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djones9714
04-10-2008, 05:37 AM
Please provide me comments to begin with. I still have a lot of writing to do on the medical aspects but I am trying to find out if I am on the right path or not. Thanks everyone.



To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing this letter in support of my husband, XXXXXXX, who is filing an I-601 Waiver of Inadmissibility Application. If my husband is not lawfully admitted to the U.S., I, his American citizen wife, will face numerous, severe and interacting hardships, some of which would extend to my infant son (born _______) and my American citizen family members. Concerns for my health, my security, my career and my future, as well as the health and security of members of my family – especially my infant son -- would prevent me from living in Guatemala with my husband; however, I would feel compelled by the martial vows and commitment to do so.

My husband entered the United States illegally without inspection back in November of 1997 when he was 16 years old not having an understanding of the immigration laws and certainly never having any knowledge of my existence in his life. His lack of poor judgment and lack of knowledge has been detrimental to our future life together and the life of his newborn son and he is living every day of his life with remorse.

Moving to Guatemala would result in an inability to seek proper medical care for myself and my child, the devastating loss of my career, the loss of my home, endangering my security and that of my child, contribute to the anxiety, pain and depression of myself and family members and place my financial and professional future in potential turmoil and uncertainty. Magnifying all of these issues is the fact that I do not speak, read or write Spanish and will be isolated and incapacitated living in Guatemala.

I. Background/Marriage Commitment:

XXXXXXX is my husband and my best friend. We met when I was 17 in high school. I fell in love with him and vice versa because of the common ground we shared – high moral beliefs and treating others as you wish to be treated. We are building on these beliefs and are strengthening our life together as a married couple and have been blessed with a newborn baby at this time.

In order to carry out the commitment to my husband to be by his side through thick and thin and to fulfill the vows of my marriage, I would be forced to leave my family who has always been there to support me and to be in complete isolation. I continue to rely on their support as I realize that time does not stand still and that it is very important that I spend as much time with them as possible since they will one day be gone from my life and that they will be facing medical problems in the very near future.

II. Medical Considerations:

A. Medical

TO BE FINISHED

B. Medical/Dental Insurance
I currently have family health and dental insurance (_____________) through my employer, XXXXXXXXXX, which includes excellent health and dental coverage for my family (Exhibit ___________, copies of Anthem Healthkeepers and ______ insurance cards). Prior to our marriage, XXXXXXX had no health and/or dental insurance at all and whenever he would need to go to the doctor or hospital, he paid 100% of the total cost which was very expensive. Not once did he ever rely on the U.S. Government to pay his medical expenses. After obtaining this insurance, XXXXXXX started going to the doctor to have his annual exams (health and dental) to maintain his current health and to ensure that problems were immediately taken care of. With respect to his dental, XXXXXXX needs to undergo a dental treatment plan since he neglected his teeth for many years due to lack of insurance and his dental records reflect that he has gingivitis (Exhibit _____). Without this treatment, he is prone to severe teeth rotting and gum disease (Exhibit _____). My dental coverage will not cover XXXXXXX in Guatemala and without any way to pay for the coverage through a private carrier, his life is at danger due to the bacterial infection from the gingivitis which would travel through this body and could cause life-threatening problems.

It is estimated that approximately ___% of Guatemala’s over 13 million residents are uninsured for medical insurance (Exhibit ____) and depend upon the public health system. Given my inability to work in Guatemala and the inability of XXXXXXX to obtain employment in Guatemala due to the very low wages he would make, we would immediately become one of those statistics. If I were forced to remain in Guatemala with my husband, I too would lose my medical insurance (See Exhibit _____) and the life of my infant son would also be endangered (Exhibit _____) as neither one of us would be able to afford basic child medical expenses without some financial means.
If XXXXXXX is not allowed to return to the United States, I would not be able to continue his coverage under my current medical plans as my insurance will not cover a spouse who is not resident in the United States (See Exhibit _____). If I do not have the financial support from my husband each month in order to continue my family health and dental coverage, I will be forced to cancel the policies due to the high premium costs each month (Exhibit _____). I simply could not afford to pay the premiums on just my salary and would be forced to apply for government aide if at all possible.

III. Financial Considerations:

A. Employment/Career

TO BE FINISHED

B. Retirement Benefits

At the present moment, I am qualified through the Social Security Administration to obtain Disability benefits in the event that I became disabled. If I had to relocate to Guatemala, I would no longer be able to obtain any type of benefit if something were to happen and I became disabled.

