As most of you know, I married a Canadian man. And in doing so, we had to worry about how we were going to get him to be legal for fear of him getting kicked out and banned from the United States of America for up to 5 years. (We both actually know 2 people that this happened to. Scary, I know). So we decided to be as careful as possible. We spoke with a Lawyer who stated that the best and most correct way to do this carefully and along government policy would be to get married and then immediately John would have had to go back to Canada to wait for his Green Card. That would have been months... HELLO! How crazy. We were NOT going to do that. So we tried the next best thing, which is stay under the radar so that John could stay here but not do anything like work or anything until he got his green card. In this process we were counseled by a Lawyer to wait 90 days after we had gotten married to apply. So we did.
We applied in October 2011. It was a tedious process in the beginning. We had to make sure we had all the correct documentation and that we filled EVERYTHING out in the proper format and manner. It is a little insane what they make you go through. Once we got everything in, we had to wait. and wait. and wait. Finally, John got approved for his "employment card"! We were ecstatic! But they did not issue him a SSN. We were a little confused, if the US wants him to work, wouldn't they want him to pay taxes?? hmmmmm... anyway... so that was an issue. Then the paper came telling us that we had an interview with the government in Boise, Idaho and we had to be there at 8:30 am on a thursday morning.
On our list of things to bring were pictures proving that we were legit and loved each other, all the serious documentation like birth certificates, marriage certificate, passports... etc. One of the things they wanted was correspondence between John and I. I thought that was interesting. So I prepared and gathered as many things as I could think of that would show that we were serious. Utility bills, rental agreement, insurance, phone bill, bank statements... everything.
I also called a friend who had been through this same thing and spoke with her and her husband about what it would be like. They did this process in Salt Lake City, Utah and the advice that they gave us was- Do NOT joke, Tell the truth, Answer honestly, Do not laugh... etc. You bet we got a little more nervous! What if it didn't work out!?? We had heard awful things about people being denied etc. We had to start talking about a back up plan. Would we need to move to Canada? If we did what would the plan be? Where would we live? How would I get a job? All these issues began to make me very minutely vexed, but vexed none the less. The requests that the government were demanding were just obsurd to me. John isn't someone they should be worried about. He isn't just trying to get into the US. He really does love me and we can prove it just by walking in the room. BUT the government has a protocol, I know. And they do not know him and have no idea if we are faking it or what.
So Wednesday comes and we drive to Boise. It is a 4 1/2 hour drive from Rexburg, we had a lot of time to practice our stories so that they were identical so that the government couldn't trick us. How we met, where we met, how long we date, whats my tooth brush color, whats his, whats his favorite color, whats mine....
The morning came and I was so nervous, I was sweating. It was one of those cold sweats, You are hot but your finger tips are cold and your feet. It was bad. We walked into a building right about 8:30 AM and we said what we were there for and the guy was like, you are in the wrong building... we were like CRAP!!!
We took off running, I think it would have been funny to see the fear on our faces and then we took off running! haha John ran to the car and I ran towards the building. He picked me up and boom! We were there. We go in and its like going through airport security. Then we sat and waited. Again. haha
Finally we were called in by a woman who seemed nice. We got into the room and she started cracking jokes with us, laughing, giving John a hard time cause he is a man and didn't remember the exact day of my birthday. (Punk!) Then she asked how we met and basically sat there and ooohed and and ahhhhed over our story. Then I showed her our proof of pictures from our wedding, etc and she kept saying, "These are gorgeous! Oh my gosh, these are GORGEOUS!" She gave them back to me and said that the pictures were too beautiful for an immigration file and they didnt belong. We laughed. The interview lasted a total of 17 minutes. 17 minutes.. seriously? She hadn't him a document and said, You're green card will take 7-10 business days. WHAT???!?!?! That fast!!!!!
She was the nicest, most sweet woman ever. We were so lucky we had her for the interview. She loved us and we were grateful. As we were leaving she said, "Man! This is the easiest thing I have done all day!" haha
6 days later John got his green card. WAAAAHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! We can travel now!! Looks like we are probably going to Canada and Turkey this summer!
Can't Wait!!!!!!
PS If you ever need advice about Green Card stuff, come to us. Not a Lawyer.
Showing posts with label Green Card. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Green Card. Show all posts
Monday, April 2, 2012
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Updates, updates, UPDATESSSSSSSS!!!!!
Lately, I have been sooooooooooooooooOOOOOOoooooo busy that I have not had a chance to do much other than work, come home and make dinner, and then spend what time I have with my Husband. I have recently been given a chance to serve in my church doing something that does require a lot of my time, energy, and takes up most of my thoughts. I am honored and humbled to have this calling in my church and I am enjoying every minute of it, however trying to find the balance of life has been quite a bit of a struggle. In the process, I have neglected the opportunity to write on this here blog. So I apologize in advance to Christy Pethel, whom I had promised I would post at least once a month. I failed you in February Christy and I promise, if I can help it, I will not fail you again. Good! Glad I got that off my chest! Next on the updates....
