And it all comes down to this… Is this the final step in my immigration journey?

Big day… Big day… One of the biggest I will ever have… Around 10am today I am taking what I hope will be my final journey to the USCIS Department in the Federal Building here in Baltimore for the next couple of years.  This is my Adjustment of Status Interview, the last big step before I get issued my Green Card it all comes down to this folks and I am very, very nervous…. Read on to find out why…

Now before I get ahead of myself; I am sorry I know it has been a very long time since I last posted a Immigration Journey blog. But to be completely honest not much has been going on since I got my Work Permit in April. All I have been doing is working and waiting for my appointment for my Adjustment of Status Interview. You see a lot of the stuff involved in this immigration process is hurry up and wait. They after all have the time… Me as an Immigrant does not.

I was remit though and I did forget to post about one more hurdle I had to clear before I even got this interview date. You see you can’t just decide you want to stay in this country, well you can it just means it makes things very difficult. You have to have a relative or sponsor. One of those things that your sponsor or relative have to do is fill out an I-864 Support Petition saying that the immigrant (that’s me folks) will not become a public charge and that sponsor or relative are financially responsible for you.

My Adjustment of Status Petition was filed using Matter of Sesay which allowed me to use my previous marriage to my Ex-Wife. An amazing ruling that allows K1 Visa holders like me have to adjust under the one that brought us in. The only problem being is my Ex-Wife doesn’t like me (and I’m being polite) and I knew there would not be a chance of getting her to sign a new I-864. Thankfully I’ve been in the USA long enough now to earn enough Social Security Credits to be able to file a Waiver. I think this Waiver worked because I now have this interview.

Which brings me to this Adjustment of Status Interview, I made it right? This part is a cake walk, correct?

Well… No it is not… You see there is one more hurdle which I don’t think I can overcome. While Matter of Sesay gives me the golden opportunity to get my Green Card it still requires that your ex-spouse has to be at this interview; without my Ex-Wife being there (and she is pointedly not coming) my chances, the fight, all your help and everything else has been for naught, we are dead in the water here.

Sure I have evidence pointing to the fact we had a legitimate marriage, we have two children, that we lived out lives together for five years. My Ex-Wife even gave me an affidavit to this effect (the bare minimal she can do in this matter), it doesn’t matter if I could come in with fives years of continuously recorded video and nothing I can bring is worth a damn… Crap… Even the USCIS has an 3 inch thick file full of information about me, my marriage, my second marriage, my kids and my divorce.

But, because the Adjudication Officer and USCIS procedures require myself and my Ex-Wife to be there. There is no flexibility, no leeway, no guidelines that cover this accept the one that says without her the petition is lost. Of course she is aware of this and I’ve been asking for weeks basically begged her to turn up. You would also think even for the sake of the children she would endure me for a couple of hours just so they can keep seeing their father… Or if you even look at the mercenary aspect of it to keep me in the USA so I can keep paying child support. Oh no… It is not that easy… Or simple… I never knew until now how much she hated me until this point, that she would want to see her kids suffer than have me remain in the country. How can one person lose their way this much? Pure self-destructing madness…

So I don’t hold out any hope for my adjustment of status interview to be successful, my last chance gone leaving me pretty much with one choice. I feel a little like a condemned man going through the motions and it is really sad. I don’t want to leave… I’ve spent twelve years building my life here, everything I love is here… Everything!

I think all I can say at this point is thank you, thank you all my friends for your support. For everything you’ve all helped me with, giving me hope and keeping me in the USA just a little longer to see another year of my children growing up, to be a father to them, to be a husband to my wife, to help me regain a little control over my life.

We sit here my friends at the end of all things… You all have been great company on this journey thank you for listening. Be gentle with the Earth and your kindness has lifted me up. You’ve shown me all things are after all possible.

What you can do now is hope for good news, hope I am wrong, hope that everything I have learned over the last year about USCIS and this procedure don’t mean a damn, and that tomorrow I walk out of that office approved for my Green Card. Hope for just one more break so my journey, my story here can go on with my family… Because they do deserve so much more than I’ve ever been able to give them.

There is and always will be hope… At least for that I don’t have to fill out a form, eh?

You are all amazing… Don’t ever stop being so