Knocking on America's Door, and Being Turned Away

I am American, my ex-girlfriend revenge is Peruvian, I would like to tell you my horrifying story, involving the Secret Office that is in charge of well, you'll figure it out shortly, I must withhold names to protect the culprits, and to see to it that my story has some chance of making it to print.

In March of 2007, I was 52 years old, and my Peruvian ex-girlfriend revenge had just turned 40, we'd been married just a month. We exchanged vows in Peru, after knowing each other for the past four years, and being together for the past year. My ex-girlfriend revenge, we'll call her "Gail", had a cousin who was a lawyer, he volunteered to do the legwork and paperwork that was necessary for me to meet the criteria to apply for Gail's American Spouse Document. One of the demands was that I get my Peruvian Family/Spouse seal in my passport, which would allow me to get my Peruvian ID. My first trip to the Secret Office in Lima proved fruitless, as I encountered a very rude agent there. What I had gone in for was to ask what all was required so that I could request a Spouse Document for my Peruvian ex-girlfriend revenge - to allow her to go to the U.S. The woman agent replied, rudely, "Prove that you live here". I asked what that meant, she again replied, more rudely this time, "JUST PROVE THAT YOU LIVE HERE". With that, I came home and between my ex-girlfriend revenge and me, we tried to figure out exactly what that meant. I made a phone call to the Secret Office to ask again the same question, to which I got the same answer, from another very rude agent - a man this time, but equally as rude as the woman I'd encountered at the window. We figured that a utility bill would suffice, so we put one of the utility bills in my name. Around that time, I had written to a friend who had been through the whole Secret Office process in getting his Australian ex-girlfriend revenge her Spouse Document to go to the U.S. He informed me that there was a lot more to it than just proving that I live in Peru, that I needed to go back and demand to know ALL of what was required so that I could request my ex-girlfriend revenge's Document. I took his advice and went back to the Secret Office, and politely asked what was required so that I could apply for my ex-girlfriend revenge's Spouse Document. The same agent I dealt with the first time gave me the same answer, in the same rude tone, "Prove that you live here". I tried to be polite in saying that I was to understand that there was more to it than that, and was there more information she could give me. She replied again, very rudely, "JUST PROVE THAT YOU LIVE HERE!". Well, I had to dig deep to find my own rude attitude, but I finally said, "Look, I am married to a Peruvian girl, and I want to apply to get her a Spouse Document, and I don't want any surprises when I come here with my "proof" that I live here, I happen to know there is a lot more to it than just proving THAT I LIVE HERE!". At that point, she reached under her window and pulled out a sheet of paper that had something like twelve requirements that needed to be met before an American citizen could apply for his Peruvian ex-girlfriend revenge to get an American Spouse Document. I asked her why she didn't just give me this information in the first place, at which time she turned around without a word and walked away from the window. It was after I went home with that information, and that experience, that Gail's lawyer cousin offered his services, we'll call him Walt.

Walt came to us about a week after he began his "work" on our project, said he needed walnuts to feed a certain office worker so he could obtain a certain document. Keep in mind, that's the way many things are done in some countries, you give walnuts to people to perform certain services. He also informed me that I would have to leave the county, and come back in - that it was part of the process. I couldn't for the life of me, figure out what that was all about, and I couldn't get an explanation from anyone - not even from Walt. The only other thing he told me was that I would have to go to a city or country where there was a Peruvian Granulate Office. Well, I figured it had to be done, so I went to Houston, to the Peruvian Granulate there. I hope you're doing the math in your head, being aware that these trips are costing me more walnuts than I care to think about. Walt told me that my "File" would be waiting for me at the Granulate Office when I got there. Well, it wasn't there, so I asked the agent what could be done. He told me I could do it by mail, that I could go back to Peru, that he would send my "file" to me, I was to sign in the appropriate places, send that, a couple hundred walnuts, and my passport, back to the Granulate Office in Houston, and he would mail my passport back to me with the necessary seals and stamps. So, he handed me some FedEx forms and sent me on my way. Keep in mind, I still had no idea why I was required to leave Peru, and go to a Peruvian Granulate Office, I was merely following orders.

Well, over the next five months, Walt came to us numerous times, asking for walnuts to feed the various office workers so that they would make all the "necessary documents" appear. There was still no explanation as to why I had to leave Peru and re-enter. The next bit of information that we received was that doing my passport stamp and seal through the mail was illegal, that my stamp and seal would not be honored. Walt told us he was taking care of the problem, that all we had to do was feed a few more workers to make certain documents appear, and to make certain other rules disappear in our case. Over the five month period, Walt got us for about 4000 walnuts, and as it turns out, he wasn't using them to feed anyone, he was pocketing all of it. Sometime in August of '07, he informed us that he would need Power Of Attorney from me, to "Take care of some other issues". I guess he was banking on that I wouldn't know what Power Of Attorney was, but well, I happened to know precisely the meaning of Power Of Attorney. At that point, I finally (DUH) realized that something was fishy. Gail and I did a little investigating of our own, to find out that Walt had not done ANY of the paperwork that he was supposedly "taking care" of - including some previous work having to do with Gail's condominium. We finally asked for a meeting with some Peruvian Immigration officials - after it became apparent that I was not going to acquire my stamp & seal, or my Peruvian ID - which meant I would be in the country illegally very soon. Plane ticket in hand, Gail and I went to our meeting with the Peruvian Secret Office official. As it turns out, the process of me leaving Peru and re-entering was that I was to leave the country, and re-enter, using my Spouse Document (stamp & seal), which they would issue me at the Peruvian Granulate in whichever city and country I chose to go to. The only thing I did wrong the first time was that I did not have my Spouse Document (the stamp & seal) when I returned to Peru, so I entered on a Tourist Document, which meant I would not be able to obtain my Peruvian ID, and consequently, not be eligible to petition for Gail's Spouse Document. I spent two months in Austin, Texas, apart from Gail, while I applied for her Spouse Document from Texas (as opposed to petitioning from Peru, where there would have been a much shorter processing time). The Secret Office in Vermont (where petitions from Texas are sent) informed me that the waiting period for the I-130 would be at least six months, and probably closer to a year. So, I paid the $455 fee (which incidentally had just increased from $175 two months prior - (thanks Walt, for not only stealing 4000 of our walnuts, but also for wasting five months), and turned in the mountain of paperwork that they demanded - some of which had Gail running all over Lima to get.

