Visa Update #3

Woo hoo! We're moving on! We both received this email attachment on April 29/30th, stating that all documents have been received and sent to the London Embassy. Lawrence now has an interview date set, and should then find out whether or not he's been approved. From there, we wait for a visa to be fitted into his passport, then he can book a flight over!

FYI, we will be relocating to Chicago, where I (Shanelle) have been accepted into an MFA program at Roosevelt University for this Fall!

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.