GSL Hiring Casters - Page 20

On January 12 2011 03:47 TotalBiscuit wrote:


I don't think it really suits a blog honestly. I'm not even sure if I should post about it at all but what the hell, I'll give you the tl;dr version (it should concern you that this is the tl;dr version, ton more bullshit occurred)

I met my wife at Blizzcon in 2005, as nerds do. We kept in touch, it got serious after a couple more visits and I decided to take a chance to move to the States in 2007, so I packed up all my shit, put the rest in storage and went to go live with her. I was at the time of my life where I felt like taking risks and I was in a position to take them.

It worked out, we got married in the UK. We didn't have much money at the time, but we had enough to survive. I wasn't able to work over there since I was still on the visa-waiver program, but I could take care of the kid (not mine, but might as well be, guy has never had an actual father, another long, fairly horrendous story), work on my amateur broadcasting, keep my website going to bring in ad revenue. However, we were living pretty much paycheque to paycheque and affording the legal fees to have a lawyer get my spousal visa sorted out was outside of our reach. We consulted a paralegal, got the advice we thought we needed and submitted the applications. Heard nothing back for a while. Bear in mind at this point I was on visa-waivers so I was flying back and forth from the US every 3 months. Never broke the terms of the visa-waiver program, not once. It would turn out later that we had been given bad advice and the application (and more disturbingly, the fee) had just disappeared and been rejected out of hand because it did not fulfil the specific double-speak requirements of US law. You might rightly ask "how could you afford flights and not be able to hire a lawyer?". Answer is necessity. We had to because otherwise nobody would be there to look after Orion (the kid) while my wife worked. There was no option there.

Fast-forward to October 2008 (I think). I'm concerned at this point, heard nothing back on my visa application, no status available, even after repeated calls I just end up getting fobbed off. I call the USCIS to check if I'm going to be ok going back again on a visa-waiver. They say yes, as long as you're not breaking the terms, which I wasn't. Blizzard wanted me at Blizzcon 2008. They paid my flights out to LA, had hotel sorted out and everything, so I flew direct into LAX. Plan was to meet up with my wife at Blizzcon. Had all my paperwork to prove what I was doing, my hotel booking, itinerary, even my shuttle booking from LAX. I got stopped at the homeland security checkpoint, explained exactly what I was doing etc. They took me over for further questioning. Spent about 2 hours being questioned by Homeland Security. Full patdown and everything, this was before the whole TSA thing got big. They repeatedly questioned me about the same things, I gave them the same answers. Even provided proof of my marriage to a US citizen etc. They asked me why I had entered the US through Mexico at what point and what business I had there. I'd never entered the US through Mexico, I showed them my passport, no stamp from Mexico, nothing of the sort, but they didn't seem convinced.

Eventually I was taken to their boss who declared I would not be allowed into the country and that my visa-waiver was revoked. The British Consulate fought with the guy on my behalf but he wouldn't budge and there is no appeal allowed for visa-waiver users, none at all. Even Blizzard called to verify my story, the guy didn't care. Far as he was concerned, he was judge, jury and executioner, and he's right, he is, that's how US immigration law works. They took me to a detention centre in downtown LA, stuck me in a cell with some guys who didn't speak any English (thankfully entirely reasonable people who kept themselves to themselves, no trouble) and put me on the next flight back home, all the while with armed escort and cuffs.

Since then I've been trying to raise the funds to get back to the US. My wife lost her job in the recession and could not sponsor my application, there is a certain level of income your spouse must have and she didn't qualify, plus they wouldn't count my income. I supported my wife and kid from the UK up until summer 2010 when I lost my job due to cutbacks at the company, but Husky saved my ass and got me a Youtube partnership (you want to know why I'll defend that guy to the hilt? Now you know, he is the reason my family isn't out on the street right now). Now I'm finally able to afford the lawyer, plus my wife managed to get herself another job. The process has started again, this time with a lawyer riding the ass of the byzantine immigration system to make sure they get their stuff sorted out. Assuming all goes well, I should be back in the States by summer this year. I've seen my wife twice in the last 2 years, when we've been able to afford flights. Haven't seen my kid (I say my kid, step-Dad, but still, you get the idea) since 2008.

Well, that was a bit more soul-baring than I meant it to be, but I can't be bothered to retype it now. There's your answer.

EDIT : Oh yeah and I've already spoke with Martijn. No offence was taken. It's just not been a good day today.