Life By Lindsey Rae

February 1st is my two year anniversary of when I became a permanent resident in the US. For anyone who has never been through the immigration process, let me tell you: it is not the most simple of things you can do. There is a lot of paperwork. A lot of fees. When I filed, I had to fill out 7 different forms, get a medical exam from the worst doctor on the planet who had the WORST, incapable nurses in the universe. (I'm surprised I didn't get a disease from the TB test they attempted to give me)and get full biometric information done. (Fingerprints, mug shot...enough to make you feel like a criminal). And pay nearly about $935 to file and make several trips to Memphis to the immigration office to get assistance and interviewed.
It's a difficult process, because there are a lot of little things they don't tell you that are very important. For example, with the fees, in that total $935 there are actually six smaller fees for each specific forms. But, if you were to write a check for the whole thing, your application would not get processed. You have to write seperate checks for each fee. But, nobody ever tells you that. So, these little things can mess a person up. Fortunately, everything went smoothly for me, and I think it took only about 8 months to process.

The craziest thing is that a few months after I filed, a lot of the fees nearly tripled and now it costs nearly $2090 to file!

So, since it was coming upon my two year anniversary, I had to remember that sometime within 90 days prior to this date, I had to file another form to extend my residency. Basically, this is to remove the conditions on my permanent residency: they want to make sure you didn't get married to an American just to get a green card. So, we had to gather a LOT of evidence to prove this. Since I am a Canadian citizen, it's probably not such a big deal for me as it would be for some coming from other countries that they might have more reason to question their motives, but it's not worth it to take the risk and get denied. So, we gathered nearly everything they suggested. This includes anything showing joint assets, any insurance policies you have together...and a lot of copies of various statements throughout the time you are married to show consistency, pictures of you together through the time period, evidence you are living in the same household, copies of wills, affidavits from people who know you saying they know that you have a good marriage, joint tax returns, etc, etc, etc. I had been gathering evidence for the past few months, but the day before we mailed it, I ended up staying up ALL night compiling it into chronological order and highlighting and labeling and writing explanations for everything. It's a big job, but immigration is really not something to mess around with...you want to do it right the first time or it can get complicated really fast.

This form...one form....cost $545 to file! That's a lot of money for one form! Good thing my husband loves me...

I got my letter back from them acknowledging that they received our payment and that my residency has been extended for one year. I have to wait for them to send me another letter telling me when I will go for more biometrics (more fingerprints and another mugshot) and then after that, they will continue to process things and then I am eligible for my 10-year residency. Meaning, I won't have to worry about anymore immigration stuff for another 10 years, unless I apply for naturalization, which I can do after February 2010. I'm not positive if I will do that yet. I think I may, just because I can still retain my Canadian citizenship. I figure if I can be a duo citizen that will pretty much just give me the best of both worlds.

I've heard some people say they don't want to get American citizenship because when you do, you have to swear allegiance only to the US, so it makes it seem like you are giving up allegiance to Canada. But, you don't ever have to give up your Canadian citizenship. So, I'm not exactly sure how that works. I will have to investigate it further. Once the conditions on your permanent residency are lifted (or you get your 10 year extension) you pretty much have the same privileges as if you were American...only you don't get to vote and you always are supposed to carry around your Alien Residency Card (green card) wherever you go. Not such a big deal. Just like carrying your license, I guess.

Until I get my new green card, I have to carry around a letter with my old green card saying my status adjustment is in process. This is a bit more inconvienent. Only because my wallet is a bit full. Which is ok, if it's full with cash...but mine happens to be mostly receipts and coupons.