Written by:
Nancy L. Warren
We met by chance, in a smoky little basement club, following the San Francisco Dyke March. First intrigued by her saucy Australian accent, later drawn in by her warm personality and subtle wit, I quickly fell head over heels in love. It's been two and a half years now, and our relationship has grown to a deep and sustaining partnership.
I miss her. Three days after our second anniversary she took a one-way flight out of the country. Since her visa had expired, it was no longer wise for my little Koala (I prefer not to divulge her real name) to stay here. She needed to return to Australia and work toward changing her status -- or run the risk of being permanently deported.
Until recently, immigration laws have not been enforced with much regularity. If you had a tourist visa, you could kick around the United States for a long time, with little risk. The government talked a tough line, but actual enforcement was kind of on the honor system: All foreign citizens entering the country received little white cards, stamped with their date of entry, and they were supposed to turn them in when they left. However, lots of people conveniently "lost" the little white cards, and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) had no way of tracking how long anyone had been here.
Last November, everything started to change. The federal government launched a pilot program to "collect a record of departure for every alien departing the U.S. and match the record of departure with the record of the alien's arrival in the United States" (Title I, Section 113). Starting with the ports that have the most foreign traffic, the program may soon expand to every major airport and dock in the country.
Along with this enforcement crackdown, penalties for dodging the law became more severe. You will now be barred from entering the United States for a period of 10 years if you overstay your visa by more than one year. Even if you only overstay by a few months, you may not be able to come back for a period of three years. Welcome to the Brave New World.
My Koala and I have been fumbling our way through this new system, trying to see if we could find a way to be together. From what we can tell, there are seven major options available to couples in our situation.** ** Option 1: Find a suitable hubby.
Ironically, this is always the first solution that lesbians propose. Everyone and her sister seems to know someone who has done this successfully in the past. Unfortunately, our community's nonchalance about green card marriages can sometimes have disastrous consequences.
Elsa, a young Costa Rican lesbian, fell in love with the United States when she first came here, and wanted to make this country her home. Friends counseled her to marry an American man, and through word of mouth she found someone who was willing to help her for the price of five thousand dollars.
What Elsa didn't know was that her new husband had a drug problem. He routinely missed INS interviews, forgot his lines, and shirked other responsibilities associated with making the marriage seem authentic.
One day, while Elsa was being grilled by an INS agent, two men with handcuffs walked in and arrested her. As we go to press, she is awaiting deportation and will be denied reentry into the U.S. -- for at least 10 years, maybe for life.
Given the risks involved with green card marriages, you shouldn't pursue this option unless you are fully aware of the long-term commitment and extensive web of lies that it will entail. Fake marriages are one of the few immigration crimes that INS pursues and prosecutes, and the new law commits even more new agents to this investigative work.
Paying someone to marry you sounds much easier than it is, and unless it's done right it can potentially lead to permanent exile.
Option 2: Wait for same-sex marriage to become legal.
Don't hold your breath. Even if the Hawaii legislature were to approve gay marriage tomorrow, immigration law (which is under federal jurisdiction) would remain unchanged. It may take decades before federal law recognizes same-sex partnerships as a valid reason for immigration.
However, if your sweetheart is from England, Belgium, Canada, Australia or New Zealand, and you're willing to pack up and move, lady luck is on your side. All of these countries have immigration laws already in place that sanction same-sex relationships.
Option 3: Go back to school.
As long as you are in this country legally, you can apply to change your status from a tourist visa to an F-1 student visa. There are restrictions, of course: You must carry a substantial class load and provide proof that you can survive your first year of school without working. You are not allowed to work during the first nine months of a student visa (although after nine months you may work within your field of study).
I wish my Koala and I had known about this option before she overstayed her visa. Now, the only way for her to be here legally is to reestablish residency in Australia and then hope to be issued another visa in a year or so.
Option 4: Play the green card lottery.
55,000 green cards are issued every year via this lottery. Unfortunately, millions of people are vying for them, so your chances of winning are slim, but it can't hurt to apply. Call INS early in the year -- (800) 870-3676 -- and they'll send you the necessary instructions and forms.
Option 5: Have a sex change.
Yes, American law stipulates that my Koala and I could marry and she could gain legal residency if one of us had a sex change. If only there were a detachable immigration penis good for three to five years -- that's how long the naturalization process takes.
Option 6: Beg, borrow, steal or inherit a large sum of money.
Ah, to be rich. If you have a big bag of money, your problems are solved: simply invest your capital in an American business, and you are almost guaranteed a visa. The only requirements are that you own at least 51 percent of the business and have made a "substantial" investment.
The word "substantial," of course, is open to interpretation. Our attorney quotes $350,000 as the benchmark, but adds, "We have done these visas for as little as eighty to a hundred thousand dollars, depending on the type of business."
The Koala and I seem to have misplaced our big bag of money....
Option 7: Market your unique skills.
Immigrants with advanced degrees, special language skills or technical training can sometimes get working visas through their employers. The hiring company must prove that no U.S. citizen was available for the position the alien would fill -- an advertisement must be placed in the local papers and all American respondents must be evaluated for their qualifications.
If you and your boss are both willing to break the law, H-1 (working) visas can be obtained fraudulently. Sung Hee, a Korean 27-year-old, got her working visa because she spoke Korean and Spanish and knew how to use a certain kind of accounting software, even though she actually didn't need those particular skills for the administrative job she was performing.
An H-1 visa is only good as long as you stay with the employer who provides you with it. When you leave that job, you will lose your right to work and must leave the country unless you can find another firm to sponsor you.
The issue of immigration raises some serious questions for our community about morality, marriage, love and the law. If we think laws are unfair, should we break them? Is love the only valid reason for breaking the law? Would same-sex marriage solve all our problems?
Keep in mind that homophobia is not the only form of discrimination woven into immigration legislation and enforcement. As we have seen, immigrating to the United States is smooth and painless for the very rich; extremely difficult for the very poor. And although no one at the State Department would comment on the record about the issue of racism, I was told quite plainly off the record that racism and cultural racism continue to play a definitive role in immigration enforcement in this country. Those who are white and English-speaking simply have a better chance of receiving a visa or residency via marriage.
Only one thing remains certain: this world is continuing to shrink. In the wake of the Internet explosion, the entire globe is at our fingertips, and most cities on the planet are only an airplane ride away. Here, at the dawn of a new milennium, let us hope that our world leaders will work toward a saner and more compassionate immigration process -- not only for gays and lesbians but for all the citizens of the world.
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