Crossing our fingers and waiting...

It has been almost 2 weeks since Anna had her interview with the USCIS and we were told that we had to come up with additional documentation to prove that Anna had the legal right to take her daughter out of the country.

They gave us 30 days to submit the documentation before they could continue processing her application.
If we don't provide proper evidence within 30 days it will nullify our application and we will need to start the entire  process all over again. That would mean Anna would be required to return to Russia and we would need to file for another visa for her to come back.

Prior to coming here, Anna was unable to locate her ex-husband in order to get his permission to take their daughter out of the country. In fact Anna has not seen nor heard from him since shortly after her daughter was born.

Fortunately Anna has an official court document from Russia that declared her ex-husband was "absent without a trace" after numerous attempts to locate him had failed while trying to collect child support.

Yesterday we were able to get the document translated and we were finally able to get the package in the mail today.

We are keeping our fingers crossed as we hope that they will accept this document as sufficient evidence in this case and subsequently approve our application for the green cards. We don't even want to think about the alternative because trying to locate her ex-husband in the past has proven to be futile and trying to locate him now would be an impossibility. We don't even know if he's dead or if he's alive.

If they reject our application, we will be forced to employ the services of an immigration attorney and to be honest, I don't think we cannot afford that option.

Now all we can do is wait and keep our fingers crossed...

One final request for evidence...

Anna finally had her interview with immigration on Friday. We were both hoping to finally be able to put this all behind us and get good news that she would finally get her green card. But unfortunately yet again this was not the case.

I was unable to record the interview because the interviewer told me it was strictly prohibited. It made me wonder what they're trying to hide but the interviewer adamantly refused my request to audio record the interview.
 
I was able to sneak a picture of us all before the interview began though and I think that is also prohibited but what they don't know won't hurt them.

Overall the interview went well. I can't say it was the most comfortable interview. Tensions were rather high throughout the interview process. Anna was very nervous and to be honest the interviewer seemed to be rather rude which only added to Anna's discomfort.

It lasted nearly an hour and they asked Anna and the children many questions. I almost laughed when I heard the interviewer ask Anna if she was a terrorist or if she had ever been engaged in terrorist activities. I wonder if a terrorist would actually answer that question honestly.

Other questions that were asked included if Anna was involved in espionage or if she had ever been involved in the overthrow of a government. Of course Anna was able to answer all the questions honestly with "no". I can assure everyone that Anna is not a terrorist.

Everything seemed to be going fine and we thought the whole interview process was getting ready to come to a close until the interviewer noticed that we were lacking some documentation. We had all the necessary documentation except a document that showed Anna had permission from her ex husband to take her daughter out of Russia and allowing her to live in the United States with Anna.

Anna has documents that allowed her to take Maria out of the country but it isn't necessarily permission from her ex-husband. She had to get a court order allowing her to take Maria out of the country because she had not seen or heard from her ex-husband since Maria was born. 

In fact Anna has good reason to believe that he may even be dead although she didn't have any evidence to prove it.

Unfortunately Anna had left that document at home because she didn't know she would be required to show it at the interview. She was not required to show it at the interview at the U.S. Embassy in Russia so she assumed she didn't need it for this interview.

In hindsight we both realize that we should have brought that document with us to the interview.
But fortunately we have the document. Now all we need to do is get it translated and mail a copy of the document along with its translation to the USCIS and we should be able to finally get her green card. We are hoping to get it sent in this week.

Even with this minor delay we are both feeling very relieved and it feels like a huge weight has been lifted from our shoulders. But we will feel much better when we finally have the green card in hand.

Tomorrow is the big day

Anna and I have been very busy the past few weeks preparing for her interview with the USCIS on Friday.
We have gathered all the necessary documents and we are hopeful that everything will go well but we are both a little nervous and Anna is very worried that she may not do well in the interview and that they will reject our application for the green card. 
I am fairly confident that everything will go well during the interview. Fortunately our friend Katya has volunteered to be our interpreter for the interviews so I think we have all the bases covered. 
Anna is a little concerned that she won't be able to remember birthdays and other things that they may ask her in order for her to prove to them that we are still married and we have on ongoing relationship. 
But we are both looking forward to this final step to be complete so she can finally get her green card. To say Anna is a bit stir crazy staying at home all day while I work would an understatement. She is eager to get her green card so she can start to look for work. she can't wait to be able to finally get out of the house and help contribute to our household. 
Tomorrow will be the moment of truth and both Anna and I are on edge in anticipation of the outcome.
It will be an early morning for us and we will need to be at the local immigration office by 8:00 for the first interview. 
There will actually be 3 interviews. Maria will have her interview at 8:00, followed by Ivan's interview and finally Anna's interview at 9:00.
I will request permission to record the audio of the interview to share on the blog afterward but I am not sure if they will let me do it.
Needless to say we are both rather anxious about tomorrows so tonight we decided to get out of the house for a while and relax to a hot cup of coffee in the coffee shop for a while. It was kind of nice to go out on a date for a while. It is not very often Anna and I can go out alone given the constant demands of the children. We hoped that will calm our nerves while we anticipate our big day tomorrow. We are hoping for good news. We are definitely looking forward to putting this all behind us so we can go on with our lives.

