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Limerick man’s visit home results in US visa trouble

By admin | February 26, 2007

A 35-year-old Limerick native has been prevented from returning to his pregnant wife in Iowa by US immigration authorities. Jimmy Murphy of Newcastle West has been married less than a year to Iowa native Rachele Murphy; he was employed in the US and had applied for adjustment of status, which he was told would take nine months. He had all his papers in order when the couple decided to take a New Year’s trip to Ireland; Mr Murphy was detained at Dublin Airport because he had breached the terms of his status upgrade application.

Attempts to resolve the situation have so far failed. The US embassy in Dublin no longer has the authority to process the case, and Mr Murphy has been told he needs to present himself to authorities in the US, although he has been prevented from re-entering the country. Local officials are hoping that Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern may assist in resolving the issue.

Mr Murphy told the Limerick Leader:

“My wife is three months pregnant. We were starting off on a new life, with our first child on the way and had never been happier. I had always had my papers in order. The packet of documents which I had received when applying for adjustment of status did not say that I was to remain in America while the application was being processed. The first I knew was when I was turned back at Shannon.”

See the Limerick Leader for the full report.

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