I realised that I have been writing this blog for a few weeks now and have studiously failed to mention the entire reason I'm even in America, which is that I'm getting married.
The following statement is not going to be a shock to anyone who knows me, but for the uninitiated - I am a terrible bride. I am getting married a few years earlier than I had in mind in my life plan (which just proves that forward planning is pointless), due to a small thing called the Atlantic combined with immigration law, and this also makes me the first person in my circle of friends to be doing so. End result - I have been to 2 weddings in the past ten years, can barely remember either (and one of them was my dad's!) and therefore really have no idea what's going on most of the time.
We've been planning this wedding for over a year, and now it is less than 3 weeks away, which is a very scary (but exciting!) prospect. I am having to deal with things that the sensible side of my brain is rejecting out of hand, saying 'who gives a toss anyway?'. Key example - the seating plan. Wasn't going to bother, but then I realised that it could easily end up being a trans-Atlantic school disco situation - all the Brits on one side of the room, and all the Americans on the other. So I have lost 2-3 hours of my life to picking where people shall sit. Will this person get on with that person? Do these people have anything in common whatsoever? It's the sort of thing you hope you don't have to think about but in reality you do.
Fortunately I haven't turned into bridezilla yet and am taking the apparent total disappearance off the face of the planet of our ceremony musician relatively well. This is a good thing, because on top of all the standing wedding planning I am also having to prepare my green card application.
Up to this point, we have given the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service $1200 to get me into the country - but that does not allow me to stay here. My visa, called a K-1, allows me to enter the US for a maximum of 90 days to marry a US citizen (a specific one, by the way, not just anyone!). Once Jason and I are hitched, we then have to file what is called an Adjustment of Status application - in other words, apply for my green card. This is what allows me to live and work in the US on a (semi-)permanent basis.
Applying for the green card costs another $1000, and even then it is only 'conditional residency'. It's a temporary permanent resident card. I know, me neither. So then in 2 years time we will have to fork out another $500 to make it a standard 10-year green card.
All of this paperwork is also extremely complicated and requires a lot of supporting evidence. The good news is that we are pretty much becoming experts on visa paperwork, so each thing we have to do is taking a little less time every time.
That's a very short explanation of a very long and tedious process. But one that will be very worth it in the end.
But for now it's back to seating plans, song lists and guestbooks. Assuming I need any of these - my husband to be is currently on his stag do, so we'll wait and see if he gets back in one piece!
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