S&S - Widow’s residency battle hits little snag

From my archive of press clippings:

Stars and Stripes

Widow’s residency battle hits little snag

Officials: Proxy marriage never consummated, therefore it’s not official


By Natasha Lee, Stars and Stripes


Pacific edition, Sunday, January 25, 2009


The Japanese widow of a slain Marine and new mother to the couple’s 2-week-old son faces another speed bump in seeking U.S. residency after the government denied her petition, saying the marriage wasn’t legal, her husband’s family said.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"U.S. immigration officials said since the marriage by proxy between Hotaru Ferschke, 24, and Sgt. Michael H. Ferschke Jr., 22, was never consummated, it was never official, the Marine’s mother, Robin Ferschke, said Friday.

Hotaru Ferschke’s application was denied in November, stalling her plans to raise the child in Tennessee, her mother-in-law said."

&

"Michael Ferschke, a team leader with the 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, had been in the Middle East about a month when the couple learned in May that Hotaru was pregnant.

The couple were married by proxy July 10 during Michael Ferschke’s deployment in Iraq.

One month later, Michael Ferschke was killed during door-to-door searches in a town north of Baghdad.

The couple’s son, Michael "Mickey" H. Ferschke III, was born Jan. 7 at a Japanese clinic near Kadena Air Base."

"Under the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act, marriage by proxy must be consummated to be recognized for immigration purposes, said Kevin O’Connor, a consular officer at the U.S. Consulate in Naha.

Approval for such visas and green cards is granted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, he said."

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NOTE: See a subsequent article here for a happier update.

S&S - To the Okinawan widow of a fallen Marine, a son is born

From my archive of press clippings:

Stars and Stripes

To the Okinawan widow of a fallen Marine, a son is born

By Chiyomi Sumida, Stars and Stripes


Mideast edition, Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Cindy Fisher / S&S


Hotaru Ferschke cradles her newborn son, Michael H. Ferschke III, at a Japanese clinic near Kadena Air Base on Tuesday. Michael, born Jan. 9, was named for his father, Marine Sgt. Michael H. Ferschke Jr., who was killed in Iraq in August.


CHATAN, Okinawa — Michael H. Ferschke III, the son of a Marine who was killed on a mission in Iraq last August, was born Friday on Okinawa. Hotaru Ferschke delivered the healthy child at 1:18 p.m. at a Japanese clinic near Kadena Air Base. He weighed 7 pounds, 8.8 ounces and was 19.7 inches long.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"The much-awaited arrival brings to a close another chapter in a story that began Aug. 10, when Sgt. Michael H. Ferschke Jr., a team leader with Okinawa-based 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, was killed conducting door-to-door searches north of Baghdad.

It was exactly one month after Ferschke and Hotaru exchanged marriage vows by proxy while thousands of miles apart. Hotaru, supported by her in-laws, has vowed to raise her son in the Tennessee town where his father grew up."

"She said her husband’s parents, whom she first met in Tennessee during Christmas 2007, are to arrive on Okinawa next month to see their new grandson and make arrangements to bring him and his mother to their home in Marysville, Tenn."

&

"She said she would soon apply for a passport for the baby, and her six-month temporary visa should be ready before they leave for the United States in late February.

She said she was grateful for all the help provided by the U.S. Consulate and the Marine Corps to process the paperwork for the visa and passport.

At first, she will be on a six-month temporary visa, which can be extended for another six months.

She and her family in the States hope to change the visa status before the visa expires."

I hope they're able to change her visa status as well.

This is the sad case you might have heard about where DHS can't recognize her proxy marriage since it was never consummated subsequent to the wedding ceremony.

It sounds crazy, especially in a situation where the woman has given birth to a fallen marine's child, but neither the consulate nor USCIS gets to pick and choose which laws and regulations to apply and which ones to ignore.

With the attention of the Marine Corps and, IIRC, a friendly congressman or two, I hope an immigration judge will apply some discretion, the valor already having been provided by Sergeant Ferschke.