I will be visiting my fiance for the first time in 10 months and have never stepped foot inside a prison before. I am very nervous and scared because I have no idea what to do nor what to expect. Can someone give me some idea on how what I should expect? He is incarcerated in Leavenworth USP.

Can you please tell me how you managed to get approved for visitation at the USDB? Because I have beeen trying for months to see my husband, and they keep denying even putting me on his visitation list! And the requirements they gave me to be able to vist have all been met, yet they continue to deny deny deny. What did you have to do to be able to visit?:confused:

I had no problem whatsoever! My fiance sent me the forms to complete, I completed them and had them notorized along with two witnesses. It took no time at all for me to be approved. Of course they never contacted me to let me know that I was approved but they did get the approval to my fiance and he mailed it to me. I then telephoned his Case Manager and his Counselor to confirm my approval. What is the holdup with your approval? Maybe I can help shed some light into this. Are you in California? How long has your husband been in USP Leavenworth?

My husband has been there 2 years now. He is in Max custody, so I was told only immediate family could visit. So I set up a proxy marriage in Mexico, paid $600 for the license, and gave the facility a copy of it. That wasn't good enough. Because we were married in Mexico, our license is in Spanish, and now they want an English translation. i got a certified, seal stamped, translation of our marriage license. Now that's not good enough. They want me to verify with the US Embassy in Mexico that this is a legitimate license! The US Embassy can't help me, so I contact the Mexican Consulate here in California. They have had my original license for almost 3 weeks now, and I know they are working on it, but they have to wait from word from Mexico to verify the information. Which they said may or may not ever come! In the meantime, the facility wants me to be fingerprinted, and have a background check done to make sure that I am not a felon. So I have to go to the Dept. of Justice in Sacramento (a mere 2 hours from me) to have them run a check on me!! I am jumping thru every hoop that facility gives me, and everytime I accomplish one order, they give me another. I have been doing this for 6 months now, and I am STILL not on my husbands visitation list, and they are STILL denying my visitation!! I don't know where else to turn!

Everyone that is requesting visitation has to have a background check, but the prison usually does the check after you send them the completed forms. Maybe you should have just said that you were his fiance and gotten in faster. Have you spoken directly with anyone at the prison such as his counselor or case manager. If not, try contacting them and then send them a certified or registered letter requesting information. "Copy" everyone, including the warden. Make sure to copy in Priority mail that should include...the warden and the counselor and whomever you speak with when you contact the prison directly. Let me know how things go...

I have spoken to almost everyone there in some way re: my husband. The Mental Health Doctor, DR Galloway, has said it is in my husband best interest NOT to have contact with his family. They took away all of his phone calls, and all of his visitations. And yes, even his mail!! I don't know who his "case worker" is. How would I find that out? I have complained to the Chief of Staff, the Command Judge Advocate, even the Inspector General there at Leavenworth. They all say they will "look into it" but nothing ever gets done! It's one excuse after another....for 6 MONTHS NOW!!! All I want to do is visit, I don't want to play any more of their games!

PS- You said your visit was approved...have you gotten to actually visit yet? Because my visit was approved once too. I bought my plane ticket, my hotel room, and rental car. 3 days before I was to leave, I got a phone call saying I couldn't visit afterall. My visitation DENIED!!!! That was May 16th. I'm still waiting on a letter or something from the facility to tell me why it was denied. Because "THEY'RE LOOKING INTO IT!!!!!!":fb:

No I haven't visited yet. This is my first visit with him. I phoned the prison, spoke with visitation, case manager, and counselor. They all confirmed that I was approved and on his list. I even have it in writing. I wouldn't dare travel that far and not have confirmation of visit in writing. As far as finding out who his case manager is...what you need to do is call the prison, when the they ask you if it's concerning an inmate, tell them yes and they're going to ask you for his name and sometimes they'll ask you for his inmate register number. Tell them you want to speak to his case manager or even his counselor. They'll transfer you to their office. Sometimes it's really hard to catch up with them and sometimes you won't get anyone at all. But keep trying. Ask them if they'll give you the case manager and counselor's name and they usually will. Let me know hwo things turn out...

