CHAPTER 6 • WAIVER OF UNLAWFUL PRESENCE GROUND OF INADMISSIBILITY 93

[SAMPLE HARDSHIP LETTER]

September 26, 2006
American Consulate General in Rio de Janeiro
Av. Presidente Wilson, 147
Castelo
20030-020 - Rio de Janeiro, RJ
Brazil
To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing this letter to explain the hardship caused by the separation that I have en-
dured from my wife since December 2004.
I met my wife in the fall of 2002. At that time, I was living at home with my parents after
moving back from another state where I had been working as a sales representative. I was
unemployed and did not see any joy in life. Thankfully, I met Daniela and my life again
had a spark. Gradually, I put the pieces of my life back together, and she was there sup-
porting me and prodding me every step of the way. She loved me unconditionally, de-
spite the fact that I was not living up to my potential.
Since that time I have grown enormously in every aspect of my life. She is my pillar of sup-
port. What she did in my life is the perfect example of what love can accomplish.
When she went back home to be with her ailing mother in December of 2004, I knew I
wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. I was overjoyed when I had a chance to meet
her family and ask her father and then Daniela for her hand in marriage, in March of
2005. We were officially married in June of 2005.
Despite the joy of these events, this has been a very difficult period for us. She has been
waiting in Brazil to return to the U.S. for one year and nine months. I did not know when
Daniela left the U.S. that she would be barred from returning because of the period of
time she was out of status. I was even more distressed to learn that, had she stayed and
had we married in the U.S., the overstay would not have been an issue. The months after
she left the U.S. were a tremendous strain because we were so accustomed to spending
time together nearly every day and we realized how difficult it would be for her to come
back. After we were engaged, it was even harder to be away from each other. It was again
a crushing weight on my spirit when we were married and yet I had to go back to the U.S.
for work only several days later. I managed to come back for our honeymoon in October
but again had to leave my lovely bride after less than a week.
Daniela’s mother succumbed to cancer and died in February 2006. The death certificate is
attached hereto at Exhibit 1. This is another extreme factor in the hardship we have en-
dured being apart. Daniela was very close to her mother and took it upon herself to be her
primary caretaker. She felt this was her responsibility being the only daughter of the fam-
ily. The bond that they shared caused Daniela to grieve immediately upon hearing the
dire prognosis. She declared that she would not leave her mother’s side as long as she
was ill. In many ways, it was as if Daniela herself was sick. She lost weight and was a
shell of herself when I went to visit her in March of 2005. This of course caused a strain
on our relationship, as it needed to take a back seat to her mother’s condition. I needed to
be more supportive than usual, which meant more time talking to her, giving her emo-
tional support and strategizing about the best possible course of action for her mother’s
94 AILA’S FOCUS ON WAIVERS UNDER THE INA

