By Christopher Donker…
I am a UK citizen from Scotland who moved to the United States to meet my boyfriend Ryan, who I met online.
After meeting, we got along extremely well and decided to think about our future together. We got married in Virginia in October 2016 and decided that it would be best for me to apply for permanent residence in the US as opposed to Ryan seeking residence in Scotland, given his past convictions.
I have applied for permanent residence in the US and am currently going through the immigration process. To do this, he needs to sponsor me in order for me to get my green card, however due to his criminal background, he is ineligible to sponsor me and my case with USCIS will ultimately be denied because of this.
The issue that US immigration (USCIS) has with his criminal record, is the fact that he has a sex offense from 2008. The Adam Walsh Act is preventing him from sponsoring my green card. This makes our future together uncertain as we are constantly fighting the government to stay together. The issue with the our case is that USCIS thinks Ryan is a threat to me, given his criminal record. In order to successfully get my green card, we need to prove to USCIS “beyond reasonable doubt” that he poses no risk. This standard is near impossible to meet as you cannot prove a negative. The next best thing we can do is prove ‘within a certain degree of medical certainty’, that he will not reoffend or pose a risk.
The purpose of this law is to prevent sex offenders from abusing their immigrant partners children after they immigrate to the US. However I feel that it should not apply in our situation as we are both fully grown, gay men with no intentions of having children in future.
We do have a lawyer who handles legal matters and advises us, and we have met with several psychologists and medical professionals for evaluations to get a clear picture of his mental state. We are also seeing a marriage counselor over the long term to evaluate the validity and health of our marriage.
The purpose of these evaluations is to submit them to USCIS to support our stance that Ryan poses no threat to me and has not physically, mentally, or sexually abused me. We have been living together since 2016 and are still going strong. It has been almost 3 years since we started this process and I have never had any concerns regarding my safety, yet USCIS are still adamant that he is a threat. What I find it difficult to comprehend is the fact that my experiences since being with Ryan are not taken into account. If I were a US citizen, we would not have to fight this fight. Yet this country continues to punish him 8 years after his offense. When will this punishment end? He has already carried out his prison sentence and sex offender therapy successfully and has bettered himself since then. He’s a hard working man who works 60+ hours each week between two jobs – his dedication to our marriage is evident.
I cannot currently work as USCIS have revoked my work permit after denying our case. We are in the process of refiling the case with more supporting evidence than the first time we filed, and in a few months I should have my work permit again. Between legal, medical and filing fees, finances are tight. This whole immigration situation we’re going through is unconstitutional and unnecessary in my opinion.
We aren’t asking for much, we just want to live our lives together, plan for the future and be happy, but the government insists on making to insanely difficult.
Maybe there is money to be made fron the registry. There is already money to that’s made from the court/crimimal justice system as it is. The registry does give a false sense of security to the public as makes no difference in those who will commit crimes and those who won’t. Many will spend years registering and not do amything. Some people could get a fewer amount of years on the registry and do something again.
Such a registry doesn’t exist for arsonists and murderers. There is only one specific crime most Americans are focused on. So much so that a woman was recently arrested simply for being topless in front of her step-children inside her home. She will have to register.
it is a scam and has nothing to do with “security “. I was convicted in 1997 when I was 21 of concensual sex with a minor I met in a card at the door bar.
Well over ten years Later I married my wife whom is AN ATTORNEY and a sitting trial JUDGE.. She never had issues traveling to America UNTIL we got married. After our marriage she basically was molested by TSA in Detroit international airport, everything we owned stolen, forced to be deported even though she had done nothing wrong had never over stayed and was using her personal travel Visa. All this because she went from simply living with me to living with me as a married wife. Later after over 22000 in legal fees, doctors and psychologists exams, polygraphs, police reports and affidavits ALL saying I was at most a low risk offender and no threat to my wife we were denied and told it is not subject to review because “even though I pose no threat now I cant prove beyond a shadow of a doubt I may never prove a threat ” MY WIFE IS A JUDGE for crying out loud..Weve been forced to live over seas and now the scum bags are trying to make that impossible with passport blacklisting. It is just abuse.no other excuse no other reason.the largest terrorists organization on earth is the American government..if they were as concerned about stopping real criminals as they are destroying citizens lives 9/11 would have never happened.
I am just like you, I was charged 25 years ago, i never even went to prison or jail, but i am labeled. The registry was not even in effect until 6 years after I was off my 4 year probation. Now today it’s worse for me than the day I Fuckn came out of that courtroom.
I have useful information for you. I am also a registered citizen have been through the same process
do tell, if it is Information that can help all or any of us.
Any information would be greatly appreciated as my wife and I are in the same situation.
How ridiculous can The United States get? Can it get any worse? This is beyond punishment and in my opinion creates mental, physical, emotional and financial hardship on any labeled Offender!! I myself have been a registrant in Virginia since 2005 and it has been the worse 16 years of my 48 year old life. My life is destroyed I’m emotionally and physically exhausted!! I can’t imagine other than profitable gain for the government what in the hell any registery saves or protects anyone, it does however give a false sense of security to the public. Keep fighting go to Safer Virginia. Org for help/ nothing hands on tho dig for yourself to help yourself and others 2ho suffer from the Unconstitutional rules of the registry.