To qualify for Social Security retirement benefits, you must have worked a minimum of 40 credits and I have worked a total of 21 (See Exhibit) credits and I only have 4 more years left or 15 credits left before I qualify. This is important to me as I have already started planning for our retirement and our future together.

I have started contributing towards my 401K Retirement Plan (See Exhibit ____) and this is a great plan offered by my employer. If I had to relocate to Guatemala, I would have to forfeit these funds as my current retirement plan would not allow me to roll-over the funds for any amounts less than $________ and I would be heavily taxed on this amount (See Exhibit ____). If XXXXXXX were not allowed to return to the United States, I would have to stop contributing funds to my retirement account as I would have to use these funds to pay necessary daily expenses to maintain my well-being and the well-being of my son. This would have a dramatic effect on my retirement savings.

IV. Family Support:

If I were forced to move to Guatemala permanently, I could never afford the airfare necessary to see my family as often as I would like and for their only grandchild to know his grandparents. Round trip airfare from Guatemala to the United States ranges from $_______ to $_________ per person. (See Exhibit ____). Considering the devastating financial situation we would be faced with were I to move to Guatemala, these costs would be totally out of reach. This separation from my family would make my life miserable and would certainly lead me down the road of depression which is something I have been able to avoid at this time.

My mother, who has suffered severe medical surgeries in the past (Exhibit ____) still requiring medical follow up care, would miss me terribly and I am extremely worried that she would not be able to cope knowing that her only daughter and only grandchild are miles away from her and she would not be able to visit. I am her main support as she has no other family members who live close by and as she ages into her 60s, it will be imperative that I am able to live near her to assist her and my father.

My father has struggled with high blood pressure and high cholesterol for over 15 years. (See Exhibit ____). He has had 3 major surgeries on his knees and will one day in the very near future require knee replacement as the condition continues to worsen. (See Exhibit ____). With this type of surgery, he will be unable to walk and take care of himself for a minimum of 4 months and they will require my assistance in every day tasks as my mother is limited in taking care of him due to her arm surgery (still being treated). I feel deeply compelled to make sure I am close to my mother and father as they continue to face these medical challenges.

Remaining here in the United States to assist my father during his knee replacement surgery will require the assistance of my husband as I would not physically be able to lift my father into bed, walking, bathing, dressing, or offering any other type of physical support as he weighs over 280 pounds.

They have no other family here that could help them and they simply could not afford to have home care since their insurance would not cover this.

I have only one grandparent still living and she is 68 years old. During the last several years, I lost my maternal grandfather and my paternal grandmother. My one living grandmother is on retirement and my husband and I send her money during the year to assist her in buying necessities since she is no longer receiving a social security check from my grandfather and is barely making ends meet. Without my husband’s financial support here in the U.S., I would not be able to continue this monetary support. Even entertaining the idea of living in Guatemala, I still would not be able to continue the support due to lack of or almost close to no employment opportunities.

V. Language/Social Barriers

Aside from the extreme hardships I have detailed above, I do not speak, read or write Spanish and this fact would magnify the extreme hardships if forced to relocate to Guatemala. I would not be able to receive proper medical care, educational opportunities, shopping, buying necessities, and I would not be able to provide transportation for myself or my child in case of emergency since I would not be able to obtain a Guatemalan driver’s license (See Exhibit ________). I would have to rely on my husband to communicate on my behalf even for the basic necessities of life which is something that he does not have to do in the United States as he is very fluent in English.
I would encounter extreme isolation from all social environments due to the lack of Spanish skills in every day tasks.

VI. Good Moral Character

I am a loyal U.S. citizen who has respected the laws of my country ever since I was born. I have lived my life respecting the property and laws of this country and the people for whom I serve and who have served me. I have voted in this country and have been patriotically. I am proud to be a member of the United States of America. My husband and I attend church regularly and want to build our life in the trust that we have for the United States. My husband has lived here in the United States for over 10 years and has been a true and devoted American in every sense of the word. He has had no criminal activity (not even a traffic infraction), except for this one illegal entry. He has attended school to learn the English language, is currently working on his GED, and has been paying federal and state taxes. We fully understand the consequence of his actions and the tremendous strain that his unknowingly actions have put on our future life together.

VII. Summary/Conclusion:

Individually, and in sum, I respectfully submit that these meet and surpass extreme hardship. Thank you for your consideration of this request to allow my husband to show you and the United States that he will be forever indebted and that he will obey and abide by all rules of the United States if granted this waiver.

djones9714
04-10-2008, 02:08 PM
Anybody? Please help.

