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发信人: aceg (aceg), 信区: AdvancedEdu
标  题: [范文] [VisaInfo] A letter to senator (转载)
发信站: BBS 水木清华站 (Sun Oct 12 14:17:06 1997)

【以下文字转载自 New_board 讨论区】
【原文由 aceg 所发表】
From YG0001@ACAD.DRAKE.EDU

Below is his article describing his experiences and ideas
about the f-2 visa.  I found that he has really good points
and his articles are worth reading.

____________________

After my wife's fourth denial, I wrote to the two U.S.
senators of my state. Both of them replied and called
the consulate for me. Unfortunately, those officials
are perverse and gave my wife a fifth denial. But she
was allowed to enter the consulate even though her passport
carries the mark of "last chance"

I think we should write to those senators.  They are the
legislators and they write the law. I think if enough
senators pay attention to our situation, then there will
be some change.  I attached my letter for your reference.
The address of a senator is easy to find. Ask your American
classmates who the senators of your state are, then go to
internet, use yahoo search and you can get it.  Usually you
should write to both the senator's Washington address and
his state addresses. Remember, the most powerful people in
the U.S. are senators and representatives.  Although they
cannot order the officials give our spouses visas, they can
cause enough stir to make it a big deal.

        I am a Chinese student pursuing a xxx degree at xxxx
University in xxx.  I write to complain about the arbitrariness
and bad attitudes of visa officials, and random and inhumane
aspects of the visa approval process in the American Embassy's
Beijing Consulate.

        This August, my wife applied for a F-2 visa in order
to reunite with me in the U.S.    The visa officials coldly
and repeatedly rejected her applications, claiming we had
insufficient funds to cover our living expenses; and after my
wife's fourth attempt, they told her that she was no longer
allowed to apply, thus totally eliminating our chance of
seeing each other in the U.S.

        I came to the U.S. in August, 1996 to study xxx at xxx.
I was offered a tuition scholarship, which was renewed for my
second year.  My financial sponsor, a well-established scientist
in California with an annual income of 120,000, signed for me a
document of sponsorship, in which he promised to provide me with
an annual amount of 12,000 to cover my living expenses incurred
during my study.  The official figure of the yearly living expense
in xxx bulletin was around 9,000.

        Because of my excellent first-year performance, I was
offered a summer job from xxx.  I earned xxx.  Before the employment,
I maintained a checking account at the xxx Bank with a monthly balance
of over xxx.  Pooling all these sources together, I have a personal
income of over xxx, which is further backed up by xxxx from my
financial sponsor.   The total amount is thus far above the official
figures of xxx for the student and xxxx for the student's spouse.

        My wife is employed by the largest Chinese agribusiness
corporation.  She has a successful career and a personal saving
of xxxx dollars.

        Thus, we have more than enough money to cover the living
expenses for our next academic year.  However, the visa officials
refused to even look carefully at our financial documents.  Because
I maintained both a savings and a checking accounts, and invested
in a couple of mutual funds, I produced more than one financial
document.  The documents seemed to have presented a challenging
mathematical problem to the officials.  In their stereotypes, only
the figures appearing on I-20 forms, i.e., the grants or scholarships,
can be counted and calculated.  In our case, they had reached their
conclusions even before looking at our bank statements, payroll
statements, and other documents.  The most absurd is that they claimed
that my financial sponsor earned too much to be trustworthy.  (My
financial sponsor is a famous scientist.  There is no reason to
question his income.)  While I used the same document and got the
approval on the first application, the officials picked bones with!
my wife and claimed the document

        For many Chinese students and their spouses, the visa
application process is humiliating and excruciating.  Visa officials
are often impatient, cold, and intimidating. They often regard an
applicant's voluntary explanation of his case as a recalcitrant
behavior.  They also have an obvious contempt of the Chinese
applicants.  The officials' behaviors are often absurd, inexplicable
and arbitrary.  While an applicant can be rejected summarily one day,
he can be granted a visa without any serious examination on the next
day, even if nothing has changed.  The unfair treatment seems to be
very much based on weather, traffic, stock market or the officials'
mood.

        While most students and their spouses are not rich or famous,
they should not be treated like beggars.  Most Chinese applying to come
to the U.S. are talented and well-educated people.  Wherever they stay,
they can make business grow and wealth accumulate.  They come to the
U.S. because they like a system in which they can have dreams and
freedom and in which they can pursue happiness.  However, for many
of them, the fist encounter with the U.S. is far less than pleasant.
The unfair treatment usually lets them see the less than bright side
of the U.S. system.

        By refusing to let students' spouses to unite with their wives
or husbands, the officials have projected a not-so-admirable image
that the much criticized Chinese government seldom dares to make.  For
Chinese people, the family is the nucleus of the society, the haven
for the family members who are emotionally attached to each other;
thus, family life is highly valued.  Unlike their American counterparts
who managed to keep the divorce rate at 50%, Chinese couples tend to
keep long-term and stable families.  A Chinese wife or husband is
dissimilar to her or his counterpart in the American culture, where
a spouse is often a person to form a partnership to have greater
spending power, one to fight with in a divorce proceeding, and one
to be replaced if a better sex partner is found; she or he in a Chinese
context is an emotional support, the strongest help in achieving one's
career success, and a resource for the other spouse to heal wounds
sustained from the struggle to climb the next rung of the social lad

        When the visa officials officially and conveniently refused to
carefully look at our documents, and rudely rejected my wife's visa
applications, their nonsensical behavior not only hurt our feelings,
but also seriously encroached upon the much-emphasized Chinese value,
which the Chinese government, now under fierce attacks by the U.S.
government for human rights violations, does not violate so easily.

        During my stay in the U.S., I have received kind treatment and
won due respect from my peers, professors, and summer-time employers.
My experiences have helped me see the bright side of the American
system.  However, my wife's unhappy encounters with visa officials
now have made my stay less than enjoyable.  Since my wife's first
being rejected, I've been experiencing emotional distress and losing
sleep.  I begin missing deadlines and cannot concentrate on my study.
My wife and I have been separate for almost thirteen months.  The visa
officials' refusals and their penalty have terminated our hope of
seeing each other and put us in the abyss of desperation.

        I understand that these officials are shielded from liability
for whatever they did in their official capacity.  However, I don't
think  they can abuse their power and make unreasonable decisions
to hurt people.  Until now, we still don't know what remedies we can
make because the officials didn't have patience to explain to my wife
why she was rejected or what other types of documents could help her
obtain a visa.  On her second try, the closest one she had, one official
asked to see my income tax return.  I wrote to explain that I was not
able to file a tax return until next April for this year's income, and
produced a letter from my employer stating my total income from my
summer employment.  These documents again fell out of the officials'
stereotypes and led to their total denial.

        Therefore, I have to write this letter to seek your help.
Although I am not a voter and have no say in America's political
issues, I am a full-faith believer of the U.S. Constitution and
American democracy.   I believe that the American government values
the human rights properly.  I respectfully request that we be given
a fair treatment and that the visa officials respect our rights to
have family life and review our case with greater care.

You can send electronic mail to:

               The President
            The Vice President
              The First Lady

           The mailing address is:

           1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
          Washington, D.C. 20500

            Phone: (202) 456-1414
             Fax: (202) 456-2883

Please sign the White House electronic guest book.

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