U.S. visa

I'd like to expand on a topic written by A. Djuana of Jakarta (The Jakarta Post, July 20, 1994) regarding the United States policy on approving visas to America. The letter expressed confusion and anger at the system employed by the U.S. to admit immigrants and visitors. I have to agree the policy is very confusing and can be a bit unfair.

I'm an American citizen and my wife is Indonesian. We are in the process of applying for an immigrant visa that has routinely run into problems. What complicated matters worse is that my wife and I were separated while I worked in America. This not only put an emotional strain on our relationship but it made gathering information for our application very time consuming.

I recently quit my job in America to move back to Indonesia with my wife, vowing not to leave her behind. But I'm unable to earn money in Indonesia and on top of that I'm spending all of my savings just to support us. So while awaiting U.S. government approval here, the financial hole in America keeps getting deeper. I'm not saying the U.S. is ignoring my situation, but they sure are not doing anything to speed it up.

It's funny how the same government that promises to create jobs can also be directly responsible for eliminating them. I feel sorry for Indonesian nationals applying for U.S. visas without a sponsor. Seeing how the U.S. treats it's own, I wish you good luck!

CRAIG SWANSON

Banyuwangi, East Java