Weddingbee Blog

of 2011! Ha, have I taught you nothing? This is a process that never ends, it goes on and on my friends…

We’re about to remove the conditions on Mr. D’s provisional green card/permanent resident card. That’s right, we’re in a provisional marriage. Our learner’s permit of matrimony, if you will. Basically, to ensure that you’re not in a sham marriage (and I assume, to collect further revenue) after you receive the K-1 (fiance visa), then after you are married and complete the adjustment of status you receive a provisional green card—valid for 2 years from receiving the card. In our case this is January 2010, so when the government refers to anniversaries… they mean when you received your card—not your wedding anniversary.

You can apply for your 10 year card as soon as 90 days before your expiry date. For the past year or so, I’ve been having flashbacks to our engagement year. Moments such as, “oh, we should save a holiday card to send to the government,” or “don’t forget a picture of the two of us, we need evidence!”  If you don’t submit the forms, evidence of your relationship and $590… you get deported. So obviously this needs to be completed.

It’s a stressful situation for so many reasons, but it’s also a strange position to find yourself in: trying to view your relationship as an outsider, making sure you look like a real couple, proving to someone you’ll never meet that you are a couple in a real marriage.

I’ll be collecting the financial statements saying our bank accounts are intertwined, and plane tickets to show we go places together—because I have to. But I hate this process, I hate that it makes me feel that the burden of proof is on us, that it costs so much money that it is never ending.

I hate that I have to try and and plan our vacation before December 31, 2011—because if we don’t receive something from the government saying that Mr. D can travel, we’ll be on the lower 48 lockdown and unable to leave (really it’s the return part) to the USA. I hate that I have to plan and save for fees I’ve already paid (do they really think his biometrics/fingerprints have changed in 2 years?). I hate that I have to go through all this while watching other married friends never worry about such things.

We’ve sent the paperwork to Vermont (our filing service center) and have received the receipt and his appointment for re-fingerprinting. After that, we wait for the next instructions from the government.

D’orsay immigration posts:

• Post 1
• Post 2
• Post 3
• Post 4
• Post 5
• Post 6
• Post 7
• Post 8
• Post 9

Sweet baby J - you’re on post 10!