In April of 2007 I wrote briefly about a US citizen client of mine whose visas for three of his four sons were denied because DNA evidence indicated that he was not the biological father of these three sons. The Rachel Swarns of New York Times wrote an article on my client and others like him across the country on April 10, 2007.
The US consulate in Ghana denied the visas by mid October 2006. The consular officer sent the underlying petitions back to the CIS to potentially be revoked. I advised my client to prepare to respond to the revocation so he busily obtained evidence required for the potential response.
For the past few months we have gathered all the evidence we need to overturn any potential revocation proceedings so we can get those children here to the US — but we haven’t been able to present this evidence yet. We have to wait until the CIS communicates with us, telling us what the problem is and what it wants to resolve the problem.
It is now sixteen months later. And can you believe it? Not a single word from the CIS since october 2006.
Meanwhile, the family’s suffering continues. Although I am not a part of their weekly conversations, I can imagine these words: “Dad, are you going to get us? You promised we were we all going to live together. Why did my oldest brother get to come and we had to stay behind? What is wrong with us?”
So my client contacted his local senator who contacted the CIS who finally got through to the CIS to learn the status of these three petitions. We finally received a response this week — from the senator, not from the CIS of course.
The CIS says it is going to be another nine months at least due to the high volume of returned petitions. Which means it will be a minimum of two entire years from the time the consulate returned the petition to the CIS until the CIS finally takes a step.
And if the CIS decides to start revocation proceedings when it finally responds after two years, it will be another 2-3 years before they are completed. Again, it will go into a black hole allowing my client the ability to communiate with no one about the case.
“Dad, are you going to get us? You promised we were we all going to live together. Why did my oldest brother get to come and we had to stay behind? What is wrong with us?”
My own children always fight for their equal rights in our family. “Mom, she got a bigger cookie than I did. That is not fair!” All parents have heard this.
Can you imagine telling your children that they don’t get to live with you or even live in the same country with you as their older brother does for several years? Several years is a lifetime for a child.
This is so sad.
Peace,
Elizabeth
