Help Us Get Home
Donation protected
My name is Fatimah AbdusSamad. As some of you know, in 2003 I moved to Amman, Jordan with my husband and our five children. Five years later I found myself divorced and alone in a foreign country with my children. I didn't have money for tickets home, so I worked as a teacher in a private elementary school during the day and at a language center in the evening. Along with child support this was just enough to make ends meet. During this time we kept our Visa's current by leaving the country every six months. We usually went to Egypt and came back on the same day. When child support became sporadic and at times nonexistent I was unable to continue to make the trip. In fact I had an extremely hard time paying the rent and putting food on the table.
Things eventually got better. I got a better job with a better salary, but by this time the overstay fees had piled up. It costs 1.5 JD every day that you're late, and it's impossible to set up any kind of payment schedule.
Now that I have the money to buy tickets home, we can't leave because I don't have the money to pay the overstay fees. I went to the Embassy , but they can't help me. While they do offer repatriotation loans, it is not their policy to provide loans for overstay fees. I have also spoken to the Ministry of the Interior in Jordan. Ater telling me several time that I would just have to pay the fees because they don't give exceptions, they finally agreed to consider my case if I provided them with a letter from the Embassy that explained my situation. The Embassy refused to give me this letter because it is against their policy. They did agree to advocate for me with the Ministry of the Interior, but said that it would take several months to get any results and the best I could hope for was a small reduction in the fees. This leaves my children and I in a bad situation. We really want to go home, especially since I've wrapped up our life here. I no longer have a job, and I have to be out of my apartment by April 10. If we don't leave soon, I am worried that I'll have to start using the ticket money for living expenses.
This is my stiuation. If anyone has any questions feel free to contact me. Any assitance you give will be greatly appreciated.
Things eventually got better. I got a better job with a better salary, but by this time the overstay fees had piled up. It costs 1.5 JD every day that you're late, and it's impossible to set up any kind of payment schedule.
Now that I have the money to buy tickets home, we can't leave because I don't have the money to pay the overstay fees. I went to the Embassy , but they can't help me. While they do offer repatriotation loans, it is not their policy to provide loans for overstay fees. I have also spoken to the Ministry of the Interior in Jordan. Ater telling me several time that I would just have to pay the fees because they don't give exceptions, they finally agreed to consider my case if I provided them with a letter from the Embassy that explained my situation. The Embassy refused to give me this letter because it is against their policy. They did agree to advocate for me with the Ministry of the Interior, but said that it would take several months to get any results and the best I could hope for was a small reduction in the fees. This leaves my children and I in a bad situation. We really want to go home, especially since I've wrapped up our life here. I no longer have a job, and I have to be out of my apartment by April 10. If we don't leave soon, I am worried that I'll have to start using the ticket money for living expenses.
This is my stiuation. If anyone has any questions feel free to contact me. Any assitance you give will be greatly appreciated.
Organizer and beneficiary
Fatimah Absussamad
Organizer
Palm Coast, FL
Fareda AbdulHakim
Beneficiary