What is the total number of toilets, tubs and sinks in your house?

This is Part 7 of a series on How to get your husband or wife a green card.  Check out the whole series here.

You did it! You made it to the interview.  After all your paperwork is approved, you will get an appointment for your immigration interview.  Both of you must attend this interview, as well as any children you two may have together.  I was so nervous about this I bet I cried everyday for like a week.  Your appointment letter has instructions on what to bring and what to wear.  I turned to the internet to figure out what to "study".  There are all these websites that list 100's of questions that you will be asked.  If you aren't shady, they won't ask any of these.  I later found out that these are used when you have to be split up because something doesn't seem right.

The night before I had found a picture from every event that Dufda and I had ever attended, every time we took a trip together, every time he saw my family, basically one picture from every month we had been together.  I sent these off to Sam's Club to be printed.  When I went to pick them up, there was something wrong with the order and they weren't ready.  I broke down into tears and told the guy that he was going to cause my husband to be deported.  Dufda took me to Taco Bell to make me feel better.  We got the pictures.

That morning we woke up and got all dressed up.  We headed over to Homeland Security and went through security.  We had to wait in a room with everyone else who had interviews scheduled for that day.  There were definitely some people that were trying to cheat the system.  I know they were able to watch us while we waited.  We finally got called in and were interviewed by a older, very kind lady.  She went over our application and asked Dufda some questions and then handed him a book that said Welcome to the United States.  That was it!  Dufda insisted on showing the lady our wedding album.  She played along because Dufda wanted the Immigration interview experience.  She asked us what kind of milk we drank and what Dufda got me for Valentine's day.  The last one he forgot, but he is a guy, what can you expect.  We received his green card 4 days later.

The green card that you get is a conditional green card.  After two years the conditions will be removed if everything still looks legit.  There is more paperwork to file within 90 days of your 2 year anniversary date.

Happy 1 year anniversary to us!! Now time to eat some year old cake!

You will be BFF's with the customer service rep at USCIS

This is Part 6 of a series on How to get your husband or wife a green card.  Check out the whole series here.

 

This process was very confusing for both Dufda and I.  He had friends that had gone through it, but I never knew anyone that had to go through this process.  I looked online at every forum and website there was trying to figure out who to call, what to send, and where to go.  It was still confusing.  When I was in doubt, I called USCIS.  Their phone number is 1-800-675-5283.  You are going to get frustrated because it is automated, but I have a trick.  You need to just stay on the line, past the automated menu, and they will always transfer you to a real person.  These people are really nice and will help you with everything.  The one even told me I was a good wife for trying to get everything correct.  This makes you feel better when you are on the verge of tears and drowning in paperwork.

So you have all these appointments, but no driver's license...

This is Part 5 of a series on How to get your husband or wife a green card.  Check out the whole series here.

Immigration is going to make you very familiar with everything your town has to offer.  You are going to be running around trying to find doctors, get pictures taken, become a regular at the post office, and go to appointments and interviews.  If your visa or status has expired, guess what, your driver's license most likely did too.  You as the U.S Citizen, will need to shuttle around your spouse to all these appointments that occur during normal business hours when you are most likely working.

Tip #9 - Before you start this process, I would make sure you have atleast a couple days off that you can take.  Some appointments may only require a half of day off, but it will all depend how far away you live from these offices.

If you started a binder like I had mentioned in the first post, you are going to very prepared for what you will need to do next.  Your spouse needs a driver's license.  Every state is different, and allow you to obtain this at different times throughout your application process.  We are in Pennsylvania, so I will just share my experience.

Not only had Dufda and I just got married, we had also just moved to Pennsylvania from Ohio.  We both held Ohio Driver's Licenses.  In the state of Pennsylvania you are required to have two forms of proof of residency, as well as a ton of other papers that all differ from person to person, and I mean the person you see at the DMV.  I was required to change over my license before Dufda could obtain his, so I could vouch for him that he lived with me.  The first time we went, they entered in his information and it didn't approve the application right away.  We had to go home and wait for the application to be sent to Harrisburg for further approval.  We then had to trek back to the DMV to get his driver's license.  They give you one for 2 years.

All the extra forms and appointments...

This is Part 4 of a series on How to get your husband or wife a green card.  Check out the whole series here.

I am going to just start with a tip here:

Tip #8 - If you have ever received any vaccination, in any country, make sure you have a copy of this record.  If it is not in English, make sure it is translated.  You will need this and it could save you money and you could avoid having to be vaccinated for things that you are already vaccinated for.

