My name is Frankie Hagan. On March 14th, 2015 I married the love of my life, Chantima Watpholong, at an intimate and modest ceremony with family and friends in Charleston, South Carolina. Chantima is from the country of Thailand – we met online and began a wonderful dialogue that led to us meeting in person while she was visiting her sister here in the United States. That meeting led to many dates, and the beginning of a conversation about her staying in this country, leaving her job in Thailand, and marrying an American man. During this period of time, many things happened. Chantima and her sister were unfortunate enough to be in a terrible car accident. Her sister’s car was totaled, and Chantima had to endure surgeries and extended physical therapy in a country that she was not familiar with. In the beginning, we were really good at planning things. As part of our discussions, it was always the intention of Chantima that she would travel back to Thailand, allowing us time to prepare and save and plan for a wedding. When our lives were in order and we were ready, she would apply for a new Travel Visa, and we would excitedly move forward with our dream-like future together. The car accident was a terrifying moment in our relationship. We spent more time together as she recovered from the accident, and I decided that I didn’t want to wait for our wedding and that I didn’t want to be separated from her for an extended period of time. A frightening threat to the mortality of someone you care about can do that sort of thing to a person. What we should have done was extend her Travel Visa and take more time to plan and evaluate our situation -- instead we moved forward with our wedding, in modest fashion, knowing our expenses for immigration would challenge us for the foreseeable future. We attempted to submit our immigration documents and handle Chantima’s application for a green card on our own, assuming that the strength of our marriage and the power of that legal bond would carry us through the process. We were wrong. Because of mistakes in our documentation and issues with my wife’s initial application into the country, we were denied status for my wife’s green card. As you might imagine, we immediately acquired a competent attorney to guide us through amending our application, entering more evidence, and guiding us through the completion of the process. Unfortunately -- and as a surprise to our legal representation -- we were also denied at the conclusion of this phase. After reviewing our options, we have decided to reapply from the beginning of the process, instead of appealing the case. The option to appeal is cheaper, fundamentally, but the process can drag out for a year, and you are unable to add new or additional evidence or documentation to your case. In reapplying we will be able to add more evidence to the case, build a stronger framework to support our marriage and our documentation, and my wife will be able to obtain a social security card and a work permit to strengthen our ability to carry this burden for our family, moving forward. What we are raising money for is the costly weight of our legal fees. In starting the process over, we have expanded the financial burden that valuable legal service brings. If we had done some things differently, we wouldn’t have found ourselves in this position. But we can’t think about that now: it is always easy to quarterback the football game after the fact, and this entire experience has been a deep learning curve for my wife and I. Any monies donated to this cause will be used expressly for my family’s defense and protection in this protracted legal process. These funds would be most useful over the months of November and December, certainly – but this process will be ongoing for a while, and anything you can offer for our benefit will be greatly appreciated. I didn’t choose a profession that makes me a wealthy man. My greatest rewards always seem to come from helping other people. Buying a home. Making their wedding exciting. I’m a fixer – and I suddenly find myself in a big life situation that I’m not sure I can fix on my own. Helping my family find security in this country, and giving us a leg up to move forward and work together to build a life we can be proud of -- and share with others -- would mean so very much to us. If you are moved at all by our story, we hope that you will consider helping our cause!
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