[Yak] Immigration law question from the Galfromdownunder

[Peter Saint James]

On 2  August2008, at 9:55 AM, Galfromdownunder wrote:

> Can I wing it? An officer at the 800 USCIS number said, I will most  
> certainly not be allowed to get off the plane when I fly back Wed  
> Aug 6. Can it be that bad? Worse thing is, my h1b visa expires Aug  
> 14, and I'm supposed to be in NYC Sep 8 where 5 tikits are going to  
> be on the catwalk as part of fashion week!


	You would not be wise to wing it.  Probably the only way you would  
get by is if everyone misses the misspelling.  It could happen, but  
it's not something you'd want to rely on.  At the moment, USCIS  
people tend to take less than wise actions in then name of national  
security.  It is that bad.

	Your problem here is the short amount of time.  The only way you're  
going to get anything done in this short amount of time is for some  
individual to intervene for you.  This must be someone with power  
enough to make changes solely on the basis of their authority.  The  
system is not going to correct this mistake in such a small amount of  
time through regular procedures.  You could try calling USCIS and see  
if you can get through to the office of a high-ranking official, but  
this is chancy.    When you try this, keep asking, "Who can deal with  
this small problem in such a short amount of time?  Someone must be  
able to do it.  Who is that person?  Can you connect me to them?"

	You should also get the people you're working for to contact their  
Representative or Senator and ask for help.  Congress has just gone  
out of session, but staff people should be working.

	If you have a choice of people to assist you, choose the one with  
the Sen or Rep with the greatest seniority or most powerful  
position.  Bike Friday is in Oregon.  Oregon Senator Rod Wyden would  
not be a bad choice.  (He has seniority and a reputation for causing  
trouble.  Agency people don't want him causing them trouble.)  If you  
can have more than one person contact more than one Senator, all the  
better.  If you can find someone who has a Sen or Rep on the  
committee that oversees this agency or its funding, that greatly  
increases your chances of getting what you need.

	For you to get this fixed, you have to get someone with power to  
care or at least to make the agency believe someone with power cares.

	Good luck.

									Peter