Many people I've encountered since I began this journey thought that becoming a US citizen was as simple as marrying my US citizen fiance (I can't say I blame them... movies and books don't exactly help) so I thought some of you might enjoy a little walk down memory lane with me (headache included free of charge!).
My path to US citizenship included four (4) main stages:
- K1 (fiancee) visa
- AOS (Adjustment of Status) aka Conditional (2 year) Greencard
- ROC (Removal of Conditions) aka Unconditional (10 year) Greencard
- U.S. Citizenship
I'll start with a quick disclaimer: Not every situation is the same, or as easy, or as hard, or as involved. It really depends. So please don't take this as "gospel" for your personal situation.
You can sign up for "status updates" on each of these stages but it's never very detailed. It's usually just something like "acceptance", "processing", "information requested" and "decision" and unless it moved from one of those categories, you wouldn't know anything.
K1 (Fiancé/e) Visa
A visa! Also known as "permission to enter the US". In the case of this particular visa, it is a (non-immigrant) permission to enter the country with the intention of moving there (for example - you can't just move to the US on a visitor visa... that's immigration fraud). If you're a private person who loathes giving out personal information about yourself, immigration is not a process for you! Just from this part of the process they know EVERYTHING about you. There is no hiding. There are no secrets. This is only the beginning...
I wasn't even allowed to apply for the visa until my fiance had first filed for (and was granted) permission for me to apply. He/we had to prove we had the intent and legal ability to marry (so siblings couldn't apply and neither could people who were married etc). We didn't really have to show much relationship evidence at this point, but this stage (permission for me to even apply for a visa) took almost 5 months to approve. Just a lot of waiting, waiting, waiting...
Once I had permission to apply for the visa, I had to send:
- Visa application forms (plus fee) - which including telling them everywhere I had lived (and when) since I turned 16 (thank goodness mum kept a diary 'cause being a Uni student, I moved a LOT!) and everywhere I have worked (some places are better forgotten!);
- Financial support forms - My US citizen fiance needs to prove that I won't become a financial burden to the USA by way of showing they have enough income to support you. So he had to show things like bank statements, tax returns, pay stubs etc etc... There is a minimum that can change every year;
- Fingerprint police check (from every country/state I had lived in for more than 12 months since turning 16); and
- Medical - including a physical, blood tests and immunizations (at the time of doing my medical there were only two doctors authorised to do this particular medical and forms in the state of Victoria, now I'm told there is only one).
After submitting all the information I had to wait to be called for interview... the final step. The only location to interview for the fiance/e visa is in Sydney, so people flew from all over the country to attend.
I had my interview in August and the day of the interview SUCKED! I tripped on the way to the bus and smacked my face on a railing (super sexy), had my flight cancelled once, and the replacement delayed twice. Landed well after my interview was scheduled to start (I had typed a rushed email to them from one of those internet terminals while I was delayed) and while hanging out in the air waiting for a place to land (only one runway in Sydney was open) I thought all our waiting and time had been for naught and got a ... tad weepy. I was bruised, stressed and late... But they knew all about my delay and replied to my email while I was in the air (got it once we landed... yay smart phones!) telling me I could just do my interview whenever I got there.
Once I was at the US Consulate it went well. I waited to be called up to one window to give an officer some items they had requested (envelope to ship my passport back to me with the visa in it for example), and then wait again for another officer to call me to have my fingerprints taken. Then I took a seat in a different section and waited until I was called for my one-on-one interview with an officer who asked questions about our relationship (how we met, where he works.. that sort of thing).
You need to take relationship evidence with you so I took proof of emails, chats but my interviewer didn't ask to see any relationship evidence. There are some instances where the interviewing officer has asked for email or facebook logins and passwords but he didn't ask for any passwords or anything like that. I only mention the password stuff to further explain what I said earlier - no secrets. Approval isn't a guarantee. This isn't just an "apply and you'll get it" process. There is a genuine threat of denial if they don't believe that your relationship is legit. You can try and appeal, you can re-apply, there's another type of visa you can apply (and pay) for... but no guarantee of approval for them either.
