Chapter 3: Did I say enough...

Chapter's 1 & 2 can be found before this post.

So last Tuesday was the big day- the interview.
I get all my "evidence" together, joint bank statements, marriage documents, Utility bills that sort of thing, to basically prove we do actually live in the same house.

Now they do request on the appointment notice that you also take photographs as proof of a relationship- However if you could see my photograph on my work permit you would understand whenever any camera or recording device enters a room, I exit the room.

So I have all I need except my i-94 arrival/departure record.

Its a little green card that looks like this:

Holy Flipping Crap!! I cannot find it anywhere ( and I am usually careful about stuff like passports etc and I tend to keep them all in the same place safe & sound)
Not only that but I cannot for the life of me remember when and where I last had it, I know I scanned it and sent off a copy of it when I sent off my immigration forms, then I thought I had put it in the file with the extra passport photos, USCIS notices, letters and forms etc.

Maybe it slipped out of the file?
Maybe I lost it at the medical exam ?- I took the file with me to that.
Maybe I lost it in the move from the apartment to the house?

I have no clue and its really rather worrying because that along with the stamp in my passport are the only 2 things that prove I entered the United States legally.


Both got dressed up drove into the city, paid a fortune for parking and went into the USCIS

* insert suspense music*

We go in , I set off the metal detector as usual and have to have the little portable thingy waved up and down over my body.

Go to the waiting room which has quite a few other people in it ( mostly dressed up too- I knew it wasn't a jeans kind of thing)

No reception desk/ window at all, instead there is a door and a hole in the wall in witch you place your interview appointment letter ( probably so the staff don't have to listen to bitching?)

Now we wait, we are about 20 mins early. People come out of "the door" they don't seem to be smiling, just blank expressions, wonder if this a bad sign or a good sign.

People who came in after us get called in before us.

Then its our turn * Shudder*
A very severe looking woman ( Immigration Officer) shows us into her office- all glass walls, huge American flag ( with the yellow fringing ) on a stand, a desk, her chair and 3 chairs the other side of the desk. A webcam on the desk!

Before we sit down she has us swear an oath to tell the truth, WP bless his heart has to pipe up and say he cannot swear to God because he is an Atheist. Severe woman looks a little put out and I want to fall into a hole in the floor.
She looks up the non God believing oath and he agrees to tell the truth...

We sit down and she begins asking me a whole load of questions ( which I had already answered on the form)

Am I a communist
Am I a terrorist
Am I a felon
Am I a smuggler
Do I intend to practice polygamy

That sort of thing.

Then she moves onto how we met, looks at our joint bills, bank statements etc.
She asked why I did not leave the country when I was mean to, I (we) told her that was when WP first started getting ill and we could no longer afford to pay for more flights to and from the UK.

I took along the HUGE folder of medical bill records which I opened to show my point, she did not make any effort to take them to look at or whatever.

Then it was when and how did we decide to marry. I told her it was a whim.

She then said" so when you came back into the country in *insert month* you came planning to stay for good.*

Hmm sneaky trick question?

I said that no I had not and that I had intended at the time to return to the Uk again and come back at a later date ( which was the truth) but because we no longer could afford to do that I ended up just staying.


* Its seen as an act of fraud to come into the United States on the Visa Waiver Program with the intent to marry or not leave the country again after the 90 days.


So thats about it pretty much.....Now you all know me, I like to scare myself about every possible scenario by reading other peoples illnesses/ stories on the internet.

So of course I had googled many many times looking up what happens at immigration interviews.

According to the general consensus on the many internet forums out there. You go /you convince the IO that you did not intend to stay and break the law/ they are satisfied with your story and immediately stamp your passport- ( the stamp is so you can leave the country and re-enter etc while you are waiting for your green card- That and I guess would allow you a bloody drivers license right away!)

Did she stamp mine? NO.

She took it and Wp's DL to photocopy, looked at my work permit ( which I also ready they then take it away from you when you get approval for a green card), I still have mine.

She said IF I were to get approved then they would more then likely hold off the green card date until mid feb.
The reason for this is if you have been married less then 2 years you get a 2 year conditional green card ( which I think is meant to put a stop to people marrying just for a green card and then splitting up)
One you are nearing your second wedding anniversary you then become eligible for the proper 10 yr green card- The card lasts 10 years but once that permanent resident status is issued you get it for life (unless you commit a serious crime or something)

So they would hold off on our case and just grant the 10 yr card once we have been married 2 yrs. where as if they gave me one before it would be another 2 yrs before I could swap it to the 10 yr one.

