Honesty isn't always the best policy

Day # 171 -
  I don't know how long this post will be, as I usually write while Chloe is sleeping. She didn't have a nap today, so all hell could break loose at any moment now.
  But I'll write until that happens! I just had to write a bit, get some stuff off my chest. There are a lot of things changing right now, as far as Immigration is concerned, and some of it is making me angry. While I'm happy the Government is trying to help those who have lives and families here, I'm upset that there isn't anything coming forward to help those who left the Country out of honesty and integrity. Such as my husband. If you go to www.uscis.gov you can read about these news provisions and ideas that may be put into place as soon as this summer.

  It won't benefit my family, since my husband left. It only benefits those who have been living and working illegally in this Country. I completely understand that these are real people with real lives and families. I just wish they'd work on a plan for those who left the Country on their own accord and merely want to be reunited with their families who are in America. I'm on this website on daily basis to check my husbands status. I used to go on multiple times a day. But I found that to be adding way too much stress, so I had to limit it to one time a day. I wasn't able to sleep at all and just laid there all night wondering when my husband was going to be able to come home to us. I still do this, but it's not as bad since I've made it a rule to not look anything up regarding Immigration past 6 pm. This gives my brain a little bit a of chance to relax. And if I read "Initial Review" ONE MORE TIME for my husbands status, I might throw this laptop through the window. Today marks four months that our case has been in "initial review." Yes, we submitted our paperwork four months ago and are still in the initial review part of the process. This is the first step. We have no answers, no time frame, nothing. When I call Immigration and speak to various Politicians, I'm told theres nothing I can do until its been past five months. Five months is the average processing time for the I-130 form, which we submitted.

   For my next post I'm planning on giving a brief description of popular forms used for Immigration. Perhaps this will help someone out there who is about to start the hellish process. Hopefully I can put the descriptions into words that are easy to understand, unlike the Immigration website. I think they write out their descriptions to confuse people more, to try to discourage them. And that is just down right wrong. I wish I had some type of news, some type of update, but, just as its been over the past four months, I have nothing. I did remember, however, that I had spoken to a lawyer in San Francisco who said she would argue that we didn't need the I-601 Waiver for my husbands overstay. I'm going to try contacting her again. The only problem is that I'd have to meet with her in San Francisco and pay $100 for a consultation. She wouldn't give me an exact amount for her fees either, which made me a bit nervous. You never know with lawyers!

   Also, many lawyers won't take on our case at this point, since we've already started the process on our own. And, last but not least, we don't have the thousands of dollars it would take to hire a lawyer. But we'll see what she says. Every lawyer I've spoken to is hesitant to give out too much information without being paid their thousands of dollars. Barbara Boxers office said they'd mail out a list of people who could help us in our area who wouldn't charge a huge fee. I've yet to receive anything. It's hard living in a small town. I've seen organizations in Los Angeles and San Francisco that help with Immigration problems and don't charge thousands of dollars. I've called these places in hopes that maybe they could help me over the phone. I just get an answering machine and no call back.

   I'll be going over to my good friend Katie's house to get some much needed help with my blog! Her husband, Danny, will be giving me some tips. So in just a few short days this blog will be looking a lot better! I'm really excited. He'll also be giving me some tips on how to make this blog more popular. So, if you're reading and know someone who might be interested in my blog, please don't hesitate to share! Share away, even if you don't think you know anyone. You never know who this blog could help. And that's part of mission - to help those who are also lost in this horrible process. And to let people know there are so many hurting because of these Immigration laws and processes. Everything happens for a reason and, perhaps, me helping people out there is the reason. And now to tend to our 2 year old. Thanks for reading!

Candance & Chloe