Story Created:
Jan 24, 2008 at 7:11 PM CDT
Story Updated:
Apr 8, 2008 at 5:56 PM CDT
There's been a lot of talk about illegal immigration lately. An Australian woman came to the U.S. legally under a Financee VISA, but her dream of becoming an American tunred into a nightmare.
These documents represent only part of an odyssey that began several years ago for Michelle Meador. She's Australian and when she met her husband to be on the internet, she was very excited about coming to our country to start a new life. However those plans were soon derailed.
"Part of the immigration for the Fiancee VISA is my husband has to do an affidavit of support and in the affidavit of support you have to sign and say he can support me for two years,"
That includes setting up a joint bank account. Meador deposited a large sum of money from the sale of her home in Australia. After buying and setting up a home here, a large sum of what was left was suddenly taken by the State of Arkansas. It was because her husband to be, owed back child support.
She is upset, because she was only doing what she was told by immigration authorities to get into the country legally, only to be penalized.Michelle says, "Whether the INS knows by asking us to do it this way, that they're setting us up for someone else to come along and just take the money away. And put us into a position where we're struggling."
Meador says for the most part, the hard times are over, but she has never gotten one cent back. The reason for Michelle sharing her story is one government agency doesn't often take into account how another operates. And in her case, it turned into a disaster."My main aim and why I contacted you is for someone else going through the same thing to be aware that this can happen," she says
She calls it an unpleasant experience for trying to go through the immigration process the legal way.
Michelle is quick to agree part of the problem is her husband's fault for not paying child support on time. That's now taken care of. But again, her main warning, "even though you try to do things the right way... Beware... You can still get into trouble with the government.
If you've got a question or problem, give us a call. The number is 687-u-ask. That number again, 687-8275.
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