Preparing for the interview

Anna and I finally received the official Notice of Action (Form I-797C) from the USCIS. It was a 'Request for Applicant to Appear for Initial Interview' dated January 3, 2014.

Here is the complete notice we received from them.

REQUEST FOR APPLICANT TO APPEAR FOR INITIAL INTERVIEW

NOTICE DATE
January 03, 2014

CASE TYPE
FORM 1-485, APPLICATION TO REGISTER PERMANENT RESIDENCE OR ADJUST STATUS

You are hereby notified to appear for the interview appointment, as scheduled below, for the
completion of your Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status (Form 1-485) and any supporting applications or petitions. Failure to appear for this interview and/or failure to bring the below listed items will result in the denial of your application. (8 CFR 103.2(b)(13))

Who should come with you?

• If your eligibility is based on your marriage, your husband or wife must come with you to the interview.
• If you do not speak English fluently, you should bring an interpreter.
• Your attorney or authorized representative may come with you to the interview.
• If your eligibility is based on a parent/child relationship and the child is a minor, the petitioning parent and the child must appear for the interview.

*NOTE: Every adult (over 18 years of age) who comes to the interview must bring Government-issued photo identification, such as a driver's license or ID card, in order to enter the building and to verify his/her identity at the time of the interview. You do not need to bring your children unless otherwise instructed. Please be on time, but do not arrive more than 30 minutes early. We may record or videotape your interview.

YOU MUST BRING THE FOLLOWING ITEMS WITH YOU: (Please use as a checklist to prepare for your interview)

• This Interview Notice and your Government issued photo identification.
• A completed medical examination (Form 1-693) and vaccination supplement in a sealed envelope (unless already submitted).
• A completed Affidavit(s) of Support (Form 1-864) with all required evidence, Including the following, for each of your sponsors (unless already submitted):

• Federal Income Tax returns and W-2's, or certified IRS printouts, for the most recent tax year
• Letters from each current employer, verifying current rate of pay and average weekly hours, and pay stubs for the past 2 months;
• Evidence of your sponsors and/or co-sponsor's United States Citizenship or Lawful Permanent Resident status.

• All documentation establishing your eligibility for Lawful Permanent Resident status.
• Any immigration-related documentation ever issued to you, including any Employment Authorization Document (EAD) and any Authorization for Advance Parole (Form 1-512).
• All travel documents used to enter the United States, including Passports, Advance Parole documents (1-512) and I-94s (Arrival/Departure Document).
• Your Birth Certificate.
• Your petitioner's Birth Certificate and your petitioner's evidence of United States Citizenship or Lawful Permanent Resident Status.
• If you have children, bring a Birth Certificate for each of your children.
• If your eligibility is based on your marriage, in addition to your spouse coming to the interview with you, bring:

• A certified copy of your Marriage Document issued by the appropriate civil authority.
• Your spouse's Birth Certificate and your spouse's evidence of United States Citizenship or Lawful Permanent Resident status;
• If either you or your spouse were ever married before, all divorce decrees/death certificates for each prior marriage/former spouse;
• Birth Certificates for all children of this marriage, and custody papers for your children and for your spouse's children not living with you;

• Supporting evidence of your relationship, such as copies of any documentation regarding joint assets or liabilities you and your spouse may have together. This may include: tax returns, bank statements, insurance documents (car, life, health), property documents (car, house, etc.), rental agreements, utility bills, credit cards, contracts, leases, photos, correspondence and/or any other documents you feel may substantiate your relationship.
• Original and copy of each supporting document that you submitted with your application. Otherwise, we may keep your originals for our records.
• If you have ever been arrested, bring the related Police Report and the original or certified Final Court Disposition for each arrest, even if the charges have been dismissed or expunged. If no court record is available, bring a letter from the court with jurisdiction indicating this.
• A certified English translation for each foreign language document. The translator must certify that s/he is fluent in both languages, and that the translation in its entirety is complete and accurate.

