Michael Giesey spent thousands of dollars in immigration fees to try to keep his German-born wife as a legal resident of the United States. For a while, Giesey thought all the money and time spent on forms and interviews would finally pay off. He and his wife and their 7-year-old ******** were going to be able to stay in Florida and help take care of his *******, a Fort Lauderdale firefighter who was injured on the job.
But an e-mail arrived on July 30 from Citizen and Immigration Services. In it, Marina, Giesey's wife of more than 10 years, was asked to leave the country within 30 days. Giesey, who is 50, was serving in the Air ***** while stationed in Germany when he met Marina. He doesn't know what went wrong.
"I feel betrayed by my own country," he said in an interview with The Lookout.
Making mistakes early in the immigration process can doom a person's chances for a green card. In the Gieseys' case, the mistakes happened during the rush to get home to care for a relative, and were compounded by a belief that the government would make it relatively easy for an American citizen to live in the United States with his wife.
