From conditional to permanent, permanent resident!

Pollo has been in the USA from almost 2 years!  To celebrate this anniversary we get to reapply for his permanent residency.  Yay!  We actually just have to file to petition to remove the conditional status of his permanent residency, but it is similar to reapplying.

We had to fill out the form I751 which includes information about Pollo and then information on myself as well as we file together to remove the conditions of conditional status.

We had to provide documentation of our lasting marriage in the form of photos, mail delivered to the both of us, any joint account or joint assets together (like our new car), and our marriage certificates, and also affidavits from people who know us.  We skipped the last part though because we thought that owning car and appearing on a lease together would be sufficient.

One of the more complicated things that we had to do was get a translation of our Peruvian Marriage Certificate.  The USCIS website is unclear about the officialness that the translation has to be in.  We assumed that I couldn't do it since I have no official translating credential so I contacted some companies in the area to see what they could do.  I got one quote for $150 and one for $85, all for a one page document.  I tried using the American Translators Association, but a lot of the people on there don't actually have translation degrees or don't respond to their contact info.  After some dily-dallying, I remembered that my friend works for a translation company that I knew I could trust and she hooked us up with an official translation and the official certification.

Once we had our paperwork gathered and organized we put everything in an envelope with a a lot of money and sent it off.  It was rather anticlimactic, but also nerve wracking at the same time.  We have no idea when we will hear back from USCIS or what the next steps are.  It also took a lot less research than doing our original paperwork which you can read about in earlier editions of these posts.

I feel like the ease of this process is luring me into a false sense of security with the permanent residency.  Or maybe it IS this simple and I'm just worried from our past experience in Peru.  Whatever is is, I hope we get Pollo's permanent Green Card soon!

Photos!!!

Yesterday at the Embassy I was missing photos and a copy of the original document that I brought in on more official looking paper.  So I couldn't turn in the papers.  With my 15 sole paper in hand and a print out of some pictures, I am returning to the Embassy tomorrow because they are only open on Tuesday and Thursday from 9-11am. In the mean time....enjoy pictures from the civil ceremony!!


                                           

We did it!

Ta-da!!

All last week was really busy, not just because we got married :), but also because my entire family was in town!  It was a crazy, fun filled, stressful week.

The actual ceremony day got off to a rocky start from the night before.  Pollito's suit should have been ready at least on Monday to have the final fitting and stuff.  Unfortunately it wasn't ready until Wednesday afternoon and when he went to go pick it up it they had finished the wrong suit and it wasn't ready.  They asked him to come back the following day...Thursday, ie. wedding day.  Then they said he should return in two hours so that they could finish it.  We were both hoping that everything was perfect, but even if it wasn't Pollito would still have to wear it. In the end it was ok, and the suit turned out great, but it was what turned out to be the first of a few wedding scares.

The morning of, I had arranged to go with my sister-in-law and mom to the hair salon really early in the morning for hair and make up.  It started off great and I had high hope that they would work fast and we would be out in an hour.  After all the hair I had ordered was not too complex and I had really natural make-up in mind as well.  I think that I told the woman like 5 times that we had to be finished at a certain time.  By the time we got out we just had time to throw our dresses on, grab jewelry and run out the door.

Another thing that was a little scary was that the flowers that I had ordered a week before WERE NOT READY.  I have even called them to confirm that they would be ready the day before.  However, with the lagging of the salon, they flowers actually arrived before we finished hair and makeup.  Sighs of relief.

The morning was so hot that I was sweating before we even go to the city hall in the park.  Pollito kept dabbing his face with his handkerchief and everyone looked a little limp.

When we arrived at the park/city hall (the marriage department is located in a government building in a huge park) we met our photographer, who was an old teacher's aid that Pollito had in university.  We then gathered everyone together and went inside the building.

The officiant seemed to be a little flustered and the room was sweltering.  We opened the window and turned on the air while the officiant moved in and out of the room looking for what we thought was a...pencil?  Whatever it was he found it...and he motioned for us to start the ceremony.  I walked in with my dad, which is something that I hadn't planned ahead of time, but was really glad I did.

