Are You Currently Pregnant?

Alternate title: The Final Stage

Well, folks, it finally happened. I am a permanent resident. After months of nervous anticipation, I am a legal resident of the United States. 

We had our final interview on Wednesday morning. I'd done a bit of research into what the process would be like, but I still wasn't quite sure what to expect. We got to the government building, went through security, and checked in. 

Ten minutes later we were meeting our interviewer as he led us back to his office. While he seemed nice, he also didn't seem very approachable. We sat down at his desk, and he pulled out my file. Guys, it was huuuuuuge. I'd forgotten how much paperwork we had sent in, plus all the papers and forms had been added to it since (by office workers, case workers, I don't even know who else). 

Then the questions. He started out with an easy one: when is your spouse's birthday? Then he asked Luke what day we got married. After he verified our phone numbers and social security numbers, he asked if we had ever been married before or had any kids. Since neither of us had, that was pretty easy. Then, I had to answer the strangest question of the interview: 

Are you currently pregnant? 

I am not. 

I then pulled out some documents proving that we are living together like a married couple - our rental agreement, a bank statement, wedding announcement, other pictures of us together, and our Netflix envelopes. He asked if we had anything else, like a Costco membership. Since we're poor college kids, we don't have anything like that. He must have figured that since neither of us had any real money or status, the marriage was legit. 

He handed me a congratulations page (it's yellow, in case you were wondering), and that was it. He went over a few things concerning the next stage of the process, but that's not for two years. 

And that's it. I'm allowed to live here and work here without fear of getting deported. I can come and go as I please. And it's a pretty good feeling. 

Stress

For the most part, the past year has been pretty stress-free. I finished school last December, and so I stayed at home and ... well ... didn't do very much. I volunteered on a few film projects, deep cleaned our apartment, but I wasn't working, so there wasn't much for me to do. Finally, in August, when I filed all the paperwork {it always comes back to the %@*# paperwork}, that's when my stress began. 

Suddenly there were more things to file, appointments to make and keep, jobs to find and keep, and now that we finally are going to the interview, my stress level is pretty high. I'm not saying this for sympathy; I'm saying it because it's true and so when I look back on this some day, I won't say "boy, getting a Green Card wasn't as stressful as the movies make it seem". It is every bit as panic inducing as The Proposal. At least I know that I didn't get married just for the status change.  

Tomorrow, after the interview, there will be nothing left but waiting for the actual card itself to come in the mail. Unless we fail, then there will be another interview and who knows what else. 

Incidentally, today is the first time I've ever experienced stress eating. I can't say I enjoy it much. 

My Life for the Past 10 Months

I haven't written a lot about the Green Card process here on the blog for one main reason: I wasn't sure if the government was spying on me or not. I didn't want to jinx anything, or give myself away. Yes, I suppose I am a paranoid person. But now that things are moving along, I feel like I can share the whole ordeal {at least, the parts of it I've dealt with up to this point}. 

Let's start at the very beginning, the whole reason I'm in this mess in the first place. I got married in August last year. I still had my student visa, so I was able to finish up school without worry. Once January came around, I was done with school, and thus the visa. I couldn't work on campus anymore. So I sat at home and waited and tried to help save as much money as I could so that we could eventually start the paperwork to get me a GC. They're pretty pricey. 

I sat at home, filling out paperwork and trying to not spend so much money. Luke worked hard, and eventually we had enough to continue with the process. 

We filled out more paperwork. Pages and pages of addresses, marriage dates, how much money we made, and so on.  We took passport photos. And then more passport photos, because they can't get enough of my beautiful face.  I had a physical exam. The exam consisted mostly of whether I was a risk for communicable diseases {HIV, STDs, tuberculosis, drug addictions, etc}. I'm clean, by the way. I also have a healthy set of tonsils. 

Once we had the results from some blood work back from the doctor's office, we sent off our LARGE packet of paperwork. 

Then we waited. 

And waited. 

A letter showed up, wanting even more paperwork. We sent that off, and waited. 

I had a biometrics appointment last week, where I got both my fingerprints and my face put in the system.

Finally, yesterday afternoon I got my "Employment Authorization Card" in the mail. The card itself looks more like a driver's licence than anything; it's pretty legit.  Now, I can work{yay!!!!} and travel out of the country without abandoning the rest of my application {yay!!!!}. I don't have any immediate plans to go home, but I'm working that out. 

I still have to wait for the rest of my application to be approved, before I will receive the actual Green Card. I also still have to have an appointment with an immigration agent to determine the legitimacy of my marriage {that sounds so technical, doesn't it? Basically, they just want to make sure I married Luke because I love him, and not so that he would get me a GC}. So I'm not quite out of the woods yet. But the end is approaching, and I no longer have to sit at home, doing nothing all day. I get to look for jobs!

That was a long post, so as a reward for reading through all this, here's some Dwight and Jim. 

In The System

I went and got my fingerprints taken on Monday. As part of the Green Card application, they need to put me in the system {yes, I'm applying for a GC. That's why I haven't had a job in 10 months}. 

I'm not sure how much I'm allowed to say, but I will say this: it was like going through airport security. That is one tight government building. There wasn't much of a wait, although I did feel a bit out of place, as I don't look particularly "foreign". 

Getting scanned was quick and easy, although they did do each finger several times. And they took a picture of my upper half. Good thing I wore my furry vest. 

Now, it's just a matter of time until I'm either approved or denied {although I am expecting to get approved. They probably don't take fingerprints for people who get denied. Right?}

One Thousand Dollars

Things I would rather spend $1000 on instead of immigration fees (in no particular order) 

1. A Macbook Pro 

2. A new spring/summer/professional wardrobe. 

3. My wedding dress. 

4. My wedding. 

5. A down payment on a new car. 

6. A trip to somewhere. 

7.  All the cherry tootsie roll pops I could ever imagine. 

8. Rent on a new apartment 

9. Anything else that costs under $1000