Thanks for your help. When is it you are expected to visit? I am certainly not trying to burst your bubble because I know that every situation is different, but I too had confirmation. My husband's had other visitors actually show up there and been turned away on their APPROVED visit day. I truly believe it's a personal thing against my husband tho. I'll work it out...somehow. As far as what to expect, I've heard alot of different stories. Don't wear anything too revealing. Skirts or shorts have to be knee length. No see thru anything. Or you won't be allowed in. I was told of coarse you have to go thru a metal detector, and you have to check in your purse, and lock up any back pack's or purses in a locker. If you get a face to face visit, I was told you can bring change in your pocket for soda and vending machines. But no excessive contact. You can hold hands, and you're allowed to kiss hello and goodbye. Nothing more than that I believe. You'll need to check in at the front desk with a photo ID. And other than that, I don't believe you have much more to worry about. Good luck to you, and I hope your visit is a great one!! Enjoy it for me, because I won't be having one! LOL

I hope that you have checked with them about visiting, they are still on lock down and the warden is still on vacation until Monday.

They did get 4 hours out of their cells today to shower and make phone calls, but then right back to lock up. The warden announced before he left if there is so much as a fist fight I will lock everyone down again.

softie

The prison is still currently on lockdown and should be off by the time I go to visit. My trip is June 26 through June 30. If I can't visit, I'll just take in some sites and take a long needed vacation. Thank you both for your input!

Yes they are still on lockdown, I did recieve a call this morning and the Warden won't be back from vacation until June 16, he may not let them out even then. He has threaten to lock them down if someone breaths wrong.

I hope you are able to visit.

softie

Hello. Yes i got to talk to my fiancee today for about 15 min. He also called last thursday but i was not home. He said they are gradually letting them out of their cell. He said they have 2 guards in cages with guns on them in the chow hall. He said hopefully in the next week or 2 they can have visits again. I also got approved to see my fiancee at leavenworth and have been going there for over 1 year now. I met him there. Maybe it depends on your husbands situation sunkntresr. I'm not sure. But i know it isn't a good place at all. No prison is but i never imagined some of the things that have gone on. Spg be sure not to wear any thing kaki because thats what the inmates wear, nothing sleeveless or low cut. No shorts but u can wear capris. No warm up suits or like sweats. You can't take in over $20.00 and no larger than five dollar bills, or u can also take change. U must use a see through bag or put money in your pocket. I use a small clear bag like u find in the cosemetics. Something with handles. You can't take your purse in there. You have to lock it up in your car. Inmates can't go to the vending machine. You can hug and kiss when u get there and leave. And hold hands across the little plastic table. The guards depending on who can be real lets say smart . I think some don't like it cause i'm white , he's black. Some just like to try and break them down. You are not supposed to talk to other inmates or their family. They use that one alot to get onto inmates. One who isn't on this rotation feels as if all inmates there are bad and they shouldn't get any recreation or do anything. They get to watch movies and stuff. I feel like they need stuff to keep busy. Plus all inmates aren't bad. Yes some made wrong choices. My fiancee is there on a drug offense. He has hopefully learned but i also know he was on the streets at a young age and thats how he learned to survive. But there are alot of people doing 25+ . My fiancee hopefully will be out Febuary 2006. But it is no picnic spg. But the lady that is working at the viitation desk witt she is real nice. The guards usually rotate and change areas every 3 months. But Witt has been there up front for her 2nd rotation. Some of the guards are respectful and treat u nice and some don't. The last time i was able to visit around 16th of may the guards were okay. I have just learned to turn the other way. It is a fight in there to survive and u really can't change anything. I was scared at first too but i got used to it some what. But every time an inmate is stabbed or killed it still horrifies me. 3 that i can remember have died since i have been going there. There is always fighting going on though. Sorry to write so long. My fiancee if u don't mind wondered what your fiancee's name is and what unit. He thought he might know him. My fiancee's name is Tavares and he's in A unit. A-3. Take care and i hope this helps some.

Jennifer

thank you so much jenno27...I really appreciate the information. Everything will be so helpful to me. My fiancee is there on probation violation from louisiana and he is in SHU. I have to visit him behind a window. I really wished I could get at least one visit from behind that glass. Are the visistng hours Friday through Wednesday and what are the times. I really don't know what times to go or anything. He use to be able to call me kind of often but now he can only call me once a month. Any help is appreciated.

jenno27
my fiancee used to be in A-1 Unit.

Damn, I don't get to visit, but at least my husband can call me once a week! And I haven't gotten to visit either but I was told if I did, it would be behind glass too. :( But It's better than nothing! I'd be happy with it if I could have it!

that is exactly how I feel about it. I would love seeing him any way I can. I welcome the chance to visit him behind the glass window...I just want to see him. I phoned the prison today and they said hopefully they'll be off lockdown by then. They also said that I should get at least an hour to visit with him depending on how many people are there waiting to visit.

