WELLS — After a year of struggling to remain in the U.S. after the expiration of their visas, Dean and Laura Franks are packing up their house and restaurant and preparing to leave Maine ”“ a place they have called home for a decade.
The trouble started in June 2009 when the British couple received notification from the U.S. Department of Citizenship and Immigration Services letting them know they had 30 days to close their restaurant, Laura’s Kitchen on Route 109 in Wells, and leave the country. Their visa renewal had been denied.
Sitting at an empty table at Laura’s Kitchen on Thursday alongside his wife, Dean Franks said they had immediately started calling anyone they thought may be able to help. Dean said he wrote letters to Maine’s congressional delegation and about 1,000 customers and friends also wrote letters on their behalf.
Their efforts were in vain, Dean said, as they did not receive a single response. An aide in Sen. Susan Collins’ office was able to help speed up the process of their motion to reconsider, filed with the Department of Immigration, but the appeal was denied.
Following the decision, the Franks left the country last year and have been staying in Nova Scotia at the home of their friends, Lenny and Joanne Pluhm, who are U.S. citizens.
The Franks have not been able to work since the restaurant closed last year. Their business made about $40,000 a year in profit during the recession and employs two to eight people throughout the year, so the Franks said they were shocked that Laura’s Kitchen was deemed “marginal” by the U.S. government.
According to the U.S. Department of Citizenship and Immigration Services website, “a marginal enterprise is one that does not have the present or future capacity to generate more than enough income to provide a minimal living for the treaty investor and his or her family.”
The Franks, natives of England, now fear they will not be able to sell their home in Arundel or restaurant and rental unit in Wells and, as the days go by, the situation worsens.
Dean said if they have a good yard sale, they will be able to eat, but otherwise they will have to scour their freezer and cupboards.
After an unsuccessful trip to Barbados last year to try to renew their visas, the couple was granted 90 days to return to pack their belongings this spring and sell their properties before they have to relocate, once the 90-day period ends this month.
They plan to head back to Nova Scotia next week and will also seek tourist visas at the U.S. Embassy in Montreal in August, but in the meantime neither can seek employment in the U.S. They would not be able to work on tourist visas either. They hope to be able to sell their business and move to Canada or New Zealand, since green cards ”“ permits for permanent U.S. residency ”“ are not in sight.
Attorney Dan Maranci of Verrill Dana in Boston has aided the couple recently, working pro bono through his firm. Maranci said there is not an avenue for the Franks to apply for citizenship because they could not be sponsored by a business like many people working in the U.S. on visas. In addition, the average wait time for a green card is eight years, he said.
Paula Grenier, spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Boston office, said Thursday in a phone interview that the E-2 visa the Franks held is not intended to be a path to permanent residency or citizenship, but could not discuss the specifics of the Franks’ case due to privacy laws.
Grenier said most immigration is family-based, where a family member who is a resident will apply on behalf of an immediate family member. People can also be sponsored by a business for residency or seek political asylum or residency based on refugee status. The final option is through a lottery type of program.
Over the last three years, the Department of Immigration has approved about 86 percent of E-2 visa applications, Grenier said. The figures have declined slightly from year to year with fiscal year 2008 at 91 percent being approved; FY 2009 at 84 percent; and FY 2010 at about 82 percent, although the most recent figures are not complete.
Grenier added that the adjudicators, those who review and make decisions on visa applications, had a 97 percent accuracy rate in their most recent review.
Although there may be options for the future, the Franks see no immediate solution and feel they have done everything as they should and are being punished for doing so.
“People who do it the right way don’t have any rights as opposed to someone who creeps across the border,” Laura said.
“Honesty doesn’t pay,” Dean added. “As non-citizens we have no benefits but to pay taxes and shut up.”
Despite the difficulties, the Franks agree they want to stay in their home. This country is the best place to live and they love it, Laura said.
“It’s still the best country in the world, even with everything that’s happened,” Dean said. “You don’t have any idea how lucky you are.”
The people are great, Laura said, and the couple has had an outpouring of support from friends and customers, they said. Recently, a Facebook group supporting the couple and their cause appeared ”“ with more than 160 members.
On Thursday morning, when the Franks arrived at Laura’s Kitchen, a hand-written note was outside the door from a former customer, which said she had not eaten out on Saturday mornings since her favorite local spot closed.
— Staff Writer Robyn Burnham can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 329 or rburnham@journaltribune.com.
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