The information on this page is aimed primarily at those who have already married a U.S. citizen and wish now to reside in the United States with their spouse. If (like me) you have had to leave the US after your marriage you must remain outside the US until your application for immigration is approved. If however you married in the US and remained in the country the paperwork is much the same.

CONTINUED ...
 

THE INTERVIEW

Mine was at 8:00 a.m. at the U.S. Consulate in Sydney on 29 September 1998. The paperwork I'd initially been given by the Consulate had suggested I take an assortment of items to prove that my marriage to Grey was a real one, and not a marriage of convenience, or a marriage to bypass U.S. immigration law. They were looking for evidence such as rent or utility bills showing both our names, property title showing both our names, letters and/or cards between us and our respective families dated before and after the marriage. So, I lugged a bagful of such stuff along with me.

Naturally, they didn't even look at it. However, my advice is that if they suggest you take anything, take it. If you don't, they're bound to ask for it. I think they're more interested in the fact that you're obviously carrying such evidence in that big bag -- they don't actually want to sit there and look through it all.

The interview was over in less than an hour. I had all the right papers, had sorted them in the correct order, presented them one at a time on request, was given back the original documents Grey had attached to his Petition (birth certificates, divorce papers etc.), then spoke to a Consular Officer who signed this and that, then I paid the appropriate fee and that was that!

I'd thought that the Immigrant Visa would be a stamp in my Passport, but it's a separate document entirely. It arrived in the mail about a week after my interview.

A NOTE ON U.S. IMMIGRATION LAWYERS

No less bloodthirsty than lawyers who practise other aspects of U.S. law. We did find one online who will freely answer e-mailed questions, however the responses are direct quotes of law, not personal advice or opinions. And we learned that unless you ask exactly the right questions you may not get the right information. For instance, Grey was told by an immigration lawyer that I could return to the United States on a visitor's visa (Australian citizens normally don't need a visa to enter the USA, and vice versa -- we use the Visa Waiver Program), then apply to have it adjusted to a Resident Visa using an Application for Change of Status. Grey got one of these applications in the kit from the American Immigration Center. I called the U.S. Consulate in Sydney and asked them to confirm that what the lawyer had told my husband was correct. They said yes -- you can apply in the United States to have a Visit Visa changed to a Resident Visa.

So I joyfully booked a one-way flight on Japan Airlines for 4 July 1998 and paid for the ticket immediately, as it was a special deal. I handed in my resignation at work. Then, 3 days later, I stumbled onto the website of the aforementioned immigration lawyer, Richard Madison, and all our plans immediately collapsed.

What we had been told was true enough -- you can indeed change a Visit Visa to a Resident Visa whilst in the United States. But if you marry a U.S. citizen and then leave the country for any reason at all, you cannot return to the United States until your immigrant visa is approved. If they catch you at the border trying to re-enter the U.S. they can deport you, which would seriously jeopardise your pending immigrant visa application. They can ban you from re-entry for up to 10 years. Don't risk it!

When you ask questions of consular staff, or (if you're lucky enough to speak to one) an officer of the BCIS, or an immigration lawyer, be very specific about your own situation. Otherwise you may be given the wrong information.

This lesson cost me $150 in flight cancellation fees -- and fortunately I was able to retract my resignation at work. However, as it later turned out, Grey's Petition had not even been opened at that time and I could have easily re-entered the U.S. because there was no immigrant visa application pending!

A NOTE ON CREDIT IN THE UNITED STATES

I had been told that it's difficult for newly arrived immigrants to get credit in the United States. Your credit rating in your home country is irrelevant in the USA -- as far as they're concerned you have no credit rating at all. You don't even exist until you apply for a Social Security number. Rather than wait till I got there to sort something out I applied for an American Express Card in Australia, while I was still working and could pass their credit check. I can use the card in the USA, have the statements sent to my family in Sydney, they advise me by e-mail what the amount owed is, and I send a cheque in Australian dollars to pay for it. I still have a functioning cheque account in Sydney.

We use the Amex card for emegencies only, since it's a royal pain dealing with the exchange rates. However, it gets us around the fact that I have no credit rating in the USA.

