The big day!

On May 3rd, after a long year of waiting, we made the 40 minutes drive to our interview for my green card. Comfortingly enough we had visited the building the interviews were held in, a week before when we went for a meeting with an immigration officer to get some information on our case.

When we walked into the building and through the line to the security check where my purse was scanned and we had to walk through metal detectors; the security officers recognized us from the week before! We told them it was the big day and they wished us luck. I asked an officer where we needed to go for our interview and we were instructed to go upstairs and wait.

We made our way up the stairs to a large room filled with back to back chairs with people from every corner of the world sitting in them. Handing our interview notice to the lady at the desk we took a seat. By this point my heart was pounding. This was it, we were finally here! After a year of waiting we were here doing this for real! We sat for a long time before our interview time neared. As the clock hit 10 0’clock I turned off my phone and waited patiently. Our interview was scheduled for 10.15am and this time quickly came and went and we remained seated. This gave me time to watch how it all worked!

There were about four doors surrounding the seating area where the immigration officers would come out, go to the desk and call the person next in line. I watched intently, seeing how to officers interacted with people. I turned to Adam and said “She looks nice I hope we get her!” Many of the officers did not greet people as they took them through the doors, while others shook hands with a smile and chatted with the nervous people being interviewed.

There was a vast range of people in the USCIS building and looking around it made me wonder what they were all there for! Opposite us sat a couple going through photos while I assume the mans wife, was telling him where the picture was taken who was in it and when. Their names were later called by two separate officers and they went to two separate rooms so I can only assume that they were there that day for a stokes interview. (An immigration interview where spouses are separated due to suspicion of visa fraud) But who knows I could be totally wrong!

Around about 11 o’clock our names were called. Clutching my folder close to my chest, I stood and greeted a very smiley immigration officer who shook our hands and introduced himself very politely! We followed him to a door at the end of the room; everyone watching us, wondering what would await us behind those doors! Through the door we walked down a long hallway of glass window offices, able to see some people being interviewed. When we reached our assigned office, we sat and were asked to stand to take the oath. As we sat again, the immigration officer told us this wouldn’t take long and he would get out of our hair as soon as possible (I thought if anything we would be getting out of HIS hair!). He made a joke that this wasn’t an interrogation and he wasn’t going to shine a light in our faces and shut us in a dark room. This made me totally relax! I had read horror stories online that said do not under any circumstances joke with the immigration officer. So hearing him make jokes with us totally set me at ease!

He started by explaining that he would ask us both separately some questions. He started with Adam, asking his name, date of birth and address. Then came what he called the “Million dollar question”, What is your wedding anniversary. “March 23rd” Easy! I thought. He then asked what year, which to my surprise Adam responded after some hesitation…2013. I looked at him and said jokingly, “No! 2015! We met in 2013 so you’re half right” The immigration officer joked about how he was trying to whisper the year to Adam and he didn’t want to get him in trouble with me! How funny!

Moving on, it was my time for the questions. Again I was asked my name, date of birth and address. He also asked me what my status was when I entered the United States and what date I entered, along with at which airport I landed and was inspected by an immigration officer. Then came the part that nearly had me giggling! When you fill in the I-485 Adjustment of Status form, there is a section that asks a bunch of questions along the lines of; Do you plan to overthrow the government? Have you ever been a prostitute? Have you ever been arrested? Have you ever been a member of any terrorist group? Both the immigration officer and I clearly knew none of this was true. I am a 20 year old girl from the English Countryside, I have not lived a very exciting life! Obviously my answers to all of these were no; he just needed to clarify that my answers on my I-485 matched my answers on the interview day. He asked if we had any evidence that we wanted to submit, to which we handed over the lease to our apartment with both of our names on. He said “Oh this is good.” He took a photocopy and handed it back to us.

He explained that everything was good and there were no issues and that he would make a decision that day. Following that, I would receive an approval letter and my green card in the mail about 3 weeks after this. He never explicitly said that we were approved but given that he explained the approval process, we did not expect to be denied. He asked if we had any questions and we did not, so we shook his hand and he walked us back down the hallway and to the door where we shook hands again.