The officiant then proceeded to read laws and the meaning of marriage and the different sections of marriage law.  I felt bad for my family because they couldn't understand anything.  We we have the religious ceremony we will have to work something out...we reminded the guy that we were going to exchange rings and he was just like...yea...yea.  And carried on.  Then he brought out more little prompt cards and asked if we had the rings.  My nephew dutifully came up with the gigantic ring box and we read off the cards.  Then the officiant read us some passages from the bible and from some Hindu readings and I must say that I agree more with the Hindu readings about being together, separate.

Then it was over and we were married!!! Hurray!!  Pollito and Reina forever and ever.

We had a nice toast with my beloved petit fours that my mom brought all the way down from the US and Champagne and sparkling juice.  And then we retired for photos around the park and lunch at the Costa Verde Restaurant basically on the beach with nice sea breezes and views of the coast.

A little bit of the view.

Everyone gorged themselves, in a polite manner, on the great food that this restaurant has.  They claim the Guinness World Record for most types of dishes on a Buffet..who knew such an award existed?

We finished the day taking pictures in the "Fiance Bay", a cute little hokey park by Pollito's mom's house where they have a chair that is made like a conjoined throne and if you sit on it you can see a crown rising up from behind you.  During the night on weekends it is teeming with brides taking pictures.  Pollito said he would die before he went to take pictures there, that it is super "huachafa" (corny and sappy), but since its my wedding too, we went and took some pictures....the crown one is til on its way

Mareweed!!

Hey mom! I'm in the paper!

Our official announcement in the paper!

We are getting really good at being official.  

The last part of our civil ceremony ordeal, was to get the announcement and have it published in some newspaper.  We were supposed to get it last Friday, but we have forgotten that other people can be the impediments to our progress.  They called us on Friday and said it wouldn't be ready until Monday.  I called 4 times on Monday to see when it would be ready, and by the time it was, it was too late to go down and get it.

So I went on Tuesday to pick it up and then I went with Pollito's mom to get the thing published.  It cost 35 soles and the man said it would be in the paper on Wednesday.  Yuppi!

Today, on the way to work at 6:45am we bought a paper from a guy on the street.  All of the announcements look the same and they all have the same official wording.  You have to look for your district on the top of the little box and then look for your names in capital letters.  There was a little confusion yesterday with the man who took the announcement about the dates, so when I didn't see our announcement on the first page I was a little worried.

But then I turned the page and I found it towards the bottom.  Yay!! Its sooooo official to see it in print. Basically, in very formal language, it says that Mr. Carlos Saenz Muñiz, from whatever place, of whatever profession, living in whatever house, and Miss. Elizabeth Helen Joe Hatayama, from whatever place, of whatever profession, living in whatever house, intend to be married and that whosoever has a reason that they should not be married should file a complaint in the appropriate way within 8 days.

I took the page today to the marriage people and asked if there was anything else we needed to turn in and they said "no", so we are set for marriage on Feb. 16!  See you at the courthouse! 

Haste to the wedding!

We have a civil ceremony date!!  Feb. 16, 2012 at 10am!!

Due to the horribly long time table that we discovered (see here), we had to rush and get all our papers in.  We had decided to get the paperwork in by this week anyway, but there was extra urgency to everything.

Last week on Saturday we went to have the medical exam done.  The district that we live in has public hospital/clinic places so we headed there to have our x-rays and blood work done.  We arrived extra early to make sure we didn't have to wait long, you have to have been fasting for the blood work to come out, and if you know Pollito, fasting and Pollito don't go together.  The x-rays were fast and then we had to wait in line to have blood drawn.  There was a little girl in front of us who had to get blood drawn and she kicked and screamed and cried the entire time, poor thing.  I just got blood drawn when I was at home, and this experience hurt a little more and it gave me nice little bruise.

This morning we went to go pick up the medical results and turn in all of our papers for the marriage folder.  We met with the doctor who went over our results.  We are both HIV and syphilis free and are in good health to be married.  We got our medical certificate, and went on our way to get some more papers notarized.

medical certificate

We took our copies of our IDs to get notarized for free at the city hall which meant more stamps for our collection of papers, and then we headed over the "Parque de la Amistad" (Friendship Park) to buy our marriage folder.  

one of my notarized passport pages

The women who handled our paperwork took quite a long time poring over my legalized, translated, legalized again birth certificate and singleness certificate.  I was afraid she was going to say that something was missing from them or that we completed the process incorrectly.  She finally accepted them and then she had to enter all the info into the slow computer.  