Things are going great here in good 'ole Rexburg. Its freezing, but what else is new. It is always cold here. Well actually, this winter has been very unique. Usually, it snows and that's it for dry ground. It will snow and stick for the rest of winter. Not this winter. Instead, it will hardcore snow for a day and the next day it will be warm enough to melt everything. I love it! Recently though, it snowed for 3 days straight and sadly it isn't melting. Maybe winter has finally arrived.
I have a job where I work for a woman who owns a book business. She buys and sells books online. She has an entire library covering her basement of her house full of books. It is an amazing business. I am lucky to be working with her and for her. She is a great woman and I have learned a lot from working with her and getting to know her. She is one of those people that you feel grateful to have gotten to know. I like her. And I think she likes me. It makes for an enjoyable job. I go buy books in the morning and then I pull the books from the list of the ones that sold that day, then I package and weigh them and label them for ship off. Then I list books online until my brain wants to explode. It's very fun and interesting. It is awesome when we find books that are worth SOOO much more than we purchased them for. For example, she purchased a set of books for $25.00 and recently sold them for $399. I don't know about what you think, but I think that is AWESOME! I was so excited to see her success. She is a pharmacist by day. I just got nervous thinking I have already mentioned my job and this whole scenario in a previous post. If I have, just ignore this. And.... Sorry?
John is doing well in school. He is loving his Real Estate class.... like... LOVING it. Hmmm... I wonder if we are looking at a future career possibly in Real Estate? His major is Business Management with an emphasis in either Marketing or PR. I get excited about the possibilities of what he will decide to do as a career when we officially "grow up" and aren't in school anymore. It will be fun. John is willing to go where ever a job could be for us, whether it is to a different state, maybe even country (most likely Canada). I am excited to see where life will take us one day.
John and I are in the process of getting him his Green Card. We have good news!!! We got all the paper work in (which was a REALLY long process) and we got our interview with the Government on March 22nd! This is quite a big deal because of how quickly we got it after we finally got all the paperwork in. We are anxious about it because we have heard it is a fairly detailed process. We have to show original documentation of everything that connects us as well as a copy of the documentation or they will keep it. They requested wedding photos to show proof that it was not a scam, as well as any bills or renter agreements that connect us. It is kind of insane. One of the craziest things I found out we will have to do is answer questions like "what color is his toothbrush, what color is yours?" and we have to answer them the same. A little dramatic don't you think? I immediately thought of the movie "The Proposal"at the end when they are answering all those ridiculous questions about each other. John and I have joked that we hope that they are LDS so that we could bring our Sealing certificate from our wedding and say, "Look! We aren't scamming anyone, we were sealed for time and ET-ER-NITYYYYY! If anyone is being scammed, it would be us!" .... maybe we just thought that was funny. Please refrain from judgements. Thank you.
Wish us Luck on the 22nd of March... we will need it. I think.
Something super exciting that has been going on is that John's mom Ayse Hitchins wrote a book about her life. It is called, "The Worth of a Soul; From Muslim to Mormon"... You can find it on amazon.com or go find it at Seagull Book. It is an easy read and really very interesting. I wish I could buy everyone a book and give it out like a pass along card. Sorry that I can't afford to give you all one, but go buy it. It is a great book.... and there is a surprise near the end for you... if you know me... haha
One last thing regarding John, his dad sent us the letter that John's birth mother wrote to him when he was born (before he was officially adopted). I read it and wept. It was beautiful to read about what had actually happened and why she felt she had to give him up. She was 19, I believe. She was not very confident in herself and when she received attention from a popular football player from the University she was attending, she let down her morals and values to please him. She began living her life in a way that did not follow the teachings of the Gospel. As a result of her insecurity, this football player treated her badly but she took it because she thought it was so great that he even was "interested in her". After she found out she was pregnant and over the months she was pregnant, she considered keeping John. She started taking care of her body and quit smoking and drinking because she did not want anything to happen to her baby. It was very sweet to read about how much she loves John. I could feel it as I read through the letter. She explained how she had made the decision to give John to two parents who could give him the life she would never be able to give him. She said something to the affect that she was just the way for John to get to this earth but that the parents she was giving him to were the parents she feels John chose. I felt it very unselfish of her to have that attitude. She explained how she spent time in the hospital with him after she had him. She said she just stared at him and could not believe that she had made such a beautiful healthy baby boy. I am grateful to this woman that I have never met. I am grateful that she gave John to such wonderful parents as Ross and Ayse are. If he was not given this opportunity to have them as parents, there is a huge chance that John and I may never have met. I hope one day I can thank her.
One thing she was certain about in her letter was that the Father of John was a man named Marc and he was Black. If you have seen my husband, then your response to this would most likely be.. "What the???" haha.. He is as white as can be. I guess maybe we will really know when I have kids. How insane would that be if I birthed children that did not look like us??? What are your thoughts?
