Hellobee

My husband is one of those people who love to try news things, which is why his first job after university was one that required travel.  His first stop outside of Scotland was Melbourne, Australia for a year where he promptly fell in love… with the country. After that Mr. Cookie was sent back to Scotland and started thinking about purchasing a flat and a car.  He finally gave in and bought a car but was sent to the USA two months later. Such is life, right? Mr. Cookie was slated to be in the Chicago area for a few weeks, but that turned into a few months which turned into a two year secondment contract which turned into indefinitely.

Mr. Cookie and I knew early on in our relationship that we would make the United States our home. I don’t exist well outside of the Midwest and while we are often asked if he moved here for me, the answer is no. As soon as Mr. Cookie began visiting other parts of the world he knew he would not end up living in Scotland for the rest of his life. We were nervous because we knew his current job meant he could be sent away at a moment’s notice. Lucky for us his project in Chicago kept getting extended and we were able to to request that Mr. Cookie stay in the area after we had been dating for a while.

Mr. Cookie and I got engaged on February 19th, 2012. We quickly decided on a Minnesota wedding so we’d only have one family traveling instead of both sides coming to Chicago. That following autumn Mr. Cookie was put on a new project in Kansas City. He began one of those awful commutes of flying out Monday morning and flying back in Friday evening. We were at the height of wedding planning and our weekends were stressful and jam-packed. It sucked but we were happy he had a stable job that kept him in the country.

We knew we’d be applying for Mr. Cookie’s green card after we got married so we decided to do some research ahead of time. First, we looked at the long list of items needed and read about the potential interview, then I tried browsing for blog posts and personal stories of other couples who’d gone through the same process but came up dry. All of the information out there was technical and boring, so I knew I wanted to share our timeline once we had completed everything. Obviously there is no way to tell how long this process will take but here is our experience.

February 2009: A Scottish guy enters the US on an L-1 visa and is living in Arlington Heights even though his company sold it to him as he would be living IN Chicago. (A suburb does not a city make.)

August 2009: The Scottish guy decides he loves Chicago so much he will stay for the span of a two-year contract. He moves to Wicker Park and drinks lots of beer with his fellow Scottish transplants and new American friends.

Eve of Thanksgiving 2009: The Scottish guy meets a lovely and slightly self-absorbed American girl at a bar. They begin dating.

As the years go by the two fall in love. The American girl gets the Scottish guy to try peanut butter for the first time (he hates it), and the Scottish guy encourages the American girl to try 16 year old whisky (she hates it). They travel to Scotland, Minnesota, and North Dakota, they meet each other’s family, they laugh, they bicker, they go on fancy dates in Chicago, and they decide to spend the rest of their lives together.

February 2012: The Scottish guy proposes to the American girl at the top of the John Hancock Building and they move in together in Wicker Park.

At this point they could have applied for a fiancé green card but because they’d have to reapply once they were married they didn’t think it was worth the time and effort.

March 9, 2013:  They get married in a beautiful wedding ceremony in Minnesota surrounded by their favorite people in the world.

April 11, 2013: The American girl changes her name to match the Scottish guy’s surname one day after arriving home from their ten day honeymoon in the Jamaica. (Note: You are not allowed to leave the country once you submit your forms for review.)

The Scottish guy then spends A LOT of time researching the correct forms, filling out paperwork, and making photo copies of everything. It is very time-consuming process. The many requested documents include ID’s, birth certificates, passports, marriage license, bank statements, W-2’s, pay stubs, old personal emails, pictures with family and each other, affidavits of support from their parents, life insurance, joint car loan papers, joint insurance cards, anything else with both names on it, and two money orders, one for roughly 500 dollars submitted by the sponsor and one for roughly 1,000 dollars submitted by the applicant.

May 23, 2013: Paperwork is submitted! The Scottish guy has requested an AOS (adjustment of status) to the USCIS (US Citizen and Immigration Services). The waiting game begins and a few weeks later their status online says the paperwork is under review.

June 21, 2013: The Scottish guy has his biometrics appointment in the suburbs of Chicago. Basically all that means is they need to take his fingerprints. A good sign that things are moving along!

July 2013: The good news is they have been scheduled for an interview; the bad news is it won’t be until September 12th in downtown Chicago, and they are moving to Kansas in a few weeks.

Within ten days of moving: They must notify USCIS of the Scottish guy’s change in address and the American girl must also notify them (as his sponsor) within thirty days.

August 2013: Their appointment in Chicago is canceled due to unforeseen circumstances, but a few weeks later they receive new information that their interview will now be in Kansas City, yay!  (Major props to the government for making that change so quickly.  We realize our move was unfortunately timed with when we submitted our paperwork.)

September 11th, 2013: The Scottish guy and the American girl meet with a detective at a USCIS building for their green card interview!!

Stay tuned for Part Two.