Citizenship and Immigration Service

T

omorrow, M and I go to Immigration (CIS) for her interview. As I previously mentioned, our court appearance in August went well and things were going swimmingly. Two Fridays ago, M went for a medical exam so she could present the results to CIS along with the other documentation needed for tomorrow's 9:15AM interview. The documentation is voluminous.

• M's birth certificate which is of course in Japanese, so...
• Translation of documentation not in English. Of course no one at CIS speaks Japanese to check my English, so I also needed...
• An affidavit stating that the translation is correct. Since I have a direct stake in the matter I cannot be the translator. I asked a colleague to look it over and state that the translation is correct.
• Marriage certificate if the petition for permanent residency is based on a marriage.
• An affidavit of our relationship from people who know us. This, of course, means they have to go to a Notary Public to get it notarized, a pain in the ass for them to put down in writing that, yes, we are in fact still married.
• Documentation that we have a continuing relationship. This would include:
  • Photos: this is harder than it sounds as there are few photos with both of us in them since I an usually the one taking the pictures.
  • Bank statement: This too is a pain since our bank only puts the primary account holder on any documentation. So I have to go into the bank and have them draft an actual letter stating that it is a joint account.
  • Insurance: this was the only easy one...
  • Legal document. The only thing legal we share is a deed to our house, but since we bought it before we got married, it is in her maiden name, so I have to get further documentation confirming her previous name and her current name refer to the same person. Fortunately, all I need is the marriage certificate... I hope.
• An affidavit of support which states that I will support M 'til death do us part, or something like that. Of course this support must be supported by further documentation proving I have the wherewithal to support her.
  • The last 3 federal income tax returns, with W2 forms.
  • A letter from my employer stating that, yes, I'm working.
  • My last two pay stubs as further proof that, yes, I'm working.
• Documention that I am a legal resident/citizen, like my birth certificate--my passport expired...
• Criminal record from Fairfax County, to make sure that M is not a felon.
• There are other odds and ends: drivers license, social security card, etc...

M also needs the medical examination results mentioned above. They were supposed to be ready today, and I called time and again to see if they were, but they kept giving me the run around telling me to call later. By 3:30PM I had no choice but to cancel class because I wouldn't get there on time. By 4:30, they told me it wouldn't be ready today. So now I'm really stressing. I cancel class--something I rarely do, even when I'm sick--and I don't even have the examination results to show for it. "It will be ready tomorrow morning. We open at 9AM." OUR INTERVIEW IS AT 9:15, YOU COW... No, I didn't say that. I was just think that... Instead, I tried begging, pleading, please, please, is there now way? "Sorry" was all she could muster.

So, desperate, I contact our lawyer, and she says to just go to the interview and explain the situation. It shouldn't be too bad, she says. Our lawyer--actually, she's a paralegal, but she does most of the work for the actual lawyer who represents us, and she is pretty good and helpful and quite sympthetic to our situation--she's from Hong Kong originally, I think. We are lucky to have her. And she just tells me that I should relax...

So anyway, we're off to the interview tomorrow, and I hope things will go smoothly. I will try ot make it to class tomorrow, although I warned my first class that if I'm not there by the first 15 minutes, then they could just take off...

Why am I always so busy these days? If it's not one thing, it's another...