Writing the president

In My Humble Opinion
1

Hi everyone,
quite honestly, I don’t know wh-ere to post this, but I figured I’d get chewed-out if I put this in th GQ forum. Bear with me, because to ask my question I need to fill in only a couple details. Basically, I married into a Polish family that is actually living in Poland (except my wife of course) they really fit like a family too, I think I care about them more than my own in fact, lol. The problem is whenever it comes to visitation, it is my wife and I that must go th-ere, why? Because even though Poland has been a member of the EU for some time now, they are still required to file for travel visas to come here, the consulate is close to the other side of the country and there is always the possibility that even if they pay their form and application fees and go to this place, that they can be refused and have to re-apply again to wait for another invitation to be seen. I’ve been to this place and it’s … well, it’s just pathetic and sad that this is how it is. I want to see my family and show them where I live for once.

I’ve been contemplating writing the president for quite some time, with President “hope” Obama in power now the idea is sounding slightly less ridiculous, my question is: Am I writing to the right person for such an issue? Who can gain the most traction on this so that some progress can be made? (progress being proportionate to concern+ passion+saavy)If I end-up writing the president, how can I even be sure his eyes will ev-er meet the page I have written on? I’m sure there are “filters” in place that determine whether what I have written is even important enough to bother the “leader of the free world” with.

So I guess I need some perspective on the whole thing folks, I’d like to take some action here, but I don’t want to waste my time if this is all it looks like to the recipients.

2

Just so we’re clear, you want a US government official to change the way the Polish government does things? Is that what you’re hoping to accomplish?

3

I think you would have better luck writing or calling your Congressman or Senator. This is part of their job function, to help out consituents. The other thing you could do is contact the Polish consulate, since this seems to be a problem on Poland’s end, not ours.

4

Try writing your Congressman first. He/she’s got a staff (well, it’s probably one person’s part time job) whose entire job is to deal with requests from constituents. Lay out your problem. There may be nothing he/she can do, but if nothing else it will get read, and you will get a reply, that’s a lot more than a “Thanks for writing, your issues are very important to me” form letter you’d get back from the President (yes, even Obama).

If you don’t know who your Congressman is, try here.

And rereading your post - it sounds like your Polish relatives have to travel a great distance to a US Consulate in Poland, and apply in person for visas to travel to the US - is this correct? You want to see if the process can be streamlined, so they can communicate with the US Consulate via mail?

5

No, that’s not right, travel visas are enforced by the united states through our consulate over there to allow or disallow an individual or group to enter the US based on whatever criteria they so stipulate.

6

I think they’re going to the American consulate for a visa to travel here, not the Polish Consulate. Why would there be a Polish consulate in Poland?

Is there a reason you think they might be denied a travel visa into the US? And can’t they apply for the visa by mail? I honestly don’t htink you’re going to get anywhere writing to the President. This is probably a Homeland Security thing.

Good luck.

StG

7

Isn’t the OP referring to the US consulate in Poland, since it’s his relatives in Poland who are applying for visas to visit the US? Not a matter for the Polish government at all.

If that’s what the OP is asking about, then I agree with Ivylass that contacting his Congress rep and Senator would be useful, since one of their functions is to help their constituents in dealing with the federal bureaucracy.

8

That’s exactly what I’m trying to determine. The OP wasn’t the clearest thing I’ve read all day. If this is indeed the case, I second the above suggestions to contact a congressman or senator. They’re in the getting-stuff-done business. The president (any president) is in the looking-good-and-giving-the-thumbs-up business.

And why is this in the Cafe again?

9

There you go Kneadtoknow, any more questions?

10

I don’t think it can do any harm to contact your member of Congress, but I suspect that it won’t do much good either, unless the family in Poland have already applied for visas and struck some road block that intervention can fix.

First, I doubt if there’s any way of getting round the need to go to the nearest consulate for a visa. I’m saying this as having twice needed to get a visa to enter the US, and both times I had to travel 160 km to the nearest consulate to do it in person.