Both Pollito and I had to have a witness that would testify to our never haven been married before.  We used his two brothers.  This part really confounds me.  Shouldn't you NOT be able to use relatives as your witnesses to previous marriage?  Oh well.  We chose our date and then signed all the papers and that was it!  We have to return at the end of the week to collect the newspaper notice that we have to publish before we can get married.

Getting all the civil ceremony paperwork in is quite a relief, but we will only get a short respite because we have to start collecting papers for the visa process.  We also have to plan the family activities for after the ceremony, and if we are going to say vows and stuff there too.  Now, it only we could get married by this guy...

The plan

Pretty much what our get married in Peru plan looks like

I think we have a plan.

After thinking and examining our options, Pollito and I have a plan.  Its actually been around for a while, but I think we are actually going to stick with this plan.

To start off with, the best option (the one we like the most) was option 4.  Get married in Peru and process Pollito´s visa/residency from here.  It allows him to work up until he leaves for the US and allows him to enter as a legal resident.  The time it takes and the fewer steps involved also make this option very appealing.  Talking to other people who have done the whole marrying a foreigner thing, if they had had the option to do Direct Consular Filing (DCF), they would have.  I want to make sure that we use our time wisely and that Pollito isn´t stuck in limbo when he arrives in the US.  There is nothing more frustrating than waiting with your hands tied.

So, folks, we are getting married in Peru.  WHAT!?!?

We are going to have a civil ceremony before I leave Peru and then turn in the documents.  Once we turn in the documents I don´t have to do anything else, so I will go home to "establish domicile" in the US.  We are just going to have immediate family with us for this day and its going to be just the civil ceremony with no party/reception/white dress/flowers.   Now, don´t hate me, I know a good many of you want to be with me on this special day, and I want you to be there too.  However, I don´t want to plan a party for two months from now and have people not be able to come because it was spur of the moment.  It also doesn´t give me enough time to plan.

Pollito also wants to have a religious (Catholic) ceremony, which is really what says you are married in the eyes of most Peruvians.  We decided that when we do the religious ceremony we will have the big party as well.  We will hold this in Peru because I have no idea what to do with a Catholic Ceremony in the US and if we do it in Peru, Pollito will take care of it all!  It will be a destination wedding if you will, for those of you who like destination weddings.  (I´m not that person who has planned their wedding from the age of 5, but still,  I never would have imagined having a wedding outside of the US) This grand fiesta will probably be between December 2012-March 2013, TBD.  We will also have a reception in the US for all the folks who cannot come to Peru.  How do people feel about traveling during the holiday season?

To sum up: Civil ceremony with family in Feb. 2012, Catholic ceremony around Feb 2013 with a big reception in Peru, American reception....sometime.

Pollito will still stay in Peru while his visa and residency is approved and he will still come up to the states in August/September of 2011.  Another plus of getting married ...he HAS to come up. Muahahaha.  I will be moving home in March.  This, by the way was the plan even if we didn´t get married in Peru.

We now have to stick to our time line and make sure we get our documents and medical exams and dates all  under control before the middle of February.  Its a good thing I don´t have to work full time anymore after Thursday.  I will have time to go wallow through the Peruvian system.  Wish me luck!

Rules to getting married in Peru

Getting married in Peru vs. Getting Married in the US - which process wins?

Answer : Hands down getting married in the US, the land of Vegas Marriages.  Carlos would only need his passport.  At least we make getting married easy, for those of us who can get married.

Getting married in Peru is a process. First, you need your list of documents:

1. Birth certificate (if you are foreign, you need it legalized)
2. Medical exam by certified place + AIDS test
3. Identification (legalized if you are foreign)
4. You have to run an ad in any paper in your district for a week (7 days) in case some one wants to contest your marriage.
5. You need to certify your single-ness.  In Pollito´s case, it could be any 4 people that he knows.  In my case I need to get a certificate saying I have never been married (and then get it legalized, notice a trend here?).
6. ID photos.
7. Pollito needs something that certifies where he lives.
8. I need to make sure my visa is valid (which at the moment it is not and I have to pay a fine and leave the country, or find some one who can "help me out")

You need to collect all of these items before you even go to try and get married and buy your marriage folder at the courthouse.  I think I also need to get my signature legalized otherwise what I would sign on the certificate would be invalid.  I guess its good that Peru likes to certify so many things to make sure you are who you say and stuff, but then again we are in the land of corruption and people paying bribes.  If you can bribe the police, you can for sure bribe a notary to say you live in a certain area, and your friends to say you are single.  At least Peru tries...