Visiting hours are Friday-Tuesday from 8:00am-3:00pm. And on the weekends you have to be there by 9:15am or else u have to come back around 11:oo am after they do count. Since you will be visiting in shu, they only do so many a day in shu. I think they try to do 4. The last one they get in is around 1:00pm. And if someone is over there when the inmates go to lunch they have to stay, they won't switch out visits during lunch. Because when you go over to shu, they put the whole prison on lockdown . You will be escorted through i would call it the main hall leading to the cafeteria, and out a side door. through a few gates and around to shu. They sometimes have inmates outside when u go but they are behind a fence , and then there's the inmates either working or hanging around the cafeteria. my fiancee has been there 3 different times in the last year. The second trime they locked up alot mof inmates when they found alot of drugs on the compound. He was one. He sat in there for 33 days and they had the fbi there interviewing but they never talked to him. They finally let him go and the rest because an inmate was killed and they had a big like sort of riot , i guess. He said when they were bringing him back from shu they had out the sticks, shields, and etc. When they found the drugs on the compound they were found on an inmate , so they knew who had it but they were trying to figure out who gave it to him. It was an inside job of course. But they locked up like over 100 inmates. My guess is, since he is there on a drug offense, he was one of the chosen. But he was never questioned or anything. This was like n febuary when it was cold . They have to come over from another building and all he had on was a thin jumpsuit and no coat. He was sick the whole time Because besides being cold out, the heat barely worked in there. I was appalled! So anyways i've visited the shu quite a few times. Sometimes you are left in there longer than an hour if no one does come to visit.

jennifer

again jenno27...my heartfelt thanks to you! My fiancee told me it was really cold in there so I sent him enough money to get any and everything he needed to keep warm and eat. I sure hope I get to see him though! If you're around during the time I'm there, stop and say Hi! I appreciate all the information you've given me. So, do you think I need to be at the prison on Friday around 7:30am or is that too early or not early enough? And on Saturday and Sunday, should I be there around 8:30am? I'll still be in town on Monday and my plane leaves at 5:00pm on Tuesday, so I might can get in on Tuesday morning to see him before I leave town. What do you think???

again jenno27...my heartfelt thanks to you! My fiancee told me it was really cold in there so I sent him enough money to get any and everything he needed to keep warm and eat. I sure hope I get to see him though! If you're around during the time I'm there, stop and say Hi! I appreciate all the information you've given me. So, do you think I need to be at the prison on Friday around 7:30am or is that too early or not early enough? And on Saturday and Sunday, should I be there around 8:30am? I'll still be in town on Monday and my plane leaves at 5:00pm on Tuesday, so I might can get in on Tuesday morning to see him before I leave town. What do you think??? Ohh...will I be allowed to visit him more than once a day?

I was told by a correctional officer that if a person travels over at least 100 miles to visit someone incarcerated that they have to accomodate you as far as a visit goes. It may be non-contact but nevertheless its a visit, maybe you could check on that through the prison your loved one is in.

How on earth did you all get in to visit at Leavenworth???? I have been with my guy for 4 years and we fought for visits even using BOP policy and my US Representative and nothing! They said I was a threat to the security of the institution because I was a guest at a Spiritual Gathering. We finally gave up but congrats. to any one that gets in! We get to see each other every 6 months at the gathering. I live very close and could go a few times a month. He has been in for 10 years and has not had a visit since 1996. His family is all far away.

Well I'm glad to see it's not just me then. I have been fighting with that facility forever to visit my husband, and every single request has been DENIED! They always have some B.S. excuse as to why I can't visit. Me being a Security Violation was one of them. I live in California, and one time they did tell me I could visit, so I bought the plane ticket, took the time off work, and 2 days before I was to leave, they changed their mind, and denied me again!! I too, would like to know what it takes to visit!!!

Hello. I want to be sure we are all talking about the Federal USP Leavenworth right? Not the camp, or any of the other couple of prisons right? My man is at the USP and has been there since January 2001 from Virginia. He has almost 3 years left. I had to fill out a visitors form which i had to send to his counselor along with 2 notarized statements saying we had a relationship or knew eachother prior to his incarceration since i was not a member of his immediate family. I'm not sure exactly what they look for on the background check that they conduct. I've heard that they check for felonaies but i don't know what else. So around 3 weeks after i submitted the form i was approved. It seems awfully funny that they wouldn't let an inmates immediate family visit and i'e never really heard alot about visitation problems there. i think there is a seperate spot for inmates in protective custody so that would be the only kind of inmates and even they might get visits i'm not sure. There are several inmates that have ran ads for pen pals and get visits so i don't really know . I'm not sure of all the policies on apprval and denial of visits since i haven't had those problems. I'm sorry that you 2 ladies have encountered those problems . I know it is hard to deal with having a loved one in prison and those visits also help them to kind of get away for awhile from the every day life of prison. Espically at leavenworth . I never imagined how bad it was until my experience here. I have been to a few county jails and like 2 state Penitentiaries in Missouri but this place is by far the worst that i have had experience with. At first all of the violence shocked me but i expect it now, but it is something u never get used to. Take care.

