Friday, September 3, 2010

Immigration Process

I am writing this blog in hopes that it my helps someone understand the process of Immigration
*please note I am not a lawyer or an immigration expert and am just sharing my personal experience

Esposo and I moved to Honduras and had all his immigration paper work transferred to the American embassy in Tegus. We lived in Honduras for three years, our process took a bit longer than it should have because our paper was sent to the wrong lawyer in the US. Lesson learned even if you have a lawyer stay on top of everything.

During this time I stayed in Honduras as a tourist leaving the country every 90 or 120 depending if I got an extension. I did this because US immigration is somewhat ridiculous. If I obtained Honduran residency I would not have been able to apply for esposo's residency. I never stayed over on my tourist visa nor brake any Honduran laws, so I was legal.
To prove that esposo would not be a burden to the US I used a family member as a financial sponsor. When all the paper work was processed we waited for the appointment which we found out about a month and half before hand. We decided to get the medical appointment done with ahead of time, which took an entire day in Tegus. It started with a lung x-ray, then blood test where esposo got his photo taken and he got a sweet bracelet with the American flag he had to wear until the appointment that afternoon. Honestly it was pretty uneventful.
The appointment at the embassy was mostly just sitting, and sitting. I brought a insane amount photos of esposo and I including wedding photos. I also brought everything esposo and I did together, plane tickets, lease agreements, cell phone plans. You name it I brought it. At that point we had been married for three years so it was a lot. Better be safe than sorry, right?
In the end they only looked at the random photos we had together, and the required documents they requested. They asked esposo only a few questions, how long we had been together, where I was from. They also asked about visas he had, and dates which esposo entered the US. She asked me three times what country did I claim domicile (re wording it each time, and different times.) I was very clear that I have been in Honduras as a tourist pretty much for the last three years and I am not a Honduran resident because we are planning to live in the US. She seemed happy with this.
We sat down and waited... and waited. We got called up again, another lady asked I why esposo married me, and then she said she had good news, esposo was approved for the resident visa! and come back at three o`clock to pick everything up.