MAC Spanish teacher must leave country
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The Mount Ayr school district finds itself in a difficult situation due to a series of events beyond its control.
Due to a delay in processing his immigration paperwork, veteran high school Spanish teacher Gilberto Castreje will be required to leave the United States by December 26.
Castreje, a Spanish national, had been working in the Mount Ayr district under an H-1B work visa since August 2012.
The H-1B visa allows U.S. employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations. A specialty occupation requires the application of specialized knowledge and a bachelor’s degree.
During his nine years in Mount Ayr, the school district has aided Castreje in his quest to obtain permanent worker status, otherwise known as the Green Card.
Support has come in the form of letters of support, documentation of employment status and the hiring of immigration law firms to guide Castreje and the district through the complex immigration process, a move that has come at considerable expense to the district.
The Green Card process had been moving smoothly until a paperwork error resulted in Castrege’s application being thrown out, forcing him to begin the process from scratch.
With his H-1B set to expire this year, in the spring Castreje applied for a PERM (Program Electronic Review Management) designation, the first and most important step in obtaining a Green Card.
The process to grant the PERM usually takes approximately two months, but due to COVID related delays along with tightened immigration regulations, Castreje’s PERM application remains in limbo.
With no remaining legal standing to remain employed in the U.S., Castreje was forced to sell off his belongings in preparation for a return to his native Spain.
Castreje will complete the first semester in Mount Ayr as scheduled, and Mount Ayr principal Bill Huntington said Castreje has stated his intent to continue teaching his Spanish classes remotely from Spain. Logistics are still being worked out to accommodate the seven-hour time difference along with supervision of Spanish students taking the remote classes at the high school.
With all paperwork in place, Castreje and the district hope the PERM will eventually be approved sometime this summer, thus allowing Castreje to return to Mount Ayr for his normal course load in the fall.
Requests are currently being made to Iowa senators Charles Grassley and Joni Ernst to intervene on Castreje’s behalf to speed up the process.