WaitingtoExhale
04-10-2008, 02:21 PM
Hi Djones,

I think you have an excellent draft. Remember, USCIS only cares about the hardship to the USC, not the alien. That being said, you might want to refocus the Medical portion to discuss the potential hardships for you and your child - not your husband.

Lots of luck to you and your family!

brezarenee
04-10-2008, 02:27 PM
Hi Djones,
Good start. A few comments:
1) Insurance section. Remember, they don't really care how the lack of insurance affects the husband. I think you can briefly mention this as it relates back to the USC's mental health (ie fear of losing husband), but I'd really focus more on the USC's lack of health care. Can you get specific evidence that the US healthcare would not cover anything in Guatemala? And then, that she and the baby would not be eligible for healthcare in Guatemala? Would she really be eligible for government aide in Guatemala? I think this is your strongest argument for this section, so I'd focus the most on it.

2) I think the rest of it reads well, but it looks like you don't have your strongest arguments yet. I think it will have more punch once you add the medical and the career sections in. Also, what about the baby? Have you thought about education and safety? Those can be considered a strong argument as long as related back to the USC's welfare.

Definitely a good start. I'll look forward to the medical and career sections!

Laura
04-10-2008, 03:06 PM
Hi Djones!

I agree that the part about the husband not getting dental care is irrelevant. It would be better to further develop issues your daughter will have without insurance, as they don't really care about any hardships that relate to him directly.

I think generally you have a good start but I agree that there's not a ton of substance here. I think you could go into a lot more detail in the language and social barriers area. Like if she has to move to Guatemala, she will not be able to communicate effectively with her child's doctors, etc.

Also, since the husband has been here 10 years already, maybe mentioning that he does not have experience as an adult navigating the society could be used to amplify how difficult it would be for them to adjust as a couple to life there? I know it's not the same as had he been brought here as a child but it's worth a shot since 10 years in the U.S. is a long time, and he's probably somewhat out of tough with the society as well.

JennyM
04-10-2008, 03:07 PM
ok mom, are you going to write mine too!? :)

djones9714
04-10-2008, 03:35 PM
Thanks guys. This is exactly what I want to hear. I am very tough skin so bring it on.

This is very good advice. I know I don't have a lot of substance here which is absolutely true because these are just the "general ideas". I will do my best to bring more substance soon and then I will need more help.

Please bear with me as I work on this and I am very thoughtful that you ladies have taken your time which is very valuable to comment.

brezarenee
04-10-2008, 03:43 PM
:Ditto: to Jenny's question! I'm going to give my mama a call and try to wrangle her into writing my HSL! ;) :bounce:

djones9714
04-10-2008, 04:20 PM
Oh you guys know me too well. It is hard for me to write this because I am too darn busy crying and so emotional. I think it is very tough to write because you are so close to the situation and can't look at it from any other standpoint.

That is why I am hoping that Laurafern or Lynette would write mine for me. Or perhaps Kitkat!

I think it would be a great opportunity for Laurafern to obtain experience since she is going to law school and great opportunity for Lynette since she will be working with Laurel and she will certainly need to impress her boss in a new job.

Dorothea
04-10-2008, 06:24 PM
Okay, Djones, first instinct is that you need to take out your SILs dental issues, just like everyone said.
If your daughter doesn't have medical issues focus on her need for health insurance and the poor medical system in Guate...
I would move the background\marriage commitment to the bottom, sort of as part of the conclusion.
Looks good, keep working! I wish my mom would write mine! Your daughter and SIL are very lucky, I hope they KNOW!!!!!!!!

jsierra1982
04-10-2008, 07:00 PM
ok, i think that to add to the medical section, you could get an expatriate health insurance quote and compare that to the average guatemalan yearly salary...i think for mex the quote was like $4000 a year and the average yearly pay is like $7000...so obviously that doesn't add up. also like someone else said, you should mention that the language barrier can be fatal in a medical situation. be dramatic--in a medical emergency, she wouldn't be able to tell vital info to her or her son's dr and that could be fatal, like if you are allergic to something such as penicillin and don't know how to tell the dr. also, elaborate on the social isolation that could arise from not speaking spanish. get statistics for education there to describe what kind of schooling will await your grandson if he has to move there.

i'll keep thinking and let you know if i come up with anything else.