In this case, I mean Sword as my Mr. Sword, not the actual weapon. At this point, most of you know Mr. Sword is from Scotland, because let’s face it, I talk about Scottish stuff all the time!
obligatory photo of Scottish castle by Miss Sword
Mr. Sword has been in the US since early 2009 and is able to work here because of his L1 visa, which is all fine and dandy, but when you are here on a visa, you have very limited control on where you work, live and can move. While he’s happy at his job, it’s scary to think that they are the only reason he’s able to stay in the US.
However, after March of 2013, we can begin the process of applying for a green card because Mr. Sword will be married to yours truly. We are looking forward to being able to make decisions for our new little family based on what is best for us and not because we have no other options. The process of applying for a green card is daunting to say the least. I know it can vary from taking a year or so to about five years, depending on what country you are from and how long the paperwork takes to get through the system.
I have no idea where to start, but I’d like to begin compiling the necessary pieces before the Big Day if at all possible, and that is why I’m thinking of purchasing THIS book:
image via Nolo Law for All
It looks like it could be very informative, but also very long and boring. And not every section applies to us. Case in point, “If you are getting married for legitimate reasons, you can skip this section and continue reading at Section D.” They want to make sure you’re not trying for a “sham marriage.” NICE.
This books appears to cover things like collecting and managing your paperwork, how to prepare to meet with US officials, navigating the two-year testing period, what to do if you’re rejected, how to renew green cards and visas and tons more! While it seems like it’d be helpful, I’m still undecided on whether or not this book is worth purchasing…isn’t there a blog I could read instead?
In the meantime, I have some FAQ’s of the Swords…
What is a green card really? According to this website called USA VISA Express, “A Green Card holder is a status that grants a person authorization to permanently live and work in the United States.”
Does this mean Mr. Sword will become a U.S. citizen? No, having a green card is different from being a citizen. From my limited understanding, Mr. Sword will still be a Scottish citizen and unable to do things such as vote while he’s living in the US. And to be honest, Mr. Sword has no desire to become a U.S. citizen, he’s proud of his heritage and so am I; we want him to be able to live here full-time while still embracing the culture he is from.
How much does it cost? A billion dollars! (I’m kidding.) Too much. I have no clue at this point, but I heard from a mutual acquaintance who married an Englishman that it’s 500 dollars for me to sponsor him and 1000 dollars for him to apply. But this number depends on whether or not we hire a lawyer or an online source to help guide us through the process, which could add a few more thousand to our overall number. Right after paying for a wedding, too! Puke.
Will they interview your friends and family? Possibly. I hear that could happen. I’ve also heard we should start saving old emails, photos, and cards from our life together, as well as utility bills with both our names on them. Umm, maybe we can submit our wedding video as evidence? 
Will your kids be duel-citizens? Yes, I think so! I guess even though our children will most likely be born in the US, because Mr. Sword is Scottish and I’m American, our kids will be citizens of both the US/UK. Some resources say you need to register them with the British Embassy, and others say just get them passports from both countries and you’ll be set.
Mr. Sword has the best way of describing it, which always makes me smile. He says when our kids fly over to Scotland, the customs people will be like, “Hey, welcome back!” When our kids fly home to America, the people in customs will be like, “Hey, welcome back!” Currently, when Mr. Sword and I travel abroad we go through different custom lines, so it’ll be nice for the kids to be able to hop in the “welcome back” line instead of the “What are you doing in this country?” line.
So that’s what’s on my mind today. Does anyone have any tips or resources I should consider besides the book I’m looking at currently? Please be kind if I have posted misinformation, I’m still learning about all of this stuff!
I am in a similar situation! My FI is Scottish too 
He’s been here longer, since 1999, and is already a green card holder, but we are starting the process of renewing his green card. He doesn’t want citizenship either – no benefit for him.
From what I know, most of what you list is correct. Start saving photos, bills, etc. Your wedding video isn’t enough – that just proves you got married, not that you actually like each other. Save travel receipts, fmaily photos, anything and everything.
Yes! Our kids will be dual citizens. I’m just annoyed that I can’t get UK citizenship unless we live there for 3 years (which we’re not planning to do)
Congrats Miss Sword, on finding a Brit who already had a visa 
haha. My fiance and I went for the k1 visa (im guessing you are k3) and had to wait in our respective countries until the visawas approved- that time apart was so hard, not to mention the fact that we couldnt set a wedding date!
Id strongly suggest you wait on hiring a lawyer, you may want to at a later time if you run into troubles but id say thats highly unlikely. Also, they are highly unlikely to interview families, just include a notarised letter from your parents in your first package just for good measure. It will be obvious to them that youre a real couple and thats all they’re really concerned about. So save your money for all the paperwork and medical expenses! (I must add, things become a little more complicated if he has been married before or is bringing children over, but otherwise you should find it plain sailing…especially as hes British.)