And that was it! We actually sat longer in the lobby waiting than we did getting interviewed! It was a super easy process and no way near as daunting as I had dreaded it would be.

Our interview was Tuesday May 3rd and I received my approval letter on Saturday May 7th! I danced around the kitchen in excitement! I was ecstatic! They say that the green card should arrive 3 weeks after the approval notice and so far we are at 2 weeks. One more week to go. If we do not receive my green card by next week then I will call and ask where it is! I am so excited for this process to be over! Next is applying for a social security and a drivers license! I am so excited to get a bank account! My UK debit card is not always accepted over here so I have trouble spending money unless it is in cash! It’s the little things right!

82 long days

After our last snippet of information was received from USCIS on June 25th, we have heard nothing positive. We received a letter to say we didn’t file the medical records so we must take that to the interview when we receive a date…well that would be all good and well if we would be receiving our interview date any time soon! It’s been 82 days exactly since USCIS received our latest request for evidence. Yes, I counted. After 60 days of hearing nothing you are allowed to call and ask questions. After 82 days I am growing increasingly frustrated. I have called two or three times in the last couple of weeks and after calling today, I was told “You are still within the normal processing times for this type of case so you must wait now to receive an interview date” Oh how nice it must be to spew out this information to frustrated petitioners at home while you have a job and an income!

It’s becoming incredibly boring checking the mail everyday and staring into an empty box. I feel like I cannot look forward to anything anymore. Family members birthdays, Christmas. I have no money to contribute to anything. Yes of course Adam provides for our family but I want to contribute too! I want to be able to go out and see something desirable for our home and buy it there on the spot because I am working and I have the money to do so! Instead I am just able to dream about the day that I can do that and leave the item on the shelf.

Adam frequently reminds me that this is a journey we embarked on together and one we will face together. As frustrating as it is to sit at home with no money and no car, it warms my heart when he says that because I know he will truly always be by my side. And he is right, this is a journey we decided to start together and we knew what we were getting ourselves into when we filed that paperwork a long five months ago.

My frustrations come from the waiting; the unknown. Will I be able to work by Christmas or will I be waiting until next March? Another one of my unanswered questions that I must wait a possible further 82 days to find a resolution to.

What they don’t tell you

When the prospect of moving to the United States comes about, it seems like such an exciting venture. A lifetime with the person that you’re so crazily in love with; a new life together. You hear all the stories about how people went through the immigration process and it was such an exciting time for them. Well here’s what the love stories don’t tell you.

Immigration proceedings are no fun. They are a lot of money, a lot of time and a hell of a lot of waiting. It’s going through weeks of stress to get together all the relevant paperwork only to send it in and be told that you’re missing documents. It’s checking the mail every day waiting for a letter only to be disappointed once again when it’s empty. Staring into an empty mail box is like staring into the emptiness of your future.

The excitement of getting to be with your husband or wife is such a magical feeling; yet that’s all you seem to hear. You don’t hear the struggles of the spouse that sits at home all day and has to rely on people because their paperwork hasn’t been completed yet. Months of waiting means a crumbling of independence. For those that don’t have a drivers license, it means relying solely on your spouse to drive you around. Or if you’re lucky enough to have family members here too, it’s them having to drive you around as well. There’s the stress of not knowing anyone outside of your family and your spouses friends; the longing for the friendships you had in your home country and the heartbreak that you can’t just pop round for a cup of tea with your best friends back home.

I’m at the point as you may be able to tell, of frustration. I feel like a burden to those around me. I have had to latch on to family to do things for me that I can’t; driving, paying for things. My independence is gone. Yes I’m living with my husband in a new country and it’s oh so exciting. But am I able to contribute and do things without having to ask anyone to help me? No. And God damn I hate it. I want so badly just to drive to Walmart and pick up groceries with my OWN money that I went out and earned for myself. I want a proper life.

