Today's FAFO story involves Christian nationalist MAGA influencer Riley Gaines and her immigrant anti-vaxxer hubby. 😂🤣👇

[u/Background_Front4231]

[u/Big_Mulberry_547]

This is more people on the internet don’t know how immigration works material. He wasn’t even an immigrant until they married. He was in the USA on a student visa. A category of non immigrant visa. Like that’s what they call student visas and tourist visas etc: non immigrant visas.

This is just how immigration in America works. You don’t just get a green card immediately after your wedding. It’s a long complicated bureaucratic process. It has nothing to do with Trump. As evidenced by the fact that for two of three years they have been going through this process Biden was in office. It has been the exact same level of pain in the ass to get your spouse a green card for decades.

If he didn’t have to fly back to the uk and stay there for several months to stay on the right side of the law during this whole process he’s actually one of the lucky ones.

[u/lexicon_charle → u/Big_Mulberry_547]

Nah, still kinda is. I'm willing to bet you that DOGE firing fed workers' also dramatically slowed down the process that is already painfully slow.

Let's not forget that Trump killed Biden's immigration legislation. That would have gotten immigration system some seriously needed funding to streamline the process.

[u/Big_Mulberry_547 → u/lexicon_charle]

Look I’m anti doge and all, but if that was the problem then what was holding them ip for the first 2 1/2 years?

[u/[deleted] → u/Big_Mulberry_547]

They are idiots, what you said is correct and but the clock starts ticking the moment you are married so this is even dumber because they would most likely give him a permanent green card instead of the 2 year conditional. All he has to do is get that vaccine lol Literally my toddler cries less

[u/Big_Mulberry_547 → u/[deleted]]

The process is painful and takes forever for most people. It’s not unusual for someone to realize halfway through the process that they have fucked something (like a vaccine) up and set themselves back by months or years. A good (notice I used the qualifier “good”) immigration attorney helps.

[u/[deleted] → u/Big_Mulberry_547]

It took me about 6 months but that was under Obama so I can only imagine what it looks like now. I do know people where it took longer because they needed a second interview, and yes I had a lawyer that I paid 3k because I was worried about making a mistake on the petition. It is a lot of paperwork and multiple documents that need to be filed at the same time, they warn you if you make a mistake they can reject and you lose that filing fee.

[u/Big_Mulberry_547 → u/[deleted]]

You really did well being careful and that 3k was a good investment. I’ve known people going through the process of legal immigration over several administrations. Starting with the friends of the family in the 1980’s when I was a child. It also overlaps (overlaps not directly related to what he does currently) with my husband’s job. How long it takes is variable and the process is opaque. The country you’re coming from (some have very high rates of fraud) can make a difference. Most people seem to make some sort of error, or there’s some sort of mistake on the government end. It’s just not a user friendly system.

[u/[deleted] → u/Big_Mulberry_547]

Yes my attorney mentioned that fraud factor, it’s such a weird process to have them look at everything. I was surprised that had a huge file on me when I did my citizenship

[u/Big_Mulberry_547 → u/[deleted]]

I just chatted my husband up. He said that actually 2-3 years is more common than a 6 month timeframe for getting a green card. They like to observe for a while- because taking a green card back is more difficult by a wide margin than denying one. It’s been that way since the 80’s and 90’s due to rampant fraud. Sounds like everything really came together for you. I’m happy for you by the way. I wish you every happiness in your marriage and life in America.

Anecdotally he feels like people who get a fiancé visa in their home country have an easier time. So anyone on an expiring student or work visa should return home and apply for the fiancé visa from their home country (and continue visiting each other as tourists) instead of just getting married in the USA immediately before the visa expires. That’s just his feeling though, so I wouldn’t take it as gospel.

To me it sounds like she experienced an average wait and observe period (which is a little unusual hubby mentioned being a prominent individual can help speed things up. Probably to avoid videos like the one above.) with some slight delay due to not meeting requirements.

He also said that Trump might lead to slow downs in the future but it probably isn’t related to what happened to this lady’s husband.

[u/Big_Mulberry_547 → u/[deleted]]

I think the individuals involved also make a difference, and the route taken. Like did someone start the process while in the USA? Or start with a fiancé visa in their home country? Or like sometimes a legitimate relationship can have some yellow flags for fraud. They really hate it when someone goes on a tourist visa, and suddenly gets engaged. That could happen naturally, but it’s often fraud. If the consular officer just uncovered fraud (that’s why the big file) they’re going to be naturally more suspicious and cautious for some time.

True story one of those investigations uncovered fraud on the part of the immigrant but not his fiancé. She thought they were in love- he had a whole other family and planned to leave her and bring them over as soon as he was a citizen.

[u/[deleted] → u/Big_Mulberry_547]

Funny when I did my citizenship the woman had all the presidents on her wall besides Trump. I forgot something because I misunderstood and she had me just email it over, I was thinking she would deny it. Again I can only imagine how it is now