In Training: U.S. Immigration Interview : Part III

Begin with Part 1.

Yikes, so I forgot something that should have been in Part II! How embarrassing, right?! As soon as we walked into the Immigration lady's office she'd asked us to be seated. Then she asked us why we didn't have an attorney present. We explained the quickness of the interview date. She allowed us to step forward and sign a waiver saying we were aware our attorney wasn't present and that were prepared to deal with whatever came of the whole thing by ourselves. What a way to start one of the most important interviews of our lives! Then came the phone call about the doctor:

Then she got on the phone and started speaking to someone about the doctor Royal went to for his mandatory medical exam. She asked the person on the phone when they stopped accepting exams from said doc. She asked the person to send her that email.
I remember thinking, oh hell no. No you don't. See, they give you a list of doctors that they will accept sealed medical exams from. Royal had to travel an hour to see this guy, and it was ages ago!
Surely, they weren't going to reject us because they didn't have an adequate medical exam...

Turns out they wouldn't. Immigration lady didn't say one word to us about it - didn't explain what we'd just heard or assure us that whatever the maybe problem was, it wasn't going to interfere with the process. She just went back to shuffling our papers. I can only assume we got the medical done and in before the doctor in question was cut off.

Next she asked how we met -- actually I think it was "how our relationship came to be." Even though Royal and I had agreed that he would do most of the talking (after all it's him that would be banished, not me!) but of course, me with my big mouth spoke up first. Royal interjected here are there to fill in the gaps. We tried to be detailed but not, you know, too detailed! Wasn't enough though, Immigration lady wanted more detail. We were glad to give it.

She asked what organizations Royal belongs to. He said none. I had to remind him about one. I'm sure we laughed. Immigration lady did not.

Then the other shoe dropped. Why did Royal enter the country and file for permanent residency through another channel when we had already filed for a K3 visa while in Britain? We explained that I'd become very sick a few months after filing for the K3 and when I was well enough I moved back to Texas while Royal stayed in Britain (he was going to be deployed again right away). Royal came to visit for Christmas that year and went back to continue living in Britain and being a Royal Marine. On his next visit he wasn't at all impressed with the improvement in my health and decided to stay and re-file in the States. He didn't want to leave me alone - he wanted to take care of me.

The one time Immigration lady showed any emotion was when I told her I'd been sick with shingles and mono at the same time. Her eyes grew large and her mouth fell open and she said,
"Oh no! My gosh!"

That is when I realized we were going to be okay.

She then explained why Citizenship and Immigration was concerned about that part of our file and we said we definitely understood. We understood but we really are in love and we've been married over two years and we did what we did in good conscience. We'd been determined to do everything the right way.

So, you remember all those copies we made before we came? Yeah, it was at this point in the interview that she let us know that she was satisfied with the paperwork we had submitted in the past and did not require any more proof of anything. Sigh. But once we thought about it we were happy that we'd completed everything correctly the first time!

We watched as Immigration lady finished marking some papers. She might have stamped something but then again that might be my movie watching kicking in - we were too excited!! She approved his permanent residency right then and there. Gave us an info sheet on permanent residency (you are not allowed to vote, you must sign up for selective service, etc.) and told us to expect the green card in the mail in 2-3 weeks! Lastly, she asked for Royal's work permit (which was a card, actually). He didn't need it anymore!

As we were leaving we passed by a large room with tons of chairs all pointing at a little stage with a podium. I realized that this must be the room. THE room. The room that is used to swear in brand shiny and new U.S. Citizens. It might have been just a room like any other, but I was in awe. This is where people become Americans!! This is where we will be in 3+ years.

We got out to the truck and let me tell you we were so totally thrilled! There are no words for how we were feeling. We called our family members and then...

... headed to Cabela's and purchased a tactical shotgun for Royal. I figured he deserved a freaking awesome present for stickin' with me all this time!