So unfair

After the earthquake in Chile, my MOH told me that she was not going to be able to make it back to California for our wedding and that made me very sad. I would have loved it if my very best friend was by my side on my wedding day, especially because she was as excited as I was to be here, but she ran into some problems that will not allow her to travel, so I got over it. I planned to have my sister by my side, even though my MOH would always be my MOH in my heart.

I was very proud of myself because I was handling it well. Things were not going to be the way I envisioned them, but it was going to be OK anyway.

That was, until today.

Today I woke up and headed to the computer, because today was my mom and sister’s interview at the USA Embassy in Chile for their Tourist Visa. They were seeking a Visa for one week in order to visit us and attend our wedding.

I waited patiently until my sister finally logged on to Skype. I asked her how it all went, and let her know that we’d been praying for them and collecting all the papers they needed for their visa.

My sisters answer’s put me in tears right away.

They were denied.

They were denied under Section 214(b), meaning that they didn’t show strong enough ties to Chile. It means they think my Mom and sister are going to come to the USA and stay ILLEGALLY!
I guess I cannot question the fact that they are really picky because after all, there are a lot of people coming and staying illegally. But they don’t know us. If they only knew that to us, doing something the illegal way is not even a possibility.

My mom’s (and sister’s) situation has changed a lot in the past year and a half. In Chile we used to have a house, cars, transport trucks and money. But things changed and we had a lot of problems with my dad, and in the end, my Mom, sis and I moved away from my dad and put a restraining order against him. He managed to get rid of everything he and my Mom had, without giving her a cent, but we didn’t care. We started from scratch, rented a place, and started to live with a lot less, but were much more happy and safe. I helped as much as I could and my mom managed to get on solid ground.

Everything work out perfectly for my mom and sister, until they tried to make it to our wedding.
When she left my dad, she left behind all of her material possessions.  So when it came to the interview, she had no proof of any “material possessions” that tied her to Chile—she has no title to a house, a car, etc. She had all of these things in her possession just one short year ago, and she COULD have lied and brought the papers that showed her house title and car papers that she owned just one short year ago, but she is an honest person, so she didn’t do that.

I got over the fact that my dad was not going to walk me down the aisle fairly easy. It does hurt a lot to know that the one person that’s biologically supposed to love you and protect you wants to hurt you, but I forgave him for that, and I am at peace with those feelings now. I knew I will always have my mom’s support and love. So, I’ve always dreamed about her walking me down the aisle to Mr. Poodle. Now, knowing that they’ve been denied for a visa breaks my heart.

I don’t know what to do, Mr. Poodle contacted his congressman but his assistant said there’s nothing they could do. Everything is pretty much up to the person that conducts the visa interview. They don’t even see the people at the interview, they just see their paper application, and they judge peoples’ intentions with just paper.

Now there’s a month until the wedding, and at this time it looks like I’ll have no MOH or any family present.   It just makes me so incredibly sad. It has been stressful, and on top of not knowing what things are like after the Chilean earthquake made me want to see and hug them even more. It just hurts to know that that they wont be here.
I think this is all not fair.

I’m turning to the hive for advice. Does anyone have any experience with visa denials? Is there anything we can do?