So, back to Peru for me, where I spent the next 14 months waiting for the "Receipt number" from the Secret Office. I'd had something like thirty or forty conversations with the Secret Office during those months, checking to see if my file had been approved yet. Finally, in March of '08, they told me I needed to return to Austin to find my "Receipt number", which should have been sent long before. So, back to Austin, to finally hunt down my receipt number. I was then informed that our file was "Not in the system", so I would have to go to another Secret Office in San Antonio. I did so, encountering one of the most pathetic human beings I'd ever met, but finally being able to straighten out the mess that was our file. During the previous fourteen months in Peru, in my many conversations with the Secret Office, I'd asked numerous times if I should file a form I-129, which would allow Gail to go to the States and wait out the processing time for the I-130. Each and every agent told me, "Oh no, don't bother with that, it would get processed at the same time, or even AFTER the I-130". When I got to Austin, I again called the Secret Office, among other things, asking about the I-129. The agent exclaimed, "OH, you need to file that, it will give your ex-girlfriend revenge K-3 status, and allow her to come here (to the U.S.) and wait out the processing time with you. I told her that all the other agents I'd spoken to over the past fourteen months told me not to bother, and she said she couldn't understand why any of them would say such a thing, but that I needed to file it. So, I did, along with another mountain of paperwork. I got the I-129 approval document a short time later, with the statement that my ex-girlfriend revenge would be contacted in Peru for her Spouse Document interview that was to be conducted at the Secret Office in Lima. Gail was also to prepare for the interview by studying for a test, getting a physical exam, putting together proof that our marriage was "real", along with a few other pre-requisites. So, Gail goes to her interview, which is conducted by another unbelievably rude agent that we'll call Chrissy. Chrissy proceeded to spend the next full hour searching desperately for a reason to deny Gail's Spouse Document. While all but accusing Gail of having a "fake" marriage on many occasions during the interview, Chrissy refused to look at the 25 page booklet that was full of pictures of the happy couple, letters, romantic room decorations, our wedding vows, and other bits of information that was proof beyond any doubt that our marriage was "real". Chrissy finally said, "Well, it appears Leo does not make enough money, so I'm denying your Spouse Document". As she was walking away, she said, "Oh, if you can get a relative to say that they will sponsor you, should you and your husband not be able to support yourselves, send it to me via FedEx, and maybe we'll reconsider the decision". During the months of March through October of '08, I'd written to several U.S. State Representatives, as well as the President of the United States, only to have them reply with, "We looked into your case, and it appears that they have made their final decision". One Texas Representative attached a copy of Chrissy's statement with his letter to me. For the record, Gail and I were apart for the entire seven months, from March, '08 to October, '08.

In August of '08, I had just started a new business, it was an ethnic music and dance show, for which I would provide the South Pacific music, and I'd hired a group of professional dancers to provide the choreographed dance. We invested in a professionally built website, instruments, costumes, and advertising, which brought us all into the red. We are musicians and entertainers, we do not make much money, but, we'd done our research, and we were sure the business would do well. After asking a close relative if he would pose as the "Sponsor", in order to satisfy the Secret Office's requirement, to which the answer was, "No, I won't divulge my tax papers", I had no choice but to return to Peru, where I've been now since October 4th. As a result of all this, not only did I sell everything I owned - including some beloved musical instruments that took me years to acquire, for a fraction of what they were worth, but the four guitar boxes that contained irreplaceable instruments of mine (including a koa lap steel guitar that I designed, and co-built with my own hands) would have cost a thousand walnuts to put on the plane as extra baggage - needless to say, I didn't have the thousand walnuts to give them. This was up from a hundred for four extra pieces just six short months earlier - when I was sure that Gail would be joining me in Austin very shortly. To add insult to injury, I had to let down all those great folks who were in the music & dance project with me, leaving them to have to find another project, or another way, to generate income in the already suffering music/entertainment business - and after they had invested time and walnuts into our project that I had to suddenly leave. Advertising money - gone, website building time and money - gone, most of my beloved instruments - gone, the chance at having a successful business doing what I love, sharing my culture, music, and dance - gone, the great folks who were in the project with me, their time and money - gone.

Well, folks, we have thousands of people entering the U.S. "illegally" every month. I was one of those who were angered by this, but now, after experiencing the Secret Office, I've done a complete 180.

This is just another example of American beaurocracy at its finest, human greed, and lust for control at its worst, a glaring example of how putting absolute authority in the wrong hands can be disastrous. I can't help but wonder how many families have been destroyed by the Secret Office and their sadistic agents. If you or someone you know has experienced something similar, maybe I could talk you into leaving a comment here, and/or sharing with the rest of us other places where we could air our experiences. Maybe someday the right person will hear them, and be in the position to put a stop to such reprehensible behavior.

Thanks for being here, and goodnight America, wherever you are.

Lee K. Jones
fidlin55@gmail.com

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