... by proberts on Friday July 28, 2023 @04:32PM (#36912899)

Good guidance. That's what we're seeing as well with marriage-based immigrant visa applications, about 9-12 months for the I-130 to be approved and then, depending the consulate, about 1-4 months to get the immigrant visa.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for... by quotz on Friday July 28, 2023 @06:10PM (#36914035)

I am in a similar situation. Is there anything we can do if we havent heard back from them in more than 18 months?

[ Parent | on HN ]