Editor's note: This is the third in a series of occasional stories about a Ventura County couple going through the immigration process.
Cross-armed with a face red from crying, Estela, 23, sat silently Wednesday as she listened to her husband and the leader of the Oxnard organization helping her apply for legal residency talk about what to do next.
After four months of waiting, Estela found out U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services denied her application requesting the federal government temporarily waive punishment for her having lived in the country since she illegally crossed the border at age 11.
While the U.S. State Department is still considering Estela's request to become a legal resident because her husband, Angel, is a citizen, she still needs an unlawful-presence waiver from Immigration Services.
Without it, Estela could face a 10-year ban on immigrating to the United States when she leaves the country to go to her native Mexico for her visa interview at a U.S. Consulate. The couple's middle names are being used to protect their identities.
WORK IN PROGRESS
The couple have been paying La Hermandad Mexicana, a California-based immigrants' rights nonprofit in Oxnard, since they started working to adjust Estela's legal status one year ago.
Alicia Flores, the nonprofit's executive director, said it has submitted nearly 60 similar waivers since the Department of Homeland Security released the form in March.
This is the only waiver application the nonprofit has seen denied, Flores said.
One of the nonprofit's employees even called Estela with "good news" when the notification letter from Immigration Services arrived, Angel said. The actual decision was far from what Estela initially was told.
"Your case has not been denied and you're not in jeopardy of deportation," Flores told Estela. "The only thing that was denied is the waiver. You need a waiver in order to get your green card. If not, you're never going to get it."
The couple spent three months preparing the waiver application. They gathered legal documents, medical records, federal income tax returns, Estela's employment information as a local medical office assistant and Angel's enrollment information at Moorpark College. The pair included wedding photographs, wrote personal statements, and asked friends and family members to write letters in support of their relationship.
Now they have to start over.
APPLICATION DENIED
The couple cannot appeal the Immigration Services decision to deny the waiver, but they can reapply — along with the $585 processing fee and another wait of up to four months from the time the second application is received.
The key to having the waiver approved is proving that Angel, 22, would face "extreme hardship" if Estela were not allowed to live with him in the United States and the couple relocated to Mexico.
But there is no clear definition of "extreme hardship" and the application reviewer is tasked with assessing each case on an individual basis.
"Mere loss of current employment, the inability to maintain one's present standard of living or to pursue a chosen profession, separation of a family member or cultural readjustment do not constitute extreme hardship," according to the decision from Immigration Services.
Angel and Estela's waiver application focused on Angel's health problems caused by the distress of his wife's unstable immigration status and a possible loss of educational or employment opportunities Angel would face if he had to abandon his enrollment in a Moorpark College program to become a radiologic technician.
Immigration Services did not find adequate evidence of "extreme hardship" from their case and highlighted the fact that Angel's proof of medical problems — anxiety and depression — was submitted in the form of a one-time assessment by a mental-health professional.
"The evidence of the record does not establish that the emotional effects of separation from (Estela) would be more serious that the type of hardship normally suffered when one is faced with the prospect of separation from one's spouse," the decision read.
Flores was concerned, however, that she did not receive a request for additional evidence before Immigration Services made the decision to completely deny the waiver. In every other case she has managed, the applicant was given time to submit more proof of "extreme hardship."
And Immigration Services spokeswoman Claire Nicholson said in an email that requests for additional evidence in all immigration cases are quite common.
Flores said the major difference between Estela and Angel's case and the others that have been approved is their lack of children. Also, the couple were previously saving money by living with Angel's mother in Port Hueneme but since have moved to their own apartment in Moorpark.
Now, Flores said, the new waiver would have "more proof than before" because there is evidence of the couple's monthly bills.
"It's just going to take more time," Flores told Estela. "They're just holding you back on making you wait a little bit longer."
But Estela's confidence is still shaken.
"If we do this and we still get denied," Estela said, "what's going to happen?"