To: The United States House of Representatives and The United States Senate
Integration Overhaul Needed for Families of US Citizens, too!
Please do a thorough review of our immigration laws and make any necessary changes and exceptions to ensure that families of US citizens all have a fair chance in the visa process.
Why is this important?
I am a US citizen born and bred, and my foreign husband of four years has been denied his marriage visa to come live with me in the US because of a loophole in US immigration laws.
He lives in Germany and has one minor infraction on his police record, for which he only had to pay a fine. Because German law does not break down the severity of different offenses like US law does, this infraction has a maximum penalty of 5 years in jail. In Washington D.C., the same offense has a 6 month maximum sentence.
US immigration law states that any infraction can not have a maximum sentence of more that 1 year in jail in the country where it took place! That means that anyone with a small infraction in countries with laws like Germany CAN NOT get a US visa, while in other countries it is not an issue.
This is clearly unfair. Please petition Congress to completely review US immigration laws and change these inequities that break up families.
He lives in Germany and has one minor infraction on his police record, for which he only had to pay a fine. Because German law does not break down the severity of different offenses like US law does, this infraction has a maximum penalty of 5 years in jail. In Washington D.C., the same offense has a 6 month maximum sentence.
US immigration law states that any infraction can not have a maximum sentence of more that 1 year in jail in the country where it took place! That means that anyone with a small infraction in countries with laws like Germany CAN NOT get a US visa, while in other countries it is not an issue.
This is clearly unfair. Please petition Congress to completely review US immigration laws and change these inequities that break up families.