SALEM, N.H. ¬— After leaving the United States last month because of difficulties renewing her work visa, a Woodbury Middle School Spanish teacher continues her efforts to rejoin her family — and her students.
Maria Marcella Villaroel returned to her native Chile after she did not receive written authorization from immigration authorities. Immigration lawyers advised her the best and fastest way to proceed would be to renew her work visa in Chile, according to her husband, Manuel Cifuentes.
Villaroel was unable to get her visa renewed while in the United States, but she was not deported. She is now in Chile, working to get her visa renewed. She is having difficulties because of the unique conditions of work visas for Chileans, her husband said. Since 2005, Villaroel worked under a special work visa — an H1-B1 — that only applies to citizens of Chile and Singapore. It allows people with specific professional expertise to work in the United States.
A minimum of a bachelor's degree is required for an H1-B1 visa. Villaroel has a bachelor's degree in Spanish language and literature, a master's degree in special needs, and a doctorate in education, Cifuentes said. The interpretation of the H1-B1 visa is different from general working visas, which has caused problems for Villaroel to get it renewed, Cifuentes said.
Cifuentes, a medical doctor and professor at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, and the couple's children remain in the United States while Villaroel tries to renew her visa.
Villaroel has worked at Woodbury Middle School since 2005 and successfully renewed her work visa in the past, according to Salem School Superintendent Michael Delahanty. When district officials found out Villaroel was having trouble, they asked U.S. Sen. John Sununu's office for help.
Sununu's office sent a letter to the State Department in an effort to help. That effort was unsuccessful. The senator's office will continue to pursue ways to help Villaroel, said spokeswoman Barbara Riley.
"Sen. Sununu's office is doing everything possible in an effort to resolve the visa issue with Marcella Villaroel so that she can resume her position as a Spanish teacher with the Salem School District," Riley said in a statement yesterday.
For now, a substitute teacher, who is not fluent in Spanish, is teaching Villaroel's classes, according to Delahanty. The district hopes to have the matter resolved in the coming weeks so students can begin to learn Spanish.
Villaroel hopes to continue teaching at Woodbury Middle School once her visa is renewed, according to Cifuentes.
"She loves her job," Cifuentes said in an e-mail yesterday. "She hopes to return to it as soon as possible, and she is working hard to get her visa renewed."