After you turn your papers in you choose a time, between 9-4 Monday -Friday in the wedding room or from 5-6 is extra, and if you want to get the civil ceremony done outside the wedding room its more expensive, or if you want to get married outside your district, its quite a lot more expensive.  The good thing is that all of this information is available online or by phone.  Pretty easy to come by and pretty easy to decifer.  Its just a lot of stuff you have to provide.  We are going to be paperwork pros by the time we finish all these processes-if we decide to go this route.

Reality Check

There are times I forget that as a couple, Pollito and I are slightly different from most people we know.  Its the international factor.  A lot of people get engaged, and start planning weddings.  We have to start planning weddings AND deal with immigration issues.  Barrels of fun.

After it sunk in that we were engaged, I started looking up the different ways of doing visas and getting Pollito in the US.  It is not simple.  There are tons of options and each has like a billion steps that aren´t very well defined.  I found a website forum about people and visas (Visa Journey) which outlines the ways to get your spouse or future spouse into the US.  The most common ways people get their foreign spouse into the US is through a Fiance Visa.  They get the visa, the foreign fiance goes to the US, they get married and then they adjust the status.  You have to turn in a variety of papers and pay a variety of fees.  The otherway is to ask for your foreign spouse from the US.  People like the fiance visa because they are able to be with their partner in less time than other processes.  The uncertainty is the amount of time you will have to wait to get everything approved.  While you are waiting in a fiance visa, you cannot do anything.  You cannot work, you cannot travel, for however long it takes.  There are so many different processes and visas and forms that it is very confusing even with the help of a forum that explains things step by step.  I started to get overwhelmed.

Luckily, since I live in the capital of Lima, we have the American Embassy which provides really bad customer service, but at least I can go and ask questions.  So on the one out of two days that the window (literally just a window that you stand at and ask questions) is open, I went and waited to be attended.  The info lady who was there was hurried, but helpful.  She let me ask most of my questions before cutting me off to tell me that if I had been living in Peru for more than 8 months, then I was considered a resident in the eyes of the government and I could apply for a a green card for Pollito from Peru.  She told me that it would take a lot less time, like a month or two instead of months to years.  She provided me with papers and I was on my way to tell Pollito the new option.

Just in case you were confused reading thing, I´ll sum up.
1.) Fiance Visa : basically a special tourist visa to get Pollito to the US and then get married in the US.  Once married you have to file for a change of status and work permission.  Time for Pollito to arrive in the US is short, but waiting time to be a permanent resident can be long.

2.)Spousal visa type 1.  Get married in Peru. Ask for Pollito for a visa to allow him to come the US as my husband and then change all the status like in the fiance visa.  He enters like a tourist and we file so he can be a permanent resident.  He travels as soon as we get the petition approved, but like the finace visa, he cannot do anything in the US until is residency status is approved.

3.)Spousal visa type 2 : Get married in Peru, and file for permanent residency for Pollito from the US.  He has his visa interview in Peru and enteres the US as a permanent resident.  He cannot travel until he gets the visa approved.  Process takes up to a year to get it approved.

4.) Spousal visa type 3 : Get married in Peru and file for permanent residency from Peru.  Process takes around 3 months and he enters the US as a permanent resident.

Options 2-4 mean getting married before I leave Peru, and option 1 means getting married in the States.  Maybe it would be easiest to stay in Peru....The problem with options 1-2 is that Pollito will be a sitting duck in the US.  He cannot do anything becuase he would be in limbo for an undetermined amount of time.  Options 3-4 mean that he can stay working in Peru until he leaves for the US.  Trying to weigh the options to see what is the best fit.  On the other hand we have to figure out what getting in Peru involves.....