My advice is to scour the internet instead of buying books, britishexpats.com is great, look at their wiki section. Also, just read each form thoroughly and ensure you provide all the correct required evidence. It seems like alotat first, but when you break it down into the steps that are required, its really very simple. Youre right to start collecting evidence now – don’t forget things like the long version of his birth cert etc.
Anyway sorry for my rambling, but I hope this helps! Good luck
Disclaimer; Not giving legal advice just my personal experience.
I have a son with dual citizenship! We applied for his American passport 2 weeks after he was born, but we didn’t get the Dutch one until we moved here. One important thing to note, the papers that you get at the hospital are VERY important (the ones you fill out before you get a birth cert and SSN.) These are the forms that you have actually signed declaring Mr. Sword as the father. Pretty sure you’ll have to register the baby at an embassy or consulate, but you’ll have to go there anyway for the passport. We also have NO idea what will happens when our guy turns 18. (My dad had dual citizenship until at age 18 Germany wanted him to register for their draft. He is now exclusively American.)
It is so great that you are thinking about this early. I actually got my Green Card through my previous marriage and it is quite the painstaking journey filling out all the paperwork etc. I did it myself, but I did mine the brain of my old company immigration lawyer before that. Because Mr. Sword is getting his Green Card through marriage it should be pretty quick once the paperwork is in. I think I submitted my paperwork in the late June/early July time frame and received my work permit in mid-August. My husband and I had to go to an interview with USCIS, but it only lasted about 20 minutes and we weren’t asked any of those weird, random questions that people say you get asked. I think the good news for Mr. Sword is that he is already here, has a job, and has his visa through work. The guy who interviewed us looked at my resume and history and said that I had multiple options for coming to the US so he wasn’t worried that it was a sham marriage or anything. I think they worry when someone moves here because they get engaged to an American and get married but they were not here before.
I am MORE than happy to help out a fellow ex-pat so please do let me know if you have other questions. Like I said, I filled out all the paperwork myself but also got the tips on how to put it all together from a lawyer. I think I still have my notes.
Good luck!!!!!
Don’t bother with the book or a lawyer. Just read the guides and forums at visajourney.com. I was in a similar situation to Mr Sword and got my greencard in 3 months.
I’m going through the process right now (I’m from Denmark DH is American) and we’re doing it without a lawyer – the hardest part was finding out what forms we needed etc.
The cost for filing was 1490 so it fits with what you’ve heard.
I’ve been in US for 8 yrs on a work visa and I can’t wait to be “free” from my company and not having the “we’re paying for your visa – so you can’t do so and so” hanging over my head.
We submitted the paperwork 2 weeks ago and I already got my first appoint notification – so green card through marriage is def much much faster than what my co-workers are going through (getting gc through our company)
If you have any questions as to filing and paperwork – let me know (its all “fresh” in my mind)
I agree with the PPs above. No lawyer or book needed. You can download all the forms you need to fill out, with all the information you need from http://www.uscis.gov which is who processes everything. They have all the information on the site – you can even track your application once it’s in. Don’t get forms or anything from anywhere else since someone else might charge for these forms which are free. And it’s best to get the info from the government.
I could have written a very similiar post to this. My fiance is here on an E-2 visa. Luckily, he was able to renew his visa last year so he can stay at least another five years. Going to London for his renewal was extremely stressful as him having been denied a renewal would have really shaken up our lives.
I really would suggest getting at least a consultation with a lawyer. We went to an immigration lawyer and for seventy five dollars she went over our particular situation and gave us a list of items we should start putting together and what to expect. Of course, she did say we may as well get married and start the process now which I’m not ready to do. Since it really can be quite a complex process it was good to have someone outline everything for us. She definitely put us at ease and let us know that meeting with the interviewers can be much easier than you see on tv. Of course, we’re saving emails, texts,cards etc just in case we need them.
I’m excited for our children to also have dual citizenship (American and Scottish). I get excited thinking of our little ones in kilts . Good luck!
British Citizen, not Scottish Citizen – there’s no such thing as Scottish citizenship as Scotland is part of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The only thing that might be Scottish on a UK passport is your place of birth. Just saying…
Getting into the states is difficult. It’s complicated to get tourists visas, they make a background check of your bank account, morgage, job, family history… I mean the are PREPARED so you need to make sure you’re being honest cause they alreayd know if you’re not.