Which makes sense I guess.

WP being the little ray of sunshine he is then started asking what would happen if my case was not approved, how long would it be before I had to leave the country, could I stay here and just not work, him take care of me that sort of thing.

She said if the case was not approved I would get a trial (cripes) and even felons who go to trial sometimes get granted approval.


So on the whole I think its looking ok, I just wish she would have been a bit more "forthcoming" and more "human"

One thing she never mentioned the 1-94 card ( which is still playing on my mind being lost n all)
So that was a positive.

Once we had left though I wondered if I should have showed her:

My return ticket to the UK- just to show I had intended to return.

I also had a letter from work agreeing to my career break ( a formal word for unpaid time off)- To show that I had not given up my job to come to the US.

But its too late now.

Another positive thing is WP received a letter from them yesterday stating that his application I-130 Petition for Alien Relative had been approved. I was happy for a while until again I had to go and get on the internet and read about cases where I-130's but I-485's Application To Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status ( which is what the interview was about) were not approved....


So I just need to sit it out, stay calm and stay off emigration forums for the next few weeks and hope for the best.

Keep your fingers crossed for me!!

And if you kept up with 3 posts worth of drivel and still managed to get the general gist of things as they now stand, you are a better person then I !!!!


Oh and just one more thing: I have an interview on Friday at one of the larger companies in the area, don't want to say too much more at this point other then its one of the jobs I applied for back in early December ( and they just called yesterday) and that I don't think I am probably qualified enough for the job so I am not holding out much hope but will give it a shot.

Midnight Madness & Bare ass cheek.

Last night we went to "Midnight Madness" which is to cut a long story short "St. Louis Style Outlaw Street Racing (starting tree, instant green, no scoreboards, your time only on timeslips)", or so the website says.
We got there around 9ish and stayed til about 1.30am (it finished at 3).
I had a pretty enjoyable evening, one near crash a few two wheel starts. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, having never been anywhere like this before. Ordinary Joe can go along with his ride and pay like 20$ to race.
Some of the cars were fancier, some were just regular cars, some created clouds upon clouds of smoke from wheel spins, some pulled away as though out for a Sunday drive.

I took some photo's (terrible though they are)...

No I did not try this out (and I dont know the guy on it either)

Terrible photo but its an actual mullet out in public.

Paris Hilton wannabe and her dog. Had to take this discretely hence the leg shots, yes guys there is a dog somewhere in the picture, move your eyes up...

Lots of people seemed to be drinking this...

Thankfully she stuck to water ( and a ciggie)

Now this woman, not only was she dressed as though she was heading to a night club but she gave everybody this dance, I don't think she got any $'s...

Flavor Flav lookalike handing out rubbish little coins worth a whole free burger at rally's

"spectacular smoky burnout"

S'pose I'd better show a car...

or two.

A couple of south city hoosiers that latched onto us.

Not really we went with them (I cut WP off because he is camera shy)

And Lastly

I noticed this morning I quite possibly spent the whole night looking like this*...

Oh the shame.

* It wasn't as bad as it seems, one I had a long(ish) T shirt on. Two my ass is pretty flat, I took the photo whilst bending (for effect) Lastly and most importantly the jeans were not too tight, they are a) very old and b) I possibly caught them on the seating.

Now thats my story and I'm sticking to it.

Women cant cook ?

You know you frequent the same restaurant ( I use the term loosely) When the guy behind the counter says he hasn't seen you in a while...
I replied that I did cook sometimes too ( again I used the term very loosely)
He went on to say how surprised he was that I cooked as so many women today cannot cook and are often married to men who are great cooks.
The guy behind me in line joined in on how true it was, I was out numbered!
As the line moved on the guy behind asked if I was from England, when I said yes his face split into this beaming smile ( I don't have that effect on many people)
He asked where abouts which is good because some people think London is the only place that exists in the UK.
I find it easier to say "near Liverpool" V's Chester, its easier then explaining where Chester is.
When I say that he nearly falls on the floor because the Beatles are his favourite group (No I was not around circa Beatles heyday)Not that he asked this of course, that comment was for blogs worlds benefit.
He then went onto talk about his church group had just done A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and he had loved it and would love to go to England. ( I hope the poor guy doesn't think he will find things in England like Dickens's day)
He launched into his stage accent which I must say was better then mine.....

