Visa Update #2

I have finally heard from the National Visa Center (NVC), after 2.5 months of learning it was sent to them. Basically I received a letter saying they received it, pay them more money, and send in more paperwork, and then it will be forwarded on to the consulate in London.

But of course, they need more money before they can do anything. This time it is labeled the "Affidavit of Support Fee." Yes, pay us money so we can read over your paperwork to see how much money you make, which is probably not enough, in which case you will have to pull all the information on some family member and their financial assets and drag them into this whole process. And then you'll probably have to pay us more to look over their paperwork. And then we won't say anything to you again for probably another 3 months.

Ok, that was a little tangent-rant that I went on there. But really, it's not a very straight-forward, simple process. This immigration process is more than just filling out a form, it is a set of processes and dozens of forms.

Anyway we are now moving forward!

*Here's hoping for July/August!*

The (Frustrating) Process of Immigration

We spent a long time deliberating where we'd live.

When we'd first gotten engaged, we were pretty sure I was going to move to England. It seemed the most logical way to go, since Lawrence had a stable job. And I...well, I hadn't long graduated from university, and I had no idea what I was going to do next with my life. At the time, I had taken a jump in the dark and accepted a position as an Au Pair in the French Alps.

But the more we looked into my immigration, we discovered how difficult it is to immigrate. The UK is not a cheap place to live (especially as close to London as Lawrence and his family live.) He wasn't making enough money for us to even qualify to apply for a spousal visa. So after mulling it over for a while, we decided we'd live in the US, at least to start out. It's much cheaper, and applying for a green card for the US requires less than the UK.

That, however, does not mean it is easier or faster. We thought about going for a Fiance Visa, then Lawrence could just stay after the wedding. We did not plan far enough ahead for that to be plausible. We were not aware that it takes 5 months for them to process and application, and when we decided to take that route, we were less than four months from our wedding. I also had no place to live and no job, so no way to support us.

We decided to cancel the fiance visa (a $450 loss), do the wedding, and Lawrence would return back to the UK and we'd go for a different approach.

It was rather surprising how many people told us (and still tell us) that Lawrence should just move over here illegally and try to do it that way. I know a handful of international couples and got their different opinions, and none of them suggested "illegal." One couple, she was already living here as a student, so all she needed to do was an adjustment of status (and even that is not a simple process; they got married in 2013, and she is still waiting for her green card.) The other two did what Lawrence and I decided to do: live separately until the visa came through.

This process is actually cheaper than getting a Fiancee Visa and requires one less step. Those who come here on a Fiance visa have to file for an adjustment of status, which also costs. Going for the Spousal Visa, the "beneficiary" (immigrant) is given green card status once they are accepted to move into the US.

I sent in our application the beginning of July, just a couple weeks after our wedding. It was accepted mid-July, and then sat around for months. (5 month processing time). In this time, I started two new jobs, quit one, hit a dog, had my car break down, bought some furniture, spent Thanksgiving with my family before they moved (briefly) to Guam, and watched more Netflix than is healthy.

In December, I received notice that it had been forwarded on to the Department of State. I presented the letter to Lawrence on Christmas morning when I went out to England for the holidays.

So now comes more waiting. From this point, we need to wait for the application to be sent to the embassy in London. ( I will have to send in my financial information). When it arrives there, Lawrence will have to fill out another application, get a medical check up, do an interview, send all that back, and then wait some more.

We are hoping for July or August.

As for now, we just going about our life as we have been the last 4.5 years, reluctantly separate and perpetually perturbed with the sloth-like governmental processes.

Destination: Wedding

We got married June 14th, smack dab between our birthdays.

Where he popped the question

We'd been dating four years by then, back and forth across the Atlantic Ocean. I was living in France when Lawrence proposed, (this happened in France, on top of a mountain looking down over the city. Total surprise, by the way. I had assumed it would happen, but not for at least another year.) Lawrence and a friend of his had done a bike tour from Paris to Lyon, and I met up with them. Lawrence and I went on a walk, and he presented me with a ring fashioned from bicycle bits.

This was the ring Lawrence made.

Our engagement was ten months long, six of which, I was still in Europe. It took us about four months just to decide which country to get married in. After much deliberation, we decided on America (due to the fact we could do it much cheaper than in England.) Planning a wedding from over an ocean is a bit of a head ache; luckily my goal was to have it as cheap and simple as possible; and I had quite a bit of experience with weddings from my three years as a catering server.

