U.S. visa

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