Visa Parts Husband
and His Wife
By Andrew Kitchenman,
nj.com
Former Hamilton township
resident Michael Stout
has found a fulfilling
and peaceful life in
Costa Rica, where he
moved seven years ago.
He works as a tattoo
artist in the quiet
coastal town of Samara,
avoiding the crowds from
the United States who
have increasingly made
Costa Rica a destination
for tourists and
retirees. He found love
and married Samara
resident Sonia Castillo
Jirón.
There is one frustrating
part to life in Costa
Rica: While Americans
are frequent visitors to
her country, Jirón has
been unable to visit the
United States with her
husband.
Stout and Jirón's
situation shows that it
can be much harder for
people in some
countries, even those
who are married to
Americans, to visit the
United States than it is
for people from the
United States to visit
their coun tries.
Jirón, 42, has tried to
come to the United
States five times,
including once since she
and Stout married in
December 2003.
That last experience was
disheartening, said
Stout, who is staying at
his parents' house on
Edinburg Road for two
months, earning money
doing odd jobs. He
misses his wife deeply
and wishes she could
join him for the rest of
the month.
For Stout, 39, the
contradiction is hard to
understand.
While a State Department
spokesman said he is
unable to discuss the
details of the couple's
situation due to federal
law, he said that many
tourist visa
applications by the
spouses of American
citizens are rejected
because officials are
concerned that the
applicants may try to
stay permanently.
While Jirón is eager to
visit her in-laws and
take her teenage son
Fabián to New York City
and other sites, she
doesn't plan to
immigrate to the United
States.
Jirón doesn't want an
immigration visa, which
she would have a greater
chance of receiving. But
she may be rejected for
a tourist visa because
she would be considered
a likely immigration
candidate.
"I don't want an
immigration visa because
I don't intend to move,"
Jirón said by phone from
her home. "I would like
to visit for one month
and get to meet my
husband's friends. I
don't want to and can't
leave my country
(permanently) because I
need to take care of my
mother."
Even if they could
commit to the annual
visits to the United
States required by an
immigration visa, they
would find the visa fees
-- which Stout said
equal $830 for the
couple -- taxing.
Stout, an artist who
operates a tattoo studio
in Samara, moved to
Costa Rica seven years
ago and soon met Jirón.
He found an idyllic life
there, becoming friends
with Jirón's family. He
tried to visit the
United States with Jirón
before they were
married, but she was
rejected for a tourist
visa.
After their marriage,
Stout was hopeful they
would be successful in
her next attempt for a
visa.
The experience the
couple had in November
2005 was the most
dispiriting. Stout said
they waited seven hours
to meet with the
consular officer, who
was negative be fore the
couple made their case.
After Jirón was
rejected, Stout said he
felt "a resentment like
you wouldn't believe and
I'm an American. Imagine
if you're not."
After that day, which
Stout described as "the
worst experience of my
life," he hired a lawyer
in Costa Rica to help
with the visa
applications, but the
lawyer never completed
the paperwork.
Stout still dreams of
the day when he can
bring Fabián to the
highly developed Jersey
Shore, to give him a
greater appreciation for
the pristine beaches in
Samara.
Living in a country that
has become a retirement
destination for
Americans has made the
whole experience
disturbing to Stout.
"It's part of the
frustration also because
you see the influx of
Americans and you see
how easy it is" for them
to be tourists in Costa
Rica, Stout said.
More than 75 percent of
tourist visa
applications from Costa
Rica are accepted,
according to U.S. State
Department Consular
Affairs spokesman Steve
Royster.
While Royster said he
couldn't address the
couple's particular
experience, he said that
when applicants
establish their ties to
their home country, they
are more likely to be
accepted for a tourist
visa.
Immigration attorney
Eileen Shimizu, who has
an office in Lawrence,
has reviewed Jirón's
applica tion material.
She said there is little
that an applicant can do
when a consular officer
rejects a visa appli
cation.
"It's something that
happens to women around
the world," especially
those married to
American men, Shimizu
said. "They're all
lumped in this pool;
they're all deemed
suspicious."
Jirón and Stout both
said they miss each
other while Stout is
away.
"It's frustrating
because I would like to
get to know my husband's
country," Jirón said.
Staff writer Rose Y.
Colón contributed to
this report. |
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