Jacksonville teacher worried about fiancee's fate once temporary ban is lifted

A Jacksonville man is feeling the effects of President Trump’s temporary immigration ban as he waits for word on what will happen to his fiancee’s case.

The executive order has sent ripple effects throughout our community as many worry that already granted visas won’t be honored.

It took the language teacher Qayssar Alwaeli, 30, months to get all the paperwork that he needed to petition for his fiancee. She was days away from traveling when the president’s executive order was announced. It putting everything on hold for the couple, including their upcoming wedding day.

Alwaeli showed Action News Jax a mound of paperwork that included everything from transcripts of conversations that he’s had with his fiancee to criminal background checks. “They need to know everything about your background,” said Alwaeli. “That's their right. I understand this.”

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His fianee is a telecommunication engineer from Iraq. Alwaeli said she even has a job waiting for her in Jacksonville. But after being granted a visa and purchasing plane tickets, things didn’t go as they had planned.

“I even rented an apartment and also the furniture I bought the furniture and now it's all on hold,” Alwaeli said.

Former ambassador to the United Nations Nancy Soderberg said the rollout of the executive order is causing confusion. “I think it's sowing fear unnecessarily,” said Soderberg. “Certainly the president wants to keep us safe certainly, he has the responsibility to keep us safe, but he also has a responsibility to have some kind of order in the system.”

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And order is not what Alwaeli said he’s experienced so far.

“My hope is that they stop these kinds of orders because it's affecting the United States,” said Alwaeli. “This is like ripping apart a lot of families.”

Alwaeli said he’s already paid more than $1,000 for just the visa application process. He said he’s worried that if any changes are made, all the time, effort, and money that went into petitioning his fiancee will be in vain.

All he can do now is wait but in the meantime Alwaeli is reaching out to his representatives in Congress for help.

Cox Media Group