treatment. I knew that Daniela was suffering greatly, and this was a constant distraction
to me in my day-to-day life. It made it difficult to concentrate in my professional life,
which is very demanding and requires my full attention in order for me to do what is ex-
pected of me.
Daniela has now lost her mother. While I cannot fill the void that has been left by her pass-
ing, it is more necessary than ever that I devote my energies to my wife. I flew down to
Brazil for several days when her mother died, which was a very large financial burden. I
could only take two days off from work for this trip, because I am concerned that the vaca-
tion days that have been necessary for me to take in order to sustain my marriage are gradu-
ally becoming a burden to my employer that the company may not agree to bear much
longer. I started to see signs that this was the case on my last trip to see my wife in May. I
have enclosed at Exhibit 2 copies of my passport and plane ticket receipts and travel ex-
penses as evidence of my travel activities and the huge financial burden involved. I have
also enclosed at Exhibit 3 a letter from my employer.
The situation in which Daniela and I now find ourselves, separated by the U.S. immigration
laws, is magnified greatly by the death of a person who had been the key figure in my
wife’s life to this point. The separation itself is almost more than we can bear. This, com-
bined with her mother’s passing, has caused a situation in which my wife, and by extension,
I suffer greatly.
I cannot survive much longer as a healthy and productive member of society without my
wife. I need her and her support so that I can earn a living and be the pillar of society I
can be, have been, and am, when I am with her. I need her daily support because I love
her and the separation we are experiencing is becoming more and more unbearable. There
is a piece of me that is missing and I am reminded of this every day of my life since she
left. Many of our friends and family members have witnessed the traumatic effect the
separation from my wife is having on me. Several have written letters as a testament to
my suffering. These letters are attached hereto at Exhibit 4. I have struggled with anxiety
and depression since I graduated from college in 1999, and have seen several psychiatrics
and therapists about this. This condition existed before I met Daniela, but the proper
medication and our love seem to be the cure. Without both of these elements, my depres-
sion and anxiety can become debilitating. Since Daniela left, I have had to increase my
medication and I have found the depression exacerbated by the loneliness and hopeless-
ness that I feel with my wife so far away. My anxiety also has been worse because the
stress and emotional factors that naturally accompany a situation like ours are triggers for
physical distress. This can make me completely unproductive since the only remedy is to
lie down and not take in any more stimuli. Please see letter from my psychiatrist at Ex-
hibit 5.
I would also like to have children and raise them with my wife, and this is impossible
when separated by 5,000 miles.
Another hardship is the financial strain I have felt in trying to live apart from Daniela.
The cost of flying to Brazil as frequently as is necessary to sustain our marriage, the
phone bills, the cost of helping to support my wife while she took care of her ailing
mother, and the vacation time I need to take from work are all making it difficult for me
to survive financially. See Exhibit 6, copies of phone bills.
CHAPTER 6 • WAIVER OF UNLAWFUL PRESENCE GROUND OF INADMISSIBILITY 95

In different circumstances, I would have already moved to Brazil. However, I do not

speak Portuguese and this fact, combined with the very high rate of unemployment in
Brazil, make it almost impossible for me to find employment in that country, particularly
at a level where I can support my wife and myself. Moreover, I have, after much hard
work and a long period of unemployment, found a career in the United States with which
I am able to support myself and my family, which I hope will be growing soon. I cur-
rently work as a Sales Representative with an Internet company. I am the only person in
the Boston office and I am responsible for covering the entire New England region. Busi-
ness is very strong right now and I am responsible for managing over $3.5 million in ac-
counts over the course of the year. This is very demanding—I work 70–80 hour weeks
and on weekends, but it is also has the potential to be a very rewarding position finan-
cially. By working hard now, I have the potential to make significantly more income than
I have ever made in my entire life and can help to lay the financial groundwork for my
new family. There is simply no way, given the economic climate in Brazil and my inabil-
ity to speak Portuguese at an appropriate level, for me to earn anywhere close to the
equivalent income in Brazil. I would find it difficult to even support myself if I moved to
Brazil. My standard of living would be greatly reduced, which is another factor in the
extreme hardship that I would endure if my wife is denied entry to the United States.
This concerns me the most in the raising and educating of my children, which I hope to
have soon. I know that on my limited income in Brazil, I would not be able to provide them
with the kind of safe, healthy and nurturing environment that I could if I were in the U.S.
Their educational opportunities would be much more limited, which would be extremely
hard for my wife and I to bear, knowing that they could have had so much more opportunity
if they were able to live in the home country of their father.
A second practical factor is the danger of living as an expatriate in one of Brazil’s major
cities. If I were to find employment in Brazil, it would most likely be in Rio de Janeiro or
Sao Paulo, both of which have high crime rates. As I have experienced while being in Rio
recently, strangers can readily identify me as a foreigner, which could very well make it
even more dangerous for me in these major cities than it is for someone whose physical
appearance blends in with the rest of the crowd.
Not being with the woman I love, not being able to have the children that will make my
life so meaningful, and, practically, not being able to continue to financially support our
marriage with the separation that now exists all constitute extreme hardship to me. I hope
I have been able to convey this to you.
Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Michael Gomez