This is the ring we chose together

We had originally thought to have a 2 year engagement, but my parents really pushed for it to happen ASAP, because "Why wait?" (They literally suggested getting married in January, right after my time in France, like 4 months after we got engaged.) So we got married in 10 months, and are still waiting to live together, so the "why wait" has turned into "because we have to" --a fact that seems to bother everyone else more than us. 

Rylee's (sister) first time in the ocean

Mom and Grandpa Larry

We chose the Oregon Coast, where my brother is serving a mission for the LDS church. He wasn't able to come, but it was still cool to be in the same area he was. My grandfather also lives out there, and we had a great time spending some time with him, especially since it's been over a decade since I'd last seen him.

But the wedding itself worked out. And it was beautiful. I went for a destination wedding on the Oregon coast, with a total number of 25 guests. I drove out from Wyoming with my mother and one of my sisters to Oregon about a week before the wedding. Lawrence and a friend of his flew out  a couple days later, so Lawrence and I could get our marriage license in time.

We had some last-minute meetings with the officiant and the caterer--the caterer was really great and pretty much gave us a discount because I had told her I'd done catering and really just wanted it to be hassle-free as possible. She offered us some more decorations, and turned the room at the Florence Event Center beautiful for us.

Lawrence and I had booked a rental house right on the coast in Yachats for our wedding party to stay. The Galloways opted to stay somewhere else, but Lawrence's parents, aunt and uncle (who came from a week in New York) and both our sets of friends stayed at the house with us.

Beautiful Oregon Coast day.

Two nights before the wedding, we were doing airport runs late into the night. Lawrence, his dad and Phil went to Eugene to get Ben (who was Lawrence's best man), while I made my way to Portland to get my two bridesmaids and an old high school friend of mine that is a brilliant photographer. (That drive was terrifying: through the mountains, in the dark, in the pouring rain, at 2 in the morning.)

We had a day before the wedding to just relax and spend some time together, letting our two sides get comfortable with each other. (My family was in Portland, and didn't mingle until the day of the wedding.) I made my cake, we went to the beach, had a night of pizza and fried chicken. Lawrence's American relatives from Wisconsin joined us for dinner at the house.

The day of the wedding dawned bright and warm, hardly a cloud in the sky. Lawrence was a bit of a nervous wreck, but Linda (his mom) made us all pancakes. Us young-un's went on a stroll along the beach. My mom and sister came over to get ready. I sent Stephanie and Keili (my bridesmaids) to pick up the flowers while my sister did my make up and hair (she's into that stuff, and I am not.) I finished decorating my cake, got in my dress.

The ceremony took place at the top of Cape Perpetua at an old stone shelter looking over the ocean, the horizon clear. (When Lawrence and I had scoped it out a couple days before, it was pouring rain.)Vows, rings, some old stuff at every wedding. We wrote our own vows, Lawrence teared up, Shanelle giggled.

We took a few photos in the woods, then Lawrence and I did some at the beach. Quick and clean...I'm not much into formal photos.

We were the only group at the Events center, so there was no worry about bothering other guests. We had BBQ for dinner, a first dance (to the Eels' "I Like the Way this is Going") had some cake (the best part in my brothers' opinion). Keili and Ben gave speeches, and we just generally enjoyed each other's company.

We only had 25 guests, so it was really a chill atmosphere, and meeting with everyone was easy. After dinner, my family went back to their hotel. Those of us at the house stayed up for quite a while, laughing and joking, sharing anecdotes. The next morning, we were all on our separate ways.

Lawrence and I went to San Francisco for our honeymoon, we managed to have 5 clear, sunny days while we were there, and it didn't get foggy or rain until the day we left and drove hours and hours back toward Utah.

We did the rounds back home; went up and had some time with my Galloway grandparents and my family, since we didn't see much of my family while we were in Oregon. We had dinner dates with some of my friends. And then Lawrence flew home.

Just prior to July 4th, I completed our Spousal Petition with the USCIS (the immigration office), and so began the wait for Lawrence's immigration to America.

And here is a tip for everyone thinking of planning a wedding and getting married: just elope.