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Unlucky at love, Byron Edwards divorced twice before he finally found his perfect match. He says she's loving, beautiful, and a whiz in the kitchen. But she has never set foot in his Lilburn home.
Deynis Bravo Isaac Edwards, 40, is stuck in Cuba, her native land.
Edwards, 60, met Deynis in Havana while vacationing there.
"I saw her and it was just like wham — I had to meet her," said Edwards. "She was just the most beautiful woman that I had ever seen."
Deynis speaks very little English. Byron speaks very little Spanish. They have been married for three years.
The language barrier between the couple may not have stopped their love from blooming, but it has halted their approval for a visa. Edwards has been haggling with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service for nearly two years trying to prove that Deynis truly is the love of his life even though they need a translator to communicate. He is one of thousands of Georgians whose love lives, according to statistics, are in limbo while they wait for government officials to determine if and when their spouses can move to America.
More than 5,000 Georgians requested spousal visas this year, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service.
For do-it-yourselfers like Edwards, the visa application process to bring a spouse into the country can be daunting. It is costly, about $455 to file plus other fees and another $300 to $400 an interview with an American official at a consulate, plus the wait can be lengthy, experts say. Mistakes can postpone a reunion with loved ones for months and mean hundreds more dollars spent on re-filing.
"Falling in love with someone who is not in the United States is one of the hardest things you can do in the immigration field," said Charles Kuck, an immigration attorney with Kuck Casablanca, which has law offices in Atlanta, Dalton, Gainesville and Miami.
"Getting the love of your life here is not an easy process," said Kuck, who has dealt with international marriage cases and calls them a common immigration issue. "You have to submit an application to the U.S. CIS with a very large check ... it takes them six to 12 months to make a decision. You have to prove that she is really your wife ... then you have to wait for an interview, which could take a couple of weeks in some places or nine months in places like Canada where the consulate's office is understaffed."
Some Third World countries, including those with a supply of mail-order brides, can make the process even more complicated and time-consuming because they scrutinize applicants closely to prevent visa fraud, Kuck said.
Carl Beresford, 34, of Snellville, missed the birth of his baby boy while waiting on a visa for his wife, Indira, 23, of Guyana, a girl from his homeland. Beresford started the visa application process shorty after his wife got pregnant in 2005.
The restaurant manager says he spent $1,000 to file forms only to have his visa petition canceled later because he didn't provide enough "evidence" to support their union.
Beresford used a lawyer to re-file. Nine months later his wife had her visa and he got to hold his baby boy, Jared, who is now 18-months-old. They arrived last November.
"It was very frustrating," said Beresford.
The Edwardses also have missed milestones waiting on a visa.
"It has been three years and we haven't been able to spend Mother's Day together [they each have a grown child], birthdays and anniversaries," Deynis Edwards said from Cuba through an interpreter.
The struggle to bring his wife to the United States has become a full-time job for Edwards. He said he sent stacks of documentation to U.S. officials in Cuba to show evidence of his relationship with his wife from courtship to matrimony and beyond. He said he has provided telephone records, photos, money transfer receipts and American Express bills showing payment for airline tickets he used to visit Cuba before and after they wed.
Not even that was enough proof. Deynis Edwards recently had her visa approval rescinded during the interview process with U.S. officials in Cuba. Authorities told an official working with U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson's office that the couple submitted incomplete paperwork and that they couldn't possibly have a real relationship because they didn't speak the same language.
"They don't believe it is a legitimate marriage," said Kathy Register, district director for Johnson.
Chris Rhatigan, a spokeswoman with the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement that some unions may cause the office to suspect fraud. "During the interview, officers will review a range of evidence before making a decision .... language could be part of that process," she said.
The Edwardses plan to appeal their visa denial. Byron Edwards said he may do it himself again without an attorney, but he isn't certain. He says that even though he and Deynis have spent years living apart, they are as much in love as the day got married.
"I love him very much and I want a stable life with my husband," Deynis Edwards said through an interpreter. "I miss being with him. It's a test of our relationship to keep going and going to the interviews and be denied a visa."
Deynis said she has begun to learn English to help her gain favor during the next interview.
Edwards says only time will tell if his wife is using him to enter the country. He believes she is trustworthy and he says he doesn't need the government postponing his happiness.
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