Jennifer

My fiance' is also at USP Leavenworth and just like jenno27, I had no problems whatsoever getting approved. I had to go through the same exact process for completing the visitation forms and I was approved immediately. My man is in SHU and I had to visit with him behind a window, but I did get to visit with him everyday. Depending on whether someone else is there to visit SHU or not, I get longer visits. I am so sorry you guys have go through this. Good Luck!

Well I assure you Jennifer, I'm talking about Ft Leavenworth when I say those bastards keep denying my visitation. You would not believe the chaos they have created between my husband and I just to get me approved to visit. And they still refuse to even put me on his visitation list!! They have child molesters visiting with their victims but my husband can't even visit with his wife! It's atrocious, and I've done about all I can. I'm like the last lady, I've given up even trying.:(

I cannot believe all of the denials that I am hearing about in here. That is unbelievable!
I applied for my visitation to see my man back in September of last year. Same process, notorization, 2 signitures etc... but I was approved within a couple of weeks. They informed him, but I never received any kind of paperwork confirming it though. Since then, I have been out to see him (which is a 3 hour plane ride) twice, and am on my way again within the month.
For those of you that have been denied, I cannot even begin to imagine the hurt you are feeling because of the decision against you. However, I don't think you should "give up" on it at all. You should keep trying. It continues to show your loyalty to him, your love for him, and your determination. It shows them that no matter how THEY might feel about him, as an inmate, he has someone out there that loves him, and cares about him, and realizes how much he is a human being and NEEDS that kind of communication, and... your consistency just might pay off in the end - and how wonderful would that be? If not, you would only end up right where you are now.... it is MORE than worth the effort. I can't imagine how hard it is though, and how stressful it is on you to go through it, and the fighting back and forth with the prison. But, try to keep focusing on the goal...and maybe you will get your prize.

As for the visitatons, I was there at about 7:55am each day, and they let us out at 3pm. Not much sense getting there at 7:30am because... they don't even want you walking up those GAZZILION stairs until 8am.
I WOULD advise the following though: Everytime you go inside for a visit, you have to present your ID, and fill out a short form stating your name, who your visiting, and that you have no firearms or contraband etc on you. I would advise that if it is allowed (and I am pretty sure it is) when you are leaving, pick up another form, or two (depending on how many more days you are going to be coming) to take home,or to the hotel with you so that you can have it filled out and READY for them the next morning as soon as you get there.

Reason being, the longer it takes you to fill that form out when you get there (its not a long form, but... still) the longer it will take you to get processed. Others that are in the waiting room will be filling out their forms as well, and until your form is finished, they won't take your ID or anything. So, the first person done their form, is the first person processed through to the visiting room, and therefore (most of the time) the person they are visting gets out to see them sooner. it just saves a lot of time.. and you need all the time you can get.

Because they won't even CALL to the guys until you have been processed so... the more time you can save, the better.

Just a lil advice ... :)

Do you mean the Federal BOP is actually making you get notarized statements saying you have known these people proir to incarceration now?

I filled my form out back in 1998'ish...and all I had to do is put a dadte on the paper of how long we had known each other, which was way beofre they got their hands on him! lol

It is a new policy to have the notarized statements. Most people in my situation just lie on the form but i was scared in the beginning to do this and have regretted it ever since! I fought for months and went all the way to Washington with no luck. We decided to back off so if he is transferred I can try again. Enjoy those visits! They are truly a blessing!

Hi. Saturday was the first time I actually visited this sit. I have been trying to get info on Leavenworth prison camp. My boyfriend just went in there on Sept. 2nd. I haven't got to see him yet or talk to him on the phone, but I have gotten some letters from him. He said they were supposed to be sending me the forms to fill out so i can go see him, but I haven't gotten anything yet. Do you know about how long it takes? I also wanted to know how many visiters could be on his list and does he have to send forms to them as well? I also wanted to know how many visiters could visit at a time? Any info you could give would be greatly appreciated because this not knowing is driving me crazy. Oh, by the way I live in KC, MO so I'm only like an hour away from there I don't know if that matters.