I knew this journey would be tough and it would entail a lot of sitting at home and relying on my husband. He does a bloody good job of supporting our little family all my himself, I just long to take that pressure off of him. I’ve been here for six months now and we are four or so months into our immigration proceedings, which seem to be at a standstill. I think that’s where my frustration is coming from at this moment. The last letter that we received was to tell us that I would need to take my medical papers to my interview, which I would receive the date for soon. And that was about a month ago. Since we sent in our very first set of paperwork, everything moved pretty fast and we heard something new every couple of weeks; however now we are left in the dark waiting for an interview date. I feel hopeless and just like a burden because I am unable to do anything other than sit at home and have people run around like blue arsed flies for me when I have things I need to do.

I am grateful for our journey and I try every day to find patience in it; some days I do this better than others. But for right now, I have hit a mental wall. This is not a post to scare anyone. When I started my blog, I decided to be honest with what was happening along our journey so that I could help others also walking the same path. It will be a rewarding experience for sure, but for now it is a very tough one. However, it is not a journey that I am willing to struggle through. We will all have our tough days, but it is waking up the next day and deciding to change our mind set and have a better day.

So much to report!

Well we’ve had a busy two or so weeks! On May 27th (My best friends birthday may I add. Happy Birthday James) we headed to my biometrics appointment in Dallas! I was expecting the office to be in the center of the city and it was just on the outskirts; at a place that we’d looked at some apartments previously but didn’t move to because the area was dodgy! It really was in the strangest location.

My biometrics appointment letter contained lots of codes, numbers and letters that meant absolutely nothing to me so in the days running up to it, I researched what it all meant. The majority of it I was unable to find any information on; probably because it is all for USCIS use only which is understandable. One thing I was able to find out was what “code: 3” meant. This meant that I would have all 10 fingerprints taken along with my picture taken and my signature. I also read that for those that hadn’t changed their name yet to bring along your marriage certificate.

On the day of my appointment, we took the quick half hour drive and arrived around 2.35pm; my appointment was at 3pm. I was expecting a very intimidating building but it was far from that! We got in line and I handed over my appointment letter and passport. Because my name on my passport did not match my married name, we had to sit in a separate part of the building to have my details checked. A grey haired man appeared from a room and by not saying a word, took my paperwork, disappeared into a room for about 5 minutes and returned my paperwork to us. After this we went to the desk with my confirmed married name and were handed a clipboard to fill in some information. It was just the basics, my full name, date of birth and alien number. However it did ask for weight, height and eye and hair colour which I thought was strange but I wasn’t going to argue! When I completed the form I headed back to the desk and was given a number on a ticket; 136. There was a board on the far wall so you could see when your time would come. It wasn’t long before my number was called and I moved over to the right side of the room. I was expecting to be taken to a separate room but it is all done in the same room; it just contains partitions to the side so that they can process multiple people at a time.

I was welcomed by a very friendly woman who immediately asked me if I had an accent and got very excited when she heard it! She was also surprised to learn my age; she thought I was 21 (which could totally work in my favor for the future if I want a glass of wine with my dinner!) She took all ten of my fingerprints and then again, rolling each finger from side to side. I then had to sign my name on an electronic signature pad and finally had my photo taken. I was allowed to smile in this one and it looked a lot better than the one I sent off in my application which I was happy about! And that was it!! I filled in a small card to say how my experience was and we were done! Our appointment was at 3pm and we were back in the car by 2.55pm. A super speedy process!

I have read online that it can take the FBI 3-4 weeks to process the fingerprints and get them back to USCIS. However, as it happens, our application has been suspended. But not for any bad reason. We had a letter this week to say that they required further evidence from us; a different affidavit of support. We sent the correct form for the form I-130 (Petition for alien relative) but not for the form I-485 (Adjustment of status) so we need to fill that in and send it off along with Adam’s tax information. Our case status said online that our case had been suspended which initially scared me! But when I read on, it is just until they receive the requested evidence from us. So essentially a “pause” and not a suspension and just another stepping stone in the process. We have 87 days to send off the requested evidence but we will be sending it off as soon as possible to get things back on track! I am still positive for our process!