Anyway enough about that.
I would tell you about the weekend but I cant remember doing anything of interest, so I wont bore you all.

I have been playing this song over the last few days, I love it. The background piece is my all time favourite classical piece of music.
Its been jazzed up and christmasfied by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra who are great, if you haven't heard any of their stuff check them out Here.

Anyway Enjoy:

Wild Wild West...

I know this joke has been around for a while but I liked the layout of this one ;)

BTW A Happy 4th of July to all my American friends.

My havent times changed...

Do you think that ad companies would get away with this these days?

BTW in England Fanny is a slang term for a ladies nether reigons,thats why we laugh when we hear Americans refering to bum bags as "fanny packs" ;)

Football, weddings and the number of the beast!

Well first seems that some of the world have gotten themselves into a bit of a tizz, with today being the 6th day of the 6th month of the 6th year. I came across this news story:

Prayer vigil targets Devil's Day

Dutch evangelical Christians are to hold a round-the-clock prayer vigil to ward off the forces of evil on Tuesday - the so-called Devil's Day.

They believe that the sixth day of the sixth month of 2006 has great significance for evil-doers and Satanists who revere the number 666.

In a bid to counteract the forces of evil, more than 2,000 Dutch Christians will hold "a violent day of worship".

They will be joined by Christians in 23 other countries, organisers say.

The reference to 666 is taken from the Biblical book of Revelation, which talks about the events leading to the end of the world.

Revelation 13:18 states: "If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666."

Behind the initiative is a Dutch evangelical organisation called Ambassadors Ministries.

"On this date, Satanists will try and do many things, so we Christians try and do the opposite"
Mathijs Piet
Ambassadors Ministries

Mathijs Piet, one of the organisers, told the BBC news website that the prayer marathon was to officially start at 1800 on Monday with a prayer rally in Jerusalem.

"666 is the number of the Devil and we know that on this date, Satanists will try and do many things, so we Christians try and do the opposite," Mr Piet said.

"We know the Devil hates it when we worship God."

Organisers expect at least 2,000 Dutch evangelicals to take part in the mass prayer vigil across the Netherlands.

They are not the only ones to note the significance of the date.


The fear of the number 666 is known as hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia.
Source

Ever the ones to cash in though Vegas are doing specially themed Goth" weddings for those of us who like the "darker" things in life.













Then onto something that I am sure Americans couldn't care less about but I can guarantee that it will have overtaken 90% of rest of the modern world. Yes world Cup Fever

Seems there are a few rows goin on in old Blighty, firstly over the flying of St Georges flag. Some people are taking offence that its not the Union flag being flown, well "England" football supporters are going to fly the flag of St George not the United Kingdom, IE Scotland , Ireland and Wales.

In England we are not patriotic, its not like here where you see the nations flag flying proudly in peoples yards, on their cars etc. The only time we English are patriotic is when either Footy or the Rugby world cups are on and then you cant walk down a street without seeing at least one flag flying. Any other time the flag of St George is flown we are told we are racist and that god forbid we may upset some Muslim or Welshman.

Town councils are banning its cab drivers from flying (or wearing anything with it on) the flag. The Uk's number one food chain banned its delivery drivers from flying the flag ( but was later forced to backtrack and apologise). Neighbours falling out saying that the flying of the flag is lowering property prices!
Seems in England its seen as a "working class" trait. Something the nicer side of town don't want to partake in.

One quote I read summed it up well

" At last we are overcoming post-Empire guilt. The English can stop apologising. We want our national identity back."

But no it gets worse, a BBC memo intercepted by the press states that "Radio 1 (BBCS top Radio station) has banned World Cup songs that mention England - in case they upset Welsh, Scots or Irish listeners".
A Radio 1 source said: "We have been told songs that contain the word England repeatedly can't be put on the playlist because we don't want to upset anyone who isn't English. It's ridiculous."

What Bollocks. Don't get me wrong I am not a football fan, but there is something that sort of "sweeps" the nation around world cup time that you want to be part of, you cant help it. so were I there now you could bet that I would rush out and buy me a St Georges flag and fly it with pride, and a big "Up Yours" to those who frown down upon it. ;)