Betrayal is what goes through the mind of retired US Army and Navy veteran Mark Stancil. Never in his life did he imagine that he would have to choose between the love for his country and the love of his life.
Circumstances, however, have brought him to these crossroads. This is after the US government, through the Nairobi Embassy, denied his Kenyan wife an entry visa into America. Mark noted that his wife, Deborah, has been barred from travelling to the US.
Mark Stancil shared in a blog his plight of living with his wife and raising his family in the US. The retired veteran shared that his first wife passed away more than a decade ago, and it was one of the most difficult periods of his life.
“I became a single father and while it’s been my life’s joy to raise my kids, it has been lonely. That changed when Deborah came into my life,” he wrote.
Deborah and Mark met on a Christian website. She lived in Kenya while he resided in Missouri. Not long after, the pair’s internet bond grew more and soon they had already fallen in love.
“She is beautiful, caring and smart as a whip. We started talking every day and quickly realised we wanted to spend our lives together.”
He explained that both of them were preachers and their faith had given them strength to get through life’s challenges. In 2018, Mark Stancil flew to Kenya and they had a wedding at a big church in her parent’s village.
The former Army and Navy officer adopted Deborah’s daughter from her previous marriage and in 2020, they had their beautiful baby girl.
“As an American citizen, I never thought I would be forced to choose between love and country. I am an Army and Navy veteran, and it feels like a betrayal of my service that I can’t live with my family in my own country,” he said.
Mark asserted that the consular officer in the U.S. Embassy in Kenya is responsible for not granting Deborah her visa to reside with him in the US.
“Our family has a near-perfect life except for one thing: A consular officer in the U.S. Embassy in Kenya will not grant Deborah’s visa to live in the United States.”
Nairobi US embassy visa officer’s mood, luck determines who gets visa
To make matters complicated, Mark’s stepdaughter had her visa approved. She now resides with him and his eldest daughter in Kansas City.
This situation leaves Deborah and their only daughter in Kenya. Mark stated that he would challenge these unfair family separations. The issue was brought to court as he is not alone among US citizens seeking a fairer process to live with their non-citizen spouses in the US.
“We spend hours on the phone every day, and I go to Kenya twice a year, but it’s not the same as living together,” he stated.
Mark Stancil has a steady job at the Ford assembly line in a community he loves. However, he believes that if he moved to Kenya, he wouldn’t be able to support his family as they deserve.
“For now, my family and I continue to pray every day that we’ll be able to live together soon,” he concluded.