Things are going great here in good 'ole Rexburg. Its freezing, but what else is new. It is always cold here. Well actually, this winter has been very unique. Usually, it snows and that's it for dry ground. It will snow and stick for the rest of winter. Not this winter. Instead, it will hardcore snow for a day and the next day it will be warm enough to melt everything. I love it! Recently though, it snowed for 3 days straight and sadly it isn't melting. Maybe winter has finally arrived.
I have a job where I work for a woman who owns a book business. She buys and sells books online. She has an entire library covering her basement of her house full of books. It is an amazing business. I am lucky to be working with her and for her. She is a great woman and I have learned a lot from working with her and getting to know her. She is one of those people that you feel grateful to have gotten to know. I like her. And I think she likes me. It makes for an enjoyable job. I go buy books in the morning and then I pull the books from the list of the ones that sold that day, then I package and weigh them and label them for ship off. Then I list books online until my brain wants to explode. It's very fun and interesting. It is awesome when we find books that are worth SOOO much more than we purchased them for. For example, she purchased a set of books for $25.00 and recently sold them for $399. I don't know about what you think, but I think that is AWESOME! I was so excited to see her success. She is a pharmacist by day. I just got nervous thinking I have already mentioned my job and this whole scenario in a previous post. If I have, just ignore this. And.... Sorry?
John is doing well in school. He is loving his Real Estate class.... like... LOVING it. Hmmm... I wonder if we are looking at a future career possibly in Real Estate? His major is Business Management with an emphasis in either Marketing or PR. I get excited about the possibilities of what he will decide to do as a career when we officially "grow up" and aren't in school anymore. It will be fun. John is willing to go where ever a job could be for us, whether it is to a different state, maybe even country (most likely Canada). I am excited to see where life will take us one day.
John and I are in the process of getting him his Green Card. We have good news!!! We got all the paper work in (which was a REALLY long process) and we got our interview with the Government on March 22nd! This is quite a big deal because of how quickly we got it after we finally got all the paperwork in. We are anxious about it because we have heard it is a fairly detailed process. We have to show original documentation of everything that connects us as well as a copy of the documentation or they will keep it. They requested wedding photos to show proof that it was not a scam, as well as any bills or renter agreements that connect us. It is kind of insane. One of the craziest things I found out we will have to do is answer questions like "what color is his toothbrush, what color is yours?" and we have to answer them the same. A little dramatic don't you think? I immediately thought of the movie "The Proposal"at the end when they are answering all those ridiculous questions about each other. John and I have joked that we hope that they are LDS so that we could bring our Sealing certificate from our wedding and say, "Look! We aren't scamming anyone, we were sealed for time and ET-ER-NITYYYYY! If anyone is being scammed, it would be us!" .... maybe we just thought that was funny. Please refrain from judgements. Thank you.
Wish us Luck on the 22nd of March... we will need it. I think.
Something super exciting that has been going on is that John's mom Ayse Hitchins wrote a book about her life. It is called, "The Worth of a Soul; From Muslim to Mormon"... You can find it on amazon.com or go find it at Seagull Book. It is an easy read and really very interesting. I wish I could buy everyone a book and give it out like a pass along card. Sorry that I can't afford to give you all one, but go buy it. It is a great book.... and there is a surprise near the end for you... if you know me... haha
One last thing regarding John, his dad sent us the letter that John's birth mother wrote to him when he was born (before he was officially adopted). I read it and wept. It was beautiful to read about what had actually happened and why she felt she had to give him up. She was 19, I believe. She was not very confident in herself and when she received attention from a popular football player from the University she was attending, she let down her morals and values to please him. She began living her life in a way that did not follow the teachings of the Gospel. As a result of her insecurity, this football player treated her badly but she took it because she thought it was so great that he even was "interested in her". After she found out she was pregnant and over the months she was pregnant, she considered keeping John. She started taking care of her body and quit smoking and drinking because she did not want anything to happen to her baby. It was very sweet to read about how much she loves John. I could feel it as I read through the letter. She explained how she had made the decision to give John to two parents who could give him the life she would never be able to give him. She said something to the affect that she was just the way for John to get to this earth but that the parents she was giving him to were the parents she feels John chose. I felt it very unselfish of her to have that attitude. She explained how she spent time in the hospital with him after she had him. She said she just stared at him and could not believe that she had made such a beautiful healthy baby boy. I am grateful to this woman that I have never met. I am grateful that she gave John to such wonderful parents as Ross and Ayse are. If he was not given this opportunity to have them as parents, there is a huge chance that John and I may never have met. I hope one day I can thank her.
One thing she was certain about in her letter was that the Father of John was a man named Marc and he was Black. If you have seen my husband, then your response to this would most likely be.. "What the???" haha.. He is as white as can be. I guess maybe we will really know when I have kids. How insane would that be if I birthed children that did not look like us??? What are your thoughts?
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