Immigration

So after a long absence where was I……ah yes. Immigration.

It seems timely to write this now when tens of thousands of illegal immigrants are marching the streets of major U.S. cities “demanding” rights. That in itself seems a little crazy to me.

I entered the United States on what is known as a K-1 fiance(e) visa. To date I have lost count of the number of times I have filled out my name and address. It must be on every immigration mainframe computer in the country.

Anyway, for those of you intending to enter the United States legally, I can assure you it is a long and relatively costly process. After I asked my now wife to marry me, we embarked on filing for the visa. The process began in early July 2004 and to date, and from memory, I can tell you that I/we have filled out the following forms:

An I-129F Petition for Alien Fiance(e)
A G-325A Biographic Information (in quadruple – twice – once for me and once for my wife)
An I-134 Affadavit of Support (notarised)
A DS-230 (Part I) Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration
A DS-156 Nonimmigrant Visa Application
A DS-156K Nonimmigrant Fiance(e) Visa Application
A DS-157 Supplemental Nonimmigrant Visa Application
A DS-230 (Part II)

In addition to these I had to obtain police records for every country I had lived in for longer than 12 months (which for me was England and Australia – so that wasn’t easy) and supply copies of my birth certificate and passport and more passport sized photographs than I could count. Some full face, some ¾ face with “the right ear showing”

Once all this was done I was called up to London where I had to undergo a full medical examination (and I mean full, they left no stone – or other bits – unturned) and I had to supply my full vaccination history and arrange to get any shots or booster shots that I needed to get done. I also had to have a chest X-ray taken. My “one entry only” K1 visa was then couriered to me 2 days later on December 24th.

Thing is, that is only half the battle. I arrived in the United States in January of 2005. Currently, as it stands, you cannot apply for an adjustment of status or any other paperwork until you are married. So for six weeks I was kind of in limbo because I couldn’t do anything. My wife and I then delayed our honeymoon by a couple of days so we could fill out the rest of the forms that we needed to complete, which were:

An I-485 Adjustment of Status
A G-325A Biographic information (again) – In quadruple (again)
An I-864 Affadavit of Support (notarised)

Along with these forms I had to submit another copy of my birth certificate, another copy of my passport, more passport sized photographs, a copy of our original fiance(e) visa approval notice, a copy of our marriage certificate and copies of three years of my wife’s federal tax return. Oh, and I almost forgot, a vaccination supplement proving I’d gotten the shots I needed.

As well as filing for adjustment of status, I also had to apply for a Social Security Number and file the following documents

An I-765 Employment Authorisation Document
An I-131 Application for travel (because I was not now allowed to leave the country until my adjustment of status had come through and when that was going to be was anyone’s guess).

My employment card came through in May of 2005 (so for four months I was not allowed to work – which drove me stir crazy) and I am pleased to say, my adjustment of status came through in February of 2006. So from start to finish the process took about 19 months. In the midst of all this I got fingerprinted at least three times and had to have a second medical here in the United States and get another chest X-ray taken.

As you can see, if you are going to do this, you need to be really committed to the process, and if you are the American partner in this future marriage, you need to be prepared to support your immigrant spouse financially for the duration between arriving in the U.S. and when his or her work permit comes through. You also have to consider that somewhere in the midst of this there is going to be a wedding and honeymoon and the financial burden that comes with that.

Also, of course, this whole process in itself costs money. I guess from start to finish, I have paid probably close to $3000 to get to where I am today. Hire an immigration lawyer and you can probably easily double that figure.

These costs in themselves will put a huge strain on your relationship, but if you can get through that, then I think you can get through anything.

When I explain this whole process to people, sometimes I get asked if we hired an immigration lawyer to help with all the paperwork. We didn’t. I have to be fair and give kudos to the immigration process. Yes, it took time, but it was all pretty straightforward.

If you are reading this and contemplating following the same path then my advice to you would be this. Unless you really think hiring an immigration lawyer is going to speed the process up for you I would avoid it. I’ve heard a lot of horror stories about immigration lawyers. They seem to cost a lot and the process does not seem to move any faster. If you are English speaking with a modicum of intelligence then the forms are pretty straightforward. Make sure you cross all your T’s and dot all your I’s and my only other piece of advice would be, if you have further supporting evidence of your relationship or if you think there are other documents that you could include that would help your case, then put them in your application too if appropriate. Every little bit of effort will help your case.

The only other reason I would think for hiring an immigration lawyer is if English is your second language and/or you don’t understand the forms. Once everything is submitted, just be patient. These things take time but they do get processed.

My one criticism of the whole process is that the immigration helpline is not very helpful, but you’ll get through it.

For more information about immigration and forms and fees, see the link on the page.