Those of you who have a foreign bride, or who may have one in the future, should read this. My Colombian wife travelled to Colombia this month. Her return flight was scheduled for last Sunday morning. The Delta employees in Bogota would not let her board the plane because they thought her "visa" had expired.
She is a conditional permanent resident of the US. She can freely leave and return to the US. The INS placed a stamp in her passport which is valid for one year. She should received a "Green Card" within 6 months, but 8 months have now passed and no card. The INS is way behind on this. The stamp in her passport expires "10-5-01". The "rocket scientists" working at Delta said that means May 10, 2001. Of course, we know that the US format or writing dates is to put the month first.
She called me Sunday morning distraught because they wouldn't let her board. They told her she needed to go to the US Embassy to resolve the problem. I didn't know what to do. I was thinking I might have to fly to Colombia to get her. I called Delta in the US and they said I needed to call the Colombian consulate in Washington, D.C. More worthless advice. The bad part is that the people at Delta think they know what they are talking about.
So I thought for a few minutes. I called Delta again. I asked for the telephone number of their office in Bogota. After waiting on hold for 10 minutes I talked to a young man who told me the same thing they told my wife. At this point it is very important to be patient and respectful with these morons. You are at their mercy. He put his supervisor on the phone. I asked if she would let me explain my wife's immigration status. She listened. I explained. To my shock she said "We will book your wife on a flight tomorrow". I thanked her.
Last night my wife arrived. It was wonderful. She is now much more affectionate with me. I guess I was her knight in shining armor. She said they wouldn't listen to her because she was a young, Colombian woman, but that they listened to me because I'm a gringo.
The moral of the story: I don't know what the moral is. If your foreign bride wants to go home it would be better to wait for her green card. If she won't wait, maybe you could be there the last few days when she has her return flight. It would also be a good idea to have the INS agent spell out "October" instead of writing "10".
Steve Gaines
