While you might have thought my silence regarding the official legalities of living in America now meant it was all complete - my silence has in fact once again reflected the waiting period. Last week everything seemed to come together and we've finally managed to get somewhere on the two things we were filing.
Along with filing for my change in status to become a resident [more on that shortly] we filed for me to be allowed to look and accept work and on what popped into our letter box but my brand spanking new official card for authorisation to look and take on work. I half love and half hate this step. Don't get me wrong I love the idea of having a bigger money safety net, we can think about a bigger apartment and buy even more vintage things. But with being out of the work cycle for six months I'm use to pleasing myself, crafting and blogging. I haven't needed to look or apply for a job over three years ago and I'm out to sync with how to write a CV or sell myself. I do know I'm darn well determined to actually do something with my two degrees yet I still long for blogging to make me money [never going to happen seeing in over two and a half years only one company has ever asked me to get involved with them].
Along with filing for my change in status to become a resident [more on that shortly] we filed for me to be allowed to look and accept work and on what popped into our letter box but my brand spanking new official card for authorisation to look and take on work. I half love and half hate this step. Don't get me wrong I love the idea of having a bigger money safety net, we can think about a bigger apartment and buy even more vintage things. But with being out of the work cycle for six months I'm use to pleasing myself, crafting and blogging. I haven't needed to look or apply for a job over three years ago and I'm out to sync with how to write a CV or sell myself. I do know I'm darn well determined to actually do something with my two degrees yet I still long for blogging to make me money [never going to happen seeing in over two and a half years only one company has ever asked me to get involved with them].
Anyways ...
With regards to applying to change my residency we got a separate letter summoning us both [Joe has to go too] for out interview to prove we have a proper, proper marriage. How they judge one relationship from another being real is beyond me but we have to follow the line. We have to take piles of evidence but more legal documents. Alongside the marriage certificate you have to take bank statements with both your names on etc etc. Now here I could really start ranting again - if they knew just how hard it is to get your name added onto American things when you not a citizen is a nightmare. While I'm on the bank account I'm not allowed a bank card. I can't get added onto Joe's health insurance, because I'm not a legal resident. The story continues. I've thought of printing out blog posts to show we're "real" but I have no idea if they'd expect them, so time to reprint photos and take old birthday, Christmas, Valentines day cards and see were it goes. I know what we have is real, but when you're trying to show that to other people, it's kinda hard. The interview isn't till the end of May so we have some time to try and figure out what to take and no doubt I'll be ranting about it again. Fingers crossed they'll see what we have is real and I'll be on my way getting lawful residency for two years. Wup!
Gosh what a difficult situation to be in, but I hope this is the final hurdle for you now. I never realised it was so difficult moving countries etc, but I am sure it has been worthwhile xxx
ReplyDeleteYeah, the finale hurdle for two years anyway then it all starts again!
DeleteOh gosh it all sounds so complicated but I'll keep my fingers crossed for you! xo
ReplyDeleteBest of luck :D! You'll be fine I'm sure. You guys have a happy marriage so your passion will prove you are legit.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I mean I know what we have is real but it's trying to show other people that which scares me!
DeleteIt's ridiculous the amount of paperwork that has to be presented to prove it's "real" marriage. The US has one of the hardest naturalization processes around.
ReplyDeleteOne of the ways I've heard people prove their really married is by having a child. I think it's wrong to bring a child into the world just to prove that a couple is truly married.
I've never heard of that to be honest and we would never think about doing that to stay. I keep thinking i'm fair too young at 25 to have babies haha
DeleteI'm on the same boat as you. I'm 27 and my mom and mother-in-law are waiting with bated breathe for the day I get pregnant. No thanks. I'd like to enjoy my husband before popping out a kid.
DeleteI really had no idea residency was quite so complicated - what a difficult thing to have to define; that you have a 'proper' marriage/relationship. I really hope it proves less stressful than it sounds hun
ReplyDeleteJem xXx
That;s what I mean, I think it's all subjective to the particular relationship. I mean how do people who don't think you need to be married prove that to visa people?!
DeleteAwww, sounds good about the work thing at least it's a step towards the right direction :) I can only imagine how hard it is to show people that you're in love with regards to documents. Hope it goes well though hun :)
ReplyDeletexxx
That is one thing - at least we're heading forward! Thank you :D
Deletegod, american's don't do things easy do they!? xx
ReplyDeleteTell me about it!!
DeleteGood luck (not that you'll need it) :-) A girl I know did it the other way round to you and came from the US to be with her husband, that was a drawn out process but didn't seem quite as drawn out as yours is.
ReplyDeleteIn comparison to a lot we've been fairly quick. I think it all depends on which embassy and which filing city you're working with in honesty.
DeleteLovely blog!
ReplyDeletehttp://xtheperfectmess.blogspot.com.au
At least the end is in sight! If they except photos and things I don't see why they wouldn't except blog posts.
ReplyDeleteYeah I think i'll print off a load of blog posts, it can't hurt can it really!
Deletepopping over from beautiful clutter to say hi!
ReplyDeletei know how you feel! i had the same experience when i moved to live with my husband (then boyfriend) to the UK from my country Indonesia. I do hope everything went well. We gave wedding photos for my settlement application but gave the home office our printed emails to show the dates when we started talking when i was applying for marriage visa in British embassy in my country.
susan
Yeah I think I still have a lot of the emails I took to the american embassy in London so we have that and it's easy enough to print off more of our wedding photographs and a couple of us together from our random days outs.
DeleteThey want you to be on the same bank account? That's odd to me. I know several married couples, including my parents, who have separate bank accounts and their names do not appear on each other's.
ReplyDeleteYeah I mean I'd want to be on Joe's bank account regardless my money is his and vice versa, but the way to get there is a minefield.
DeleteThe end is in site indeed. We just starting the process of applying for PR here and this kind of thing fills me with dread. Even when you know you have nothing to hide the process itself can be so daunting and intimidating, even when you understand why it has to be so. I'd definitely print blog posts out - they clearly show dates and comments dated from that time too - every bit of evidence helps and the worst they will do is dismiss it. We had to show evidence for our temporary permits here to get officially notarized as common law partners - we used UK bank statements, phone bills, Facebook messages and photos, emails, and even confirmation of flights we took together for holidays.
ReplyDeleteWorking in another country is weird and applying and even writing my resume again for this county was weirder than I thought it would be too so I do sympathize. Good luck with it all! x
What I find so hard about is the just pure lack of information they provide and total miscommunication within the same information that they do give you. Luckily i'm a hoarder for boring things like receipts and flight information so I know we all have that somewhere haha
Deletethat interview sounds scary, i hope it goes well for you both!
ReplyDeleteI'm truly dreading it!
Deletecongratulations on getting your work visa/authorization!!! I do know how you feel about going to work after months of having all the time in the world for crafting and blogging and such. It's a pain, but you get moneys too, though :)
ReplyDeleteI totally don't know how the heck people actually can tell if you're married properly or not. My aunt had to do this a few years back, and she was given a packet with some questions or possible scenarios that could pop up. It's weird.
♥ laura
the blog of worldly delights
the shop of worldly delights
I'm not sure if knowing the questions would freak me out even more haha.
DeleteGood luck in your interview, I am sure you will be fine. I didn't realise it could be difficult to be put on health insurance, it's such a Catch-22 since the immigration office want you to have joint bank/health insurance for permanent residency, but the insurance companies and banks want permanent residency for these things anyway!
ReplyDelete