My visa was approved on the spot but I had to wait for it to be generated, stuck in my passport and then mailed out to me, so after a quick lunch at a Sydney cafe, I traveled back to my home town to wait for the mailman.
Once I received my visa I was free to leave, so in early September I packed my life up into 2 suitcases (and 2 carry-on), left what I didn't urgently need in boxes that stayed in Australia and I moved to the U.S.
The visa is a single-use visa that is only valid for 6 months and once I had entered the US I had 90 days to marry (and 90 days of legal status). So in November 2009 we were married in a small white wedding ceremony with his side of the family (plus my sister and her husband who flew over to attend).
Some people complain about the 90 days "how do you plan a wedding in such a short time" and honestly, not many people CAN plan the "big white wedding" while in another country... especially when your entry date is NOT guaranteed (there is no promise you'll get the visa, and by when) and a lot of places charge a fee to change dates or cancel. A lot of people do a courthouse wedding, and then do the "big white wedding" later in the year when they've had time to plan. I organised our wedding from afar with some assistance from my fiance's family, finalised the details when I arrived, and bought the decorations in the week before the wedding. Stressful! I don't advise the same!
Adjustment of Status (AOS) aka Conditional (2 year) Greencard
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| Permanent Resident Card Redesigned May 2010 |
The AOS process includes:
- Adjustment Application Form (plus fee);
- Medical - ensuring your immunisations are up to date and medical still valid;
- Financial Responsibility form; and
- Relationship evidence isn't required to be sent with the paperwork, this early in the "game" we don't really have a lot to show anyway, but many people are asked for it in the interview (if they have one, not everyone does). I sent a small amount of evidence in the hopes of avoiding an interview.
The simple act of marriage does nothing to protect your legal status in the US. Your visa expired on entry (single-use and all that) and gave you 90 days of legal status. After that, you cannot legally work or drive. If you leave the country at any point after entering on the K1, and without a greencard (or travel permit) you will be unable to easily return to the US (you will need another visa usually) so you need to do something about it.
That "something" is to file for Legal Permanent Residency, most commonly referred to as having "a greencard". So in early 2010 we filed for the Adjustment of Status (AOS). The final outcome of the AOS process would be a 2 year conditional greencard (which includes permission to work and travel and the condition being your marriage to your USC spouse) but given that the process can take several months, it is common to include the application for work permit and travel permit with the AOS paperwork so you can work or travel outside the US while you're waiting to be process for the greencard.
About a month after filing we had to drive to our "local office" (actually it's 3 hours away... one-way) in Des Moines for an appointment to have my fingerprints taken, have a passport photo taken (this horrid photo is the one they used on the work permit and the greencard :S) and to answer questions about height, weight, hair colour etc,. The appointment only took about 15 mins... long drive for such a seemingly small thing (though in reality your case can't progress until it's done).
Two months after filing for the work and travel permit they were approved (no interview is required for these). Some people need the work permit to get a drivers license but I had no need to use them just yet. It was good to have them though just in case of an emergency (especially the travel permit).
Around a month after that (3 months from filing) I received an online notification telling me my greencard (or Permanent Resident Card) was approved. I was one of the lucky ones that wasn't asked for more relationship evidence or asked to attend interview.
Aside from being approved without interview, I was one of the lucky ones in regards to the relatively short approval time. Some people I know waited well over 6 months. Some people had been sent request to send more relationship evidence and in the year following my approval the waiting time got even worse for some.
The greencard was valid for 2 years AND now I had a "deadline" to worry about (the expiration date). If we missed filing before the deadline/expiration, my greencard status could be revoked and I could face deportation. Stressful!
Removal of Conditions (ROC) aka Unconditional (10 year) Greencard
Filing for ROC consists of:
- Application form (plus fee); and
- Relationship evidence - a lot of it, spanning the entire length of the marriage
For the two (2) years following the approval of my greencard, my husband and I had to ensure that we kept all the evidence of our relationship. This included any leases, bills, cards, bank statements, photos, etc and we then had to send that evidence (not just one months worth, or recent, it needed to span the entire marriage... without being ridiculous) along with the ROC form. Some people totally overloaded their forms with evidence... which you would *think* was a good thing, but instead just resulted in them being asked for more specific information, or an interview.