UPDATE -- We've found that the easiest way to attain a credit rating is to have your U.S Citizen spouse apply for an additional credit card for you on any existing credit card account.  For instance, my husband had a Target store card, and he applied for a second card for me.  Simply doing this got the ball rolling, and I now have an excellent credit rating in my own right.

WELCOME TO THE UNITED STATES

I finally quit my job in Sydney on 16 October 1998. I had one week in which to finalise my personal affairs before flying out of Sydney on 24 October 1998 to rejoin my husband after our eight month separation. Leaving behind my family was a far more traumatic experience than I was willing to admit at the time, but Grey was (is, and will always be) worth it. Passing through Customs at Sydney airport, since my purpose for leaving was immigration to the USA my passport was stamped as a departing visitor, which felt odd. I arrived in the USA (and have not yet left it since) on 24 October 1998, and discovered that while 700 other people had to queue at about 6 of the many Customs windows, new immigrants have a window all to themselves (at least they do at LAX) and I was the only one queueing at it. I had to surrender my right index finger for yet another fingerprint (which later appeared on my Green Card) and then was told to collect my luggage while the BCIS Officer processed the paperwork. I was through in about ten minutes. The BCIS Officer stamped my Passport, admitting me for 2 years, and then he smiled at me and said something I'd waited eight months to hear. He said, "Welcome to the United States!"

CONDITIONAL RESIDENCY

My admission to the United States is conditional for two years, because Grey and I had been married for less than two years at the time of my immigration. It's as if my motives for marrying a U.S. citizen and wanting to live with him in the United States are suspect. Guilty till proven innocent.

The conditions are, basically, that if I leave the United States for more than a year I will lose my residency and my Green Card. That's it. I have to apply to have the conditions removed, and I have to apply "within the last three months of the second anniversary of the date upon which residency was granted" using Form I-751 Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence, which is a joint application both Grey and I must complete. If we fail to lodge this application my Residence will be terminated and I'll be deported.

I already have 24 July 2000 marked on a calendar -- from that date I have three months to lodge this application.

THE BCIS DID US A FAVOUR!

Grey and I might not be together now if the BCIS had not redirected his Petition for Alien Relative to another office of the BCIS by sending it back to Grey. We subsequently learned that if Grey had sent the Petition to the P.O. Box specified on the Post-It note attached to it when it came back, it would have taken an additional 6-9 months to be processed. And if the Petition hadn't been sent back to him at all, it would have taken in excess of 15 months to be processed.

You can't "jump the queue" or circumvent U.S. immigration law. But you can appeal to your local congressman for help in dealing with the BCIS. Don't hesitate to look him/her up and call or write!
 

UPDATE

My Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence was submitted on August 15, 2000 and a receipt for it arrived in the mail on September 5, 2000.  My Visa was due to expire in October of that year, and the receipt stated that an extension had been automatically granted for one year.  It also stated that a minimum of 330 days would be required to process the Petition.

In fact, it took 15 months for them to process my Petition.  Before the extension expired I had to queue up at the BCIS in Los Angeles for many hours so that my passport could be stamped yet again.  On January 24, 2002 I was issued with a 10-year Permanent Resident Card (green card - which, of course, isn't green at all)), which doesn't expire until 2012.

The one lesson we've learned from all this is to never ever just leave things to the BCIS.  Make a note of dates, check on the progress of any application that seems to be taking a long time, and be aware of the approach of expiration dates.  Don't let your visa expire through complacency.  They won't kick you out of the country, but you'll avoid major headaches if you just stay on top of everything and see it through to its completion.  And KEEP COPIES OF EVERYTHING!!

A Final Note:

The first green card issued to me had the wrong Country of Birth stated on it (it shows Polynesia instead of Australia -- a simple coding error.)  Having that simple error corrected was another nightmare, as the card was lost in the mail when being returned to them for correction.  I had to go to joing the miles-long queue at the BCIS in Los Angeles again and prove that the card had been lost, as well as the fact that it had a mistake on it (fortunately I'd photocopied the card before mailing it back to them.)  It cost me nothing but time to have the mistake corrected, and a new card was eventually issued.

My Permanent Resident Card also has a mistake on it.  It says "Resident since 10/24/96".  I hadn't even MET my husband in 1996!  Am I going to stand in the queue again to have this corrected?  Hell no!
 
 

(Composed 28 March 1999, updated 23 September 2003)