Apology Letter

[klaudialaw]

Do you have any example in this forum of an apology letter on part of the alien who enters the U.S. illegaly?

thanks

[cindy101]

Klaudia,

I sent you hubby's by way of PM.

[Laurel Scott]

Its not an apology letter! Its an extreme hardship packet! When you apologize, you put the focus on what you've done wrong. You don't want to do that. You want to keep the focus on the hardship that the bar is causing the qualifying relative.

Only express remorse - whether its an apology or some other form of expressing remorse - when you need to show rehabilitation after criminal activity and sometimes when you've committed fraud.

[shannon]

my fiance wrote an "apology letter" (although it's not titled that, it is called a statement), but it's for CIMT and the conviction was relatively recent, so in this case I think it was important that he express remorse. But for illegal entry I think most people are not writing these kind of letters.

[Adriane]

My husband included a "Personal statement." He did briefly apologize for EWIing, but he mostly asked the person reading the waiver packet to please consider the severity of our situation and end my 'hardship." It sounds very dramatic when I put it like that, but I think it was nicely done.

[Laurel Scott]

I've had a handful of cases where the clients approached me post-denial in which the alien apologized for what he/she did wrong, but when I reviewed the facts, I wanted to argue that the alien's culpability was limited (e.g. CIS erroneously told the alien she couldn't adjust status when, in fact, she could). But AN APOLOGY IS AN ADMISSION OF GUILT. If I could make the font bigger, I would. So, once you apologize, it makes it very tough to argue that your culpability is limited. While there are sometimes when an apology might be a good idea, just as a general rule, in any legal matter, immigration or otherwhen in doubt, DO NOT APOLOGIZE.

[Laurel Scott]

Now how do I edit? I wrote in big, bold letters "AND APOLOGY ..." when I meant "AN APOLOGY ...". I make that typo error all the time.

[klaudialaw]

Thanks Laurel. I was thinking of some kind of statement from my husband saying how much I am suffering from his wrongdoing. The reason is because he intentionally entered with fraud. HOwever, reading your posts, I feel like I dont want to write a letter at all

[LilB]

Good, Klaudia, :)

[cindy101]

Sometimes the embassy requests the letter of apology. We weren't going to present one, but the embassy in Tirana requested it.

Our case was F/M upon entry.. there can be no doubt about that guilt.

It did not negatively impact our case (approved). & that embassy is not overly lenient, several denials recently.

[klaudialaw]

thanks cindy