Monday, April 4, 2022. With suitcases in her hands, a bag in her arms, and many dreams in her mind and heart, Artina – a name chosen by the Radio Free Europe editorial team to preserve the anonymity of the interviewee – set off for the USA.
In May of the previous year, she was selected as the winner of what was known as the 'Green Card lottery', but which is actually called the Diversity Visa Program.
Artina was encouraged to apply by her partner. The latter had been applying for 12 years in a row, as he saw his future nowhere else but in the US.
But, fate would have it that Artina would be the one to win the opportunity to immigrate to the U.S. Since then, her heart was torn between two homes: her own in the U.S. and the one near her partner in Albania.
They began the process of family reunification in August 2022. The only thing that kept them together was Artina's occasional visits to her hometown. This distance became even more difficult when she found out she was pregnant.
"I coped with everything on my own. During this period, I made endless trips to Albania, because I had to maintain my marriage, but also for my daughter to spend time with her father... In the hope that we would be reunited soon...", she tells Radio Free Europe.
Alone in the US, without family or friends around, Artina says she worked until the last month of her pregnancy, and was forced to spend the first months of motherhood alone. Now, she complains more about "mental fatigue" than physical fatigue.
"It's an ugly feeling when you pack your life in a suitcase, leave with your dreams, work, sacrifice to reunite your family where you're building your life from scratch, and then hear that, right when you're nearing the end of the challenge...", Artina leaves the sentence midway.
And, just as their family reunification process was nearing completion, the US decided to temporarily suspend the issuance of immigration visas from 75 countries around the world, including Kosovo and Albania.
This decision came after US President Donald Trump said that foreigners who immigrate to the US should support themselves through work and not become a burden on the state.
According to a photo he published, about 41 percent of immigrants from Albania receive social assistance in the US, while from Kosovo the percentage was even higher: 46.
"From the dry to the wet, it burns," says Artina, adding that she has been a dedicated and hardworking citizen, who has not simply attempted to benefit from the American state.
But now that all immigration visa processes have been suspended, she will once again have to make the journey to the US without her life partner. This time, with a 2-year-old daughter in her arms.
Thousands of people in Kosovo and Albania are in a similar situation. Some of them, contacted by Radio Free Europe, have been reluctant to share their stories, fearing that it could harm their chances of emigrating to the United States.
Last year, about 3,800 Albanian citizens obtained immigrant visas to the US, as well as about 650 others from Kosovo.
Artid Hila from Albania, who works as a consultant for immigration and other visa procedures, has also been leading a Facebook group for years, where he helps those interested in immigration to the U.S. He says he is concerned, but not surprised, by the U.S. decision of January 14.
"The main concern I hear every day is related to the total uncertainty that the suspension of immigrant visa processing has created. Applicants are afraid that they are moving forward with all the steps required by the State Department, while there is a real risk that the fiscal year will end without visas being issued," Hila tells REL.
He points out that the process is not simple: it requires filling out several forms, undergoing medical examinations, preparing documents, and paying fees.
"Many applicants have invested years of waiting [in family reunification cases], hundreds or thousands of dollars in documents, translations, medical checks, travel for interviews, and concrete life plans," says Hila.
Now, he adds, they are facing half-baked information and a lot of inaccurate and exaggerated news, since it is not known how long the suspension will last.
Similar situations, according to Hila, have occurred in the past, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic. But similar does not mean identical.
"The main difference with the current situation is that today applicants are allowed to follow all the procedural steps and pay the fees, but in the end they risk being left without a visa, just because of the closing of the fiscal year - a situation that is legally very problematic," explains Hila.
He adds that another decision is also affecting applicants' concerns. In December of last year, the US indefinitely paused the Diversity Visa Program until "we know exactly who we are letting into our country," as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio put it.
Many citizens of Kosovo and Albania have benefited from this program over the years. According to data from the US Department of State, among the latest list of beneficiaries of this program were 1,598 citizens of Albania and 260 citizens of Kosovo.
As a winner a few years ago, Artina had many dreams. But now there is a lot of uncertainty.
"It feels like these four years are being erased from my life as if they were nothing," she says, worried that perhaps her only option will be to give up on the American dream./ REL