Medical Exam

As an applicant for permanent resident, you are required to have a medical evaluation done.  The U.S doesn't want anyone with syphilis, tuberculosis or really anything for that matter coming into the U.S.  You will need to have form I-693 filled out by a civil surgeon.  Wonder what the heck a civil surgeon is?  I did too!  Well the bad news is, they most likely aren't your family doctor.  The good news, I bet there is one somewhere around you.  You can search for them here.  Another drawback, even if you have insurance, this exam will not be covered by it.  The civil surgeon basically holds all the cards here.  They set the price of this exam, typically around $200.  There are some places that will charge you individually for all the test that need to be done, this is even more expensive.  The civil surgeon basically told us that if we refuse any of the shots or tests that are recommended by the Health Department that we will have to stand up in from of a judge to explain this.  Ultimately, Dufda could be denied by not getting, say, a flu shot.  Any vaccination that you cannot prove that you have, will be administered again at your own cost.  Flu shots are required.  Dufda's TB test came back inconclusive, so we had to get him a chest x-ray, which I thought was totally unnecessary.  This was an additional fee not included in the exam fee.  After it was all said and done, the medical exam, vaccinations and x-rays were about $600.

Affidavit of Support

So, you marry this foreigner and think you are just going to sit back and be a housewife until he finds a job.  Think again.  When petitioning for a spouse to become a permanent resident, you must supply evidence that you can in fact support both you and your spouse for, here is the kicker, 10 years!  They do this so that they do not have immigrants overloading our financial support system.  As if you have not given the government enough of your information, you will now have to fill out form I-864, to prove you make at least 125% of the current Federal poverty guideline for your household size.   Need to figure this out?  Here are the guidelines.  You will need proof of current employment from your employer.  This needs to include what you get paid, how many hours you work, and how long you have held this job.  You also need photocopies of your most recent tax return.  If your job or income has changed, it is suggested that you send the tax returns from three year ago up till now.  

Biometrics Appointment

After you submit your I-485, you will receive an appointment notice from Immigration services telling you when and where to report for your biometrics appointment.  You will need to bring this appointment letter with you.  This most likely is going to be scheduled for a time when it is completely inconvenient for you, but do not reschedule.  If you call to change this appointment or any others, it can greatly delay the whole process.  At this appointment, your spouse will be fingerprinted and photos will be taken.  It happens at an immigration office close to you.

Travel Document

If you are anything like Dufda and I, you and your spouse would like to be able to travel to see your spouse's family.  In our case Dufda hadn't been home in 4 years, and I had never met my in laws.  Our honeymoon was going to be to Jordan but we were unable to take it directly after we were married because of the limbo status you are put in when you are filing these forms.  We never really did figure out what that actual status was.  Some people said to revert to his OPT status, other said it was called "filing form I-485", who knows.  I still don't.  Since you are in limbo you are unable to jump on a plane and go abroad.  Well, I guess you can, but you most likely aren't going to be allowed to get back into the U.S.  Form I-131 is the application for a travel document.  You need to fill out this form and include a copy of an identifying document, I-797 (which was sent to us I believe), a copy showing your present status in the U.S, and a copy of receipt of the application of I-485.  This was all sent in and when Dufda received his EAD, travel authorization was printed right at the bottom.

Now it's your spouses turn...

This is Part 3 of a series on How to get your husband or wife a green card.  Check out the whole series here.

   
Your spouse has to fill out the I-485, which is the application to register permanent residence or adjust status.  You can get this form here.  You are going to send this in with the I-130, in the same envelope, but make sure that all paper work is organized and securely attached together.  We do not want to make this hard for whomever is opening up this package.  This form is where your spouse is going to be asked a ton of questions about his intentions to become a permanent resident of the U.S.  These will all be read back to you at your interview, so you will have to answer them in person as well.

Tip #6 - If your spouse has the intent to engage in espionage, is a member of the Communist Party, killed a person, or had anything to do with the Nazi Government, now is the time to go get an annulment because they aren't getting into or staying in the U.S.

This form must be sent in with several pieces of initial evidence: 

• Any evidence of criminal history
• Medical Exam, I-693(refer to the next post and I will talk about this)
• Another G-325
• Affidavit of Support, I-864 (this is also talked about in the next post)
• Birth Certificate (If it is a foreign one, it must have the translation with it)
• Copy of the passport page with visas
• two identical color photographs, passport style
• a marriage certificate
• any other document you may think pertains to proving eligibility

The filing fee for this form is $985, plus a $85 biometric fee.  After you turn this in, you will get a notification that you must report to the immigration office to have fingerprints and pictures taken.

Tip #7- Before you put this all in an envelope to send out, make another copy of everything that is going in the package.  This way you know what was sent, in case you get a notice saying you were missing something. 

On top of this entire packet, include a G-1145, which is the form that will provide you with E-notifications of updates.  There are still more forms depending on your situation.  Tomorrow's post will cover those.

Shortly after you file these forms, your spouse will receive his EAD (Employment Authorization Document).  They can now work!!

After the wedding bells...

This is Part 2 of a series on How to get your husband or wife a green card.  Check out the whole series here.