Pensee

I asked my husband about it. He works for the INS, but this isn't his area. He's the guy who, after you're in the country and all that jazz, you'd come into the office to interview with and he'd give the final ay or nay on granting citizenship.

Like I said, he doesn't really handle visa's, but this is what he knew. He said that Aimee could file for a fiance visa with the Department of State, and you'd have 90 days to get married. Or, if you get married outside of the country, you can file a petition I-130 to get immediate relatives in the US. He's not sure how long it takes for each and which one would be the quickest. He said either way, it will take some time. He recommends visiting the INS website to learn more details. You will have to "prove" that you have a relationship, in the form of letters, photos taken together, e-mails, etc. He said you'd be surprised at some of the *ahem* inappropriate photos and e-mails submitted.

He said the best thing to do would be for Aimee to go to her local INS and ask them direct questions pertaining to your exact situation.

BTW, green cards are white! lol

Loren Pechtel

Well, what I know is probably rather out of date but I've been through it.

She was already in the US on a tourist visa at the time so there was no issue of where to get married.

We might have had a harder time of it because she is appreciably older than I am. Part of it also might have been our initial interviewer was exactly the age of my wife but by appearances was twice my wife's age.

Married in April. We submitted the application in June (delays in getting paperwork from China). At that time she was granted a temporary work permit. Our first "interview" occured a few days before the 6 months on the temporary work permit was due to expire. It consisted basically of the interviewer screaming at us and threatening us with the penalties for fraudulent marriage.

Our second interview came in February and was more reasonable. They put us in separate rooms and asked us trivia of daily life. However, this was not well handled. In talking to each other afterwards we identified various questions that they would score as us disagreeing on:

"What brand of TV do you own?". My answer: Zenith, but I'm pretty sure she will say "I don't know". The interviewer wouldn't believe me. (The TV was purchased before I met her, the name appeared only fairly small at one spot on it, my wife is very nearsighted and her English wasn't good enough at that time for her to notice things like that anyway. I would have been surprised if she had noted the brand.)

I was asked "What does she usually wear to bed?". She was asked "What did you wear to bed last night?" Due to the drive distance we had stayed with my parents (near the INS office) the night before and she wore more than normal.

There was another like this where we were asked subtly different questions but it doesn't come to mind.

It also bothered the interviewer that she had not adopted my last name. Never mind that in her society that doesn't happen. Never mind that I saw no reason she should have to give up a perfectly good name for one that doesn't fit. We ended up simply adding my name and turning her maiden name into a middle name. The fact that she wasn't pregnant also bothered them--they had a hard time accepting that we had no intention of having children.

After this second interview they told us that we had moved out of their area and it would have to be transferred to the appropriate office. Somehow this was our fault even though we had given them our new address and they had never said anything about changing offices.

At this point we don't know what happened behind the scenes, but we believe something was done to her file at that first office. She ended up losing her work permit and even got a letter to report to a deportation hearing at <time to be scheduled>. Tianammen Square had intervened and no Chinese were being thrown out.

Eventually, a few weeks before 2 years after our marriage a guy at INS at the new office decided that since we were still together that the marriage must be real and therefore he approved it. Note: Had they waited any longer she would immediately have gotten a permanent green card instead of a conditional one. By approving it then they got another two years to make a final decision in.
Frorm that point on, however, we had no problems.

All in all I figure the cost not including the year she couldn't work was perhaps $2000.

Infinity Lover

Thanks to Pensee and Loren Pechtel (phew what a pain in the ass). I'll give this sucker one more bump for good meassures.

Loren Pechtel

Yeah, it was a pain in the ass. However, having the one you love is worth some hassle.

Note that if anything I would expect things to be more strict now than they were then. On the other hand, if you have a more conventional relationship things might go easier.

Sabine Grant

Cute poem Infinity! Here is how it went for me... after I got married, we went to the local Immigration Office to apply for my Green Card ( which is not green by the way). A temporary document was issued to me proving that we had applied. Of course your wedding certificate and passport will be required. It took about 6 months for me to recieve my official Green card. It was also important to show a permanant address in the Us at the time of the application. You will be able to apply for a Social security Card with that temporary document.
You will be entering into the US probably with a Tourist Visa ( 3 monts validity I believe) which you will obtain at the nearest Us Consulate in your country. There is no need to mention to the Immigration at your port of entry that you are coming to the Us to marry. Just for tourism and visiting friends is fine!
Here are the documents you will need in the Us to obtain a marriage License: Birth Certificate, passport. Your beloved will apply for the license. Take with you shot records, any kind of documents you have. Have them translated in English by an official translator ( US consulate has a list) before you leave.
Also register yourself at the Consulate or Embassy of your country in the US after you are married. Your beloved will need to be registered also as your wife in your country via the Embassy or Consulate. ( copy of marriage certificate will do).
Voila! Lots of happy wishes for you and her. Veronique.

Demosthenes

My mother's Italian and my father's an American. When my mom got married and then moved here, she applied for a green card too and so far as I know(considering it was way before my birth )she got it just a few months later. There was just a minimal of red tape involved, but then it was 1980 back then.