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51 °F Forecast | Road Cams Wednesday, April 14, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend March 17, 2004 Steve Polk, owner and chef of Samovar Russian Restaurant and Bakery in downtown Medford, is trying to bring his wife back from the Ukraine after she was deported because of a problem with her visa. Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Stuck in visa limbo A family waits, worries and struggles to get by: Samovar owner’s wife and stepson deported to Ukraine By PAUL FATTIG Mail Tribune A year ago when Steve Polk would go to work at the Samovar, a popular Russian cuisine restaurant in downtown Medford, the chef felt his life was complete. Polk, 39, and his wife, Inessa, owned the restaurant and a comfortable home where they lived with her son, Nikita, 14. Now his wife is back in her native Ukraine, where she was deported Aug. 25 because the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement determined she was here illegally. "I love her and she loves me — we just want to be back together," he said of his wife of nearly four years. "I try to talk to her every day," he added. "But my phone bill has been running about $600 a month. Things are really difficult right now." Advertisement In a telephone interview from Odessa, a city along the Black Sea, on Tuesday, Inessa Polk, 33, echoed similar sentiments. "I’m so upset and depressed — my son is very upset," she said. "I did nothing wrong. I just want to be over there with Steve. It’s everything like dream for me with him. I can’t believe this happened so quick to us." Steve Polk is struggling to keep the restaurant and house while fighting to bring his wife and stepson back home. She originally arrived in Medford in spring 2000 on a three-month visa. She had traveled to the Rogue Valley to marry someone else. That relationship did not work out, however. She and Steve Polk later met at the Samovar through the then-owner’s sister. At the time, he had been a longtime chef at the restaurant. The couple were married on July 24, 2000. The couple applied for legal status shortly after getting married, and figured Inessa eventually would receive a green card, allowing her to stay. They went on with their lives. In addition to buying a home, the Polks purchased the restaurant several years ago from Gogi and Jenna Tenyashvili, who had opened the restaurant in March 1992. "I went from a one-bedroom apartment with no door to the bathroom to a house," Steve Polk said. "That was all because of my wife. She motivated me to improve my life. "Everything was going great," he said. "She worked hard. She is very smart, very thrifty." But the problems with Uncle Sam didn’t go away. Lori Haley, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Seattle, could not comment on specifics in the case. "But anyone found to be out of status can be deported," Haley said. Inessa Polk violated her visa requirements by marrying a person not listed on the document, explained Dan Larsson, a veteran immigration attorney from Bend who represents the Polks. Under the complex immigration laws, she was supposed to return to her native country after plans to marry the other person were canceled, then reapply through the visa process to marry Steve Polk, he said. "She would have had to leave to apply for that," he said, later adding, "There was no waiver to get around her going home. She had to leave and they had to process her application overseas (to make it legal)." Meanwhile, achieving legal status is possible, albeit can be a lot of paperwork, he said. "Unfortunately, this is a painfully slow process at times," Larsson said, noting he is trying to speed it up by working with members of Oregon’s congressional delegation. "It’s a very difficult situation for them," he added. "It has broken up a family. They are very nice people." Steve Polk, who is accustomed to having his wife working at his side at the restaurant, said customers keep asking about her. "All I can tell them is that we’re trying to get her back as soon as we can," he said, reiterating, "It’s been really hard without her." Over in Odessa, his wife is waiting for the day when she can return to her home in Oregon. "I miss Steve a lot," she said. "The day I married him, I was so happy. "We were almost four years in America," she added. "That is our home now. I want to come back. I have a hard time over here." Since she is in limbo, she has no job, she said. "I miss the Samovar — my customers are like a big family," she said. Meanwhile, her relatives who moved out of an apartment so she and her son would have a place to stay now want to return to the apartment, she said. "It’s horrible over here," she said. "We were hoping it was not for so long. . . . It’s hard, financially and mentally." Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback 3 WEEKS FREE! ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S RESOURCES Oregon Road Conditions & Cams SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Food for Thought Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Prime Times