Q. Will Poles have an easier time getting visitor’s visas now that Poland will be home to an American missile defense base? Despite my offer to pay all expenses, the U.S. Consul in Warsaw denied my sister a visitor’s visa. Now that Poland is working so closely with the United States, I think Poles deserve better treatment.
- Maria, Manhattan
A. I agree with your sentiment, but I doubt the U.S. will change its restrictive approach to issuing visitors’ visas to Poles so long as unemployment remains high both here and there. Poland and several other new members of the European Union have lobbied the U.S. government on this issue without success.
As was the case with your sister, most visitors to the United States need a visa to enter. Exempt are countries designated as part of the Visa Waiver Program. Under U.S. law, any country where visa denials are 3.5 percent of all applications or less, can participate in that program. The denial rate for Poles is much higher. President Bush has promised more than once to reconsider U.S. policy toward Poles, but nothing has changed.
You would think since U.S. missile defense bases are coming to Poland and that Poles fought and died in Iraq, and are still fighting and dying in Afghanistan, that the U.S. would liberalize its immigration policies for Poles. Good enough to die for America, good enough to visit, one might say. Apparently, that is not how our government sees it. Interestingly, on March 1, Canada announced that citizens of Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Lithuania, all recent joiners of the European Union, could visit without a visa.
Question of marriage
Q. My girlfriend’s visitor’s stay expired more than a year ago. If I marry her, will that allow her to travel home and return? I am a U.S. citizen. My girlfriend is from Brazil. She’d like to travel home, but we’re concerned she’ll get stuck there.
- J.L., New Rochelle
A. You are smart to be concerned. Unless you and your girlfriend want to be separated for up to 10 years, I suggest you consider marrying and having her stay here until she gets permanent residence. Because she has been here unlawfully for more than one year, she faces a 10-year bar to returning.
The USCIS will waive the bar only if she can prove extreme hardship to you or a U.S. citizen or permanent resident parent if she is denied a visa. On the other hand, because she entered legally, she can interview here. If she does that, the 10-year bar does not apply. The bar applies only to overstays who travel abroad before trying to get legal status.
Seek expert assistance
Q. The USCIS granted me asylum in 2002, but I never applied for the green card. Can I apply for one now? Will I have a problem traveling to Canada?
-Innocent Shondo, New York
A. While I doubt you will have a problem getting permanent residence or traveling abroad, I would have an expert review your case before proceeding. Those granted asylum may apply for permanent residence one year after the USCIS granted them asylum, but applying is not required. Therefore, your delay should not be a problem. It is rare for the USCIS to revoke asylum, but the agency has the legal authority. However, if conditions in your home country changed dramatically in the past six years such that you could safely return, the USCIS could give you a hard time about your adjustment application. The agency may claim that you no longer deserve asylum. My bet is that if you apply now, you will get permanent residence, but you may need expert help.
As for travel abroad, you will need a refugee travel document to reenter the United States. You apply using USCIS form I-131, Application for Travel Document. Just do what I recommended and see an expert before leaving. Border officers are getting tough these days, looking for any excuse to keep someone out.
Allan Wernick is a lawyer and chair of the City University of New York Citizenship and Immigration Project. He is the author of “U.S. Immigration and Citizenship - Your Complete Guide, Revised 4th Edition.” Send questions and comments to Allan Wernick, Daily News, 450 West 33rd Street, New York, N.Y. 10001. Professor Wernick’s web site is www.allanwernick.com.
Allan Wernick’s Immigration column is reprinted from the Thursday, September 4 editions of the New York Daily News.