Once again around a month passed before we had to travel to Des Moines for the fingerprinting and photo appointment... then just waiting...
This time it took more than SEVEN months to hear anything from immigration. During this time there are numbers you can call, but they read from a script and you aren't likely to learn much except "it's still processing". I also have to admit there's this fear (irrational or not) of rocking the boat too much and ending up with your pile delegated to the "too hard" or "when I feel like it" pile and having to wait longer... so you try really hard to be patient...
As with last time... you can interview, receive requests for more relationship evidence, one, both or neither. I didn't have interview or need to send more information and instead just one day received an update online telling me I had been approved (having registered for online updates).
This time I received a greencard that was valid for 10 years. It looks exactly the same as the conditional card except this time there are no more "deadlines" I need to worry about. Even if the card expires, as long as I haven't abandoned my status (there's a whole bunch of rules about that) then I can just renew it when I can... though I wouldn't have proof of my legal status so letting it expire isn't the smartest idea, but at least I would still be legal (unlike if the conditional one above had expired).
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For many people getting the 10 year greencard can be the end of their immigration journey. Their country may not permit them to keep their home countries citizenship if they become a US citizen so they remain Legal Permanent Residents (LPR's) for life. There aren't many restrictions, mainly the inability to vote in a Federal Election and unable to serve on a jury. The only other important issues is having to do things to preserve their status (unable to stay out of the US more than staying in for example), some jobs being unavailable to them because they need citizenship for it, and if they're convicted of certain types of crime they're deportable... but mostly life can be relatively normal.
Fortunately I have no restrictions on having multiple citizenship/nationalities. So...
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| Naturalization Certificate - sample |
Filing for US Citizenship consists of:
- Application form (plus fee) and a few supporting documents (copy of tax returns for example to show we file as married)... that's it.
- Being married to a US Citizen 3+ years AND an LPR for 3+ years (usually at the same time, so after 3 years); and
- Being a LPR for 5+ years
I personally filed based on the first option, being married to a USC citizen and being an LPR for 3+ years. Simply being married to my USC spouse wasn't enough, I had to be in a relationship with them too (sounds like the same thing but for some people who stay married for the convenience, it isn't).
I filed the paperwork in April of 2013 and as with the other processes, we drove to Des Moines for a 15 minute fingerprinting and photo appointment. This time I was given some material to review because I was going to have to learn about America and take a "civics test" at my interview (which was a guarantee this time).
Just over 3 months later I had an interview in Des Moines. After a little up-and-down in the elevator (we had to go to the second floor to be sent back down to the first floor), we took our seats and I waited to be called for interview (my husband was there with me but would not be interviewed).
The interview began with the officer going through the form, double-checking my answers to questions, checking my passports (new and expired) to make sure I hadn't abandoned by greencard by staying outside the US for too long, and then she got to the "testing" potion which consisted of two main parts:
- English (speaking, reading and writing) - I was also asked to read a question written in English off a piece of paper and then I was asked to write the answer (which I was given) also in English; and
- Civics test - consisted of being asking 10 questions out of a possible 100, and I had to get 6 right.
It took a very short time (maybe 1/2 hour max including the time spent going through the form to double check nothing had changed since I filed) and she said I was recommended for approval and I needed to wait for the last and final portion, the Oath Ceremony.
Although I was approved for citizenship, I was NOT a citizen until (and unless) I took the Oath Ceremony. The waiting began again and just almost 6 months from filing we returned to Des Moines for the Oath ceremony and on that day, I BECAME A US CITIZEN!
And that's it. It's finally done... well... I still need to update the Social Security Administration and the DMV and get a passport... but I can call myself a US Citizen to anyone who asks (which is odd for me because I've spent years making sure no-one thought I was a US Citizen, it's the death knell for immigration if they think you pretended to be a citizen when you weren't).
This is not a process for the faint of heart. It took quite a few drafts of this post just to get it to a point where it was (reasonably) easy to understand. This process is hard, expensive, and time and thought consuming. It can easily go wrong if you're complacent. Some people sail through, some people struggle at every turn. Such is the price we pay to be together with our loved ones, in the U.S.A.
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