Second, there would be a reason why Poland is not on the list of visa-waiver countries. It would be that Poland is one of those countries where a lot of people want to migrate to the US, legally or illegally, so the immigration people want to check up on all Polish visitors to make sure they are unlikely to want to stay in the US after entering on a tourist visa.

Yes, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services is a pain in the butt just as its predecessor, the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service, was. If your family is going to vist the US, they will just have to go through the bureaucracy like everyone else.

11

To make the joke work?

12

I’m not quite clear what the OP is asking, but it is probably one of three issues:

1.) My Polish relatives shouldn’t have to apply for a visa to visit me.
2.) My Polish relatives are too discouraged to apply for a visa.
3.) My Polish relatives were turned down when they applied for a visa.

On the first, there has been talk in DC of adding Poland to the list of visa waiver countries. The main problem is that in order to be added to the visa waiver program (so people of that country don’t have to apply for visas in advance, they just get on the plane and come over), one of the main criteria is that the rejection rate for US visas must be lower than 10%. Poland is well north of that, somewhere around 25% as of last year. Basically, Poland isn’t going to be added to the program until the level of visa rejections goes down substantially. This is a matter of law. If you want to complain about this, you could write to either your congressman or the president, as it is possible that a new immigration bill could be debated next year.

On the second, there’s nothing that the US Government can do. If they don’t want to apply for a visa, then President Obama isn’t going to write them a letter encouraging them to visit the US.

On the third, you could write to your congressman, relaying what information you have, and making whatever case you have that their application was unfairly rejected. Appeals to pity (e.g., why won’t you let my family visit me?) will go nowhere, as US law dictates several conditions that people have to meet before they can receive a visa.

For example, they have to have sufficient ties to their home that they can be counted on to return. If they don’t own a house, have few relatives in Poland, not much money in the bank, and work temporary, menial labor jobs, there isn’t really much of a tie for them to be trusted to go back to Poland, and US law would prohibit the consulate from issuing a visa to them.

However, if the consulate made a mistake in rejecting their application, writing to your congressman, who will surely contact Homeland Security and the State Department, could help expose the error and get a new review of their application.

Good luck.

13

No more questions, but some follow-up points:

FWIW, your first quoted bit there was (a) not in the OP, and (b) gave no indication at all of being directed at me.

Also, stating that you didn’t think something belonged in GQ doesn’t explain why it’s in the Cafe, though. I see that’s now a moot point, so there’s not really any point in getting further into it, though.

14

The visa requirements come into play for a number of reasons, but high on the list is the huge number of Polish citizens who are in the US, remaining longer (way longer) than their visa, and working (although they’re not supposed to be.) The US government isn’t thrilled with large numbers of non-citizens taking up jobs that supposedly citizens could handle. To say nothing of illegal workers often not paying social security, nor paying taxes on cash income transactions.

15

here’s something to check out, but I have no idea if it will help:
see what you can do on the American side, to get the Polish visa approved.

(this info is based on a personal anecdote from 2 decades ago–but don’t start laughing yet. It worked then, and may work now: )

Get an “Affidavit” issued by the US goverment in which you certify that you will be responsible for kicking your relatives out of the USA and back home to Poland where they belong.

I know a case where a 20 year old student (who had no job, no money) was refused a visa to visit his relatives in America. So the relatives went to the INS office in New York and signed an affidavit that they would personally take responsiblity for that person.

Sort of like signing a bail bond for somebody in jail, where you guarrantee that the person will show up in court on a specific date, or pay big $$ in penalties. They signed a guarrantee that the person would show up at the airport and leave the USA on a certain date.

They sent the affidavit to the US consulate overseas, which then approved the visa.

16

I suspect the chances of the president ever seeing such a letter are less than your chances of winning the Megalottery.

17

Congressfolks and the president get lots and lots of mail. Here are some ways to make it more likely that your letter will actually be seen by the prez, your senator, or your congressperson.

If your congressfool has a local office, send it there instead of his D.C. address.

Send it in your own handwriting. It makes it stand out from the hundreds of mass mailings from pressure groups that day.

Be respectful, even if you are angry.

None of these people read all their own mail, but the most interesting for each day get through. Good luck.