A friend of mine is married to a Scottish guy and she was adamant about having her kids there because of dual citizenship (If your parents are mexican, no matter where you’re born you’ll get mexican citizenship) turns out she didn’t need her kids to be born in Scottland, as long as they were daughters of a Scottish citizen and the girls have both, it’s sweet how proud they are of their Scottish heritage.
Maybe you can submit a link to you posts on the bee as evidence
Customs will let families go through customs together even without a green card. My family has always gone together and nobody singled out my German dad (who doesn’t have a green card because he lives in Europe).
My fiance and I are wanting to travel to Scotland for our honeymoon! Is it just as amazing as I hope it is?
My brother and his wife (who is Philippine) went through this too – family was never called. I don’t know much about the process though.
Thank you everyone for all the amazing advice and personal stories! It’s so good to know other people have been through the paperwork and made it out safely! haha And yay for kids with duel-citizenship!
@MrsCov: Thanks but I’m aware of the difference, I know he’s technically a British citizen and I’m not sure if you’re from the UK or know any Scottish folk, but Mr. Sword prefers to reference his Scottish heritage and does not particularly like being called “British,” so I avoid it when I can.
@krislynn_sd: How exciting! You’re going to have a great honeymoon!@Kit_Kath: hah a love this idea!
I went through the same process! It was so incredibly easy, but I’m also a Canadian who married an American. My late husband and I were married for 8 years when we finally applied for my green card, and it took only 3 months for me to get it. I’ve had it for 5 years now, and am actually getting my citizenship later this month. I did hire a lawyer, but you don’t have to if you don’t want to. Don’t count on them interviewing your friends and family, they didn’t do that to us. In fact, they didn’t even look at any of our pictures/letters or anything else to prove that we were married etc. I guess the fact that we were married for 8 years by then, and had four kids really worked on our side lol. I still kept my Canadian citizenship, and thankfully won’t have to give it up when I get my American.
Just make sure you dot your Is and cross your Ts…do not make any mistakes. That’s why I hired a lawyer, he was well worth the cost, and he’s representing me for my citizenship hearing too.
Good luck!!
Oh, I also wanted to add…make sure you make 125% above the US poverty level…you have to make enough money to sponsor him otherwise you will have difficulties. They will want to make sure you make enough money to support him, and I don’t think they will take his income into account. However, it has been 5 years since I applied for mine so I could be wrong if it has changed since then.
Skip the lawyer. My fiancee is from Ireland and was in the US on a work visa. We applied for a marriage-based green card. Once you turn in the paperwork and go through the interview (which was about 10 minutes), he had the green card in less than 30 days. Google forms you don’t understand, and make sure you fill everything out completely. It’s a PITA, but if you do it right, the entire process is actually very easy. We were shocked at how easily he received his green card!
@Miss Sword: As others have said, skip the lawyer (or even that book for that matter!). As long as your petition is straight forward, you shouldn’t have any problems.
My FI and I are currently undergoing the K-1 Fiance Visa and will have to do the AOS (Adjustment of Status) to petition for a green card once the government lets him in the country and we can finally get married!
One website that has helped me tremendously and that I consult religiously is http://www.visajourney.com . You can ask questions and people who have gone through the process before you will be able to answer them with confidence. They also have great guides for all types of visas and even timelines for when you should be expecting an approval! It’s been such a good help for us that I can’t recommend it enough.
A few good pages for you specifically would be:
Guide to AOS: http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide2
AOS Forum Page: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/7-adjustment-of-status-green-card-from-family-based-visas/
UK Forum Page: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/99-united-kingdom/
Scotland Portal Page: http://www.visajourney.com/portals/index.php?country=Scotland
Feel free to PM me if you need any more information!
Wow between your post and the comments I just learned a ton about getting a green card/citizenship! 
So interesting! I hope it’s an easy process for you and Mr. Sword.
Oh well I never realised how complicated it all was! It really annoys me when I hear of sham marriages to help people get a green card because it makes it harder for honest people like you and Mr Sword! If they want proof you are for real show them your blog!
Mrs. Sword, Chicago Age and Occupation: 28, Nanny/Actress Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Software Engineer Engagement Date: February 19, 2012 Wedding Date: March 2013 Venue: Embassy Suites Bloomington West in Bloomington, MN About Me: I am a true girly-girl originally from the great state of Minnesota and my fiancé hails from the beautiful country of Scotland. We met and fell in love in our favorite city, Chicago, and are having a blast blending our cultures for "A Highland Fairy Tale" wedding! We are truly a case of opposites attract in that he’s a world traveling introvert and I’m a social butterfly who is never too far from home. We both love hanging out with family and friends, fine dining, and laughing at ourselves. He drinks a lot of beer and I talk too much. We wouldn’t have it any other way!
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