YOU MUST APPEAR FOR THIS INTERVIEW- If an emergency, such as your own illness or a close relative's hospitalization, prevents you from appearing, call the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) National Customer Service Center at 1-800-375-5283 as soon as possible. Please be advised that rescheduling will delay processing of application/petition, and may require some steps to be repeated. It may also affect your eligibility for other immigration benefits while this application is pending.

If you have questions; please call the USCIS National Customer Service Center at 1-800-375-5283 (hearing impaired TDD service is 1-800-767-1833).

It is definitely asking for a lot but most of the documents we have already sent them. In fact I think we have already sent them everything listed above twice. I don't know why they require us to show them the documents again but we still have copies so it should be easy for us to collect them for the interview.

Unfortunately one of the items they are requiring from us is going to be impossible for us to produce. We don't have a "Government-issued photo identification" for her. That is the whole purpose in applying for the Green Card. The green card will be her "Government-issued photo identification". And I can guarantee, I cannot get her a drivers license without a green card. This Government organization never ceases to amaze me. They may as well be saying "Please bring your green card to your interview for your green card application". I certainly hope this is not a deal breaker. It would definitely be disappointing to find out she can't get a green card because she doesn't already have one.

Needless to say the next few weeks will be very busy for us as we try to gather all the required documents in preparation for the interview. We hope everything goes well during the interview because both Anna and I are ready for this process to be over. I can't say it will be completely over after she gets her green card, but at least it will buy us 2 years before we need to go through this entire process again.

I still think it would have been easier and cheaper for Anna to have met me in Mexico and we could have crossed the border illegally and lived happily ever after. Who knows, she may have already been on welfare by now if we had not followed the rules. ;)

Our first New Year's Celebration together...

Today as Anna and I get ready to usher in the new year we are able to look back on the last year to see what changes it has brought to both our lives.

2013 was a big year for us. At the beginning of the year our future was still filled with uncertainty. On January 1st of 2013, it had already been almost 2 months since we originally filed our petition with the USCIS for our K-1(Fiance) Visa and we were still waiting for a response that did not come until late April only after some pressure from Senator Risch' Office. Up until that moment, time seemed to drag slowly by for Anna and I. After that, things moved quickly for us.

Shortly after our petition was approved, our documents were transferred to the NVC (National Visa Center) for "processing" where it was there for almost a month before it was forwarded to the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. While we waited, Anna sold various assets including a house that she had purchased with her late husband as well as other items that she would no longer be needing.

Finally, Anna had her interview at the Embassy in Moscow on July 1st. After that life became a whirlwind for both of us. I spent the next couple of weeks making flight reservations for her and the children while she packed her bags and gave her 2 week notice with her employer as well as tying up any other loose ends.

On July 21st at 10:15 AM Moscow time, Anna and the children said goodbye to Russia as they boarded the plane and headed to America. After a long flight and a brief layover in New York, they arrived in Seattle at 10:15 PM where I met them and brought them to their new home. On September 20th Anna and I were married and the rest is as they say "history".

Now Anna and I look forward to celebrating our first New Year's together. In fact today I will be able to fulfill a promise I made on New Year's Eve last year to Anna. I told her this time last year, "I promise, it will be the last New Year's Eve, you and I are going to celebrate separately."

The New Year celebration has always been a huge event in Russia. In fact the Russian New Year celebration lasts for 10 full days. Anna has spent literally weeks decorating the house for the occasion and I must say she has done an amazing job. Here are a few pictures to show some of the decorating she has done to prepare for the New Year. Keep in mind the window decorations were all printed on the computer and Anna cut each one out and glued them to the window. They look awesome!

The pictures do not do it justice. She has truly done an amazing job.  Needless to say, we are both looking forward to celebrating the New Year together. 

On behalf of Anna, I and our children, we want to wish you all a Happy New Year!

Finally some News...

It has been over a month since we submitted the paperwork in response to the "Request for Evidence" from the USCIS and we had not heard anything within that length of time. But it appears the ball may be finally rolling again in our case.

Yesterday we were informed that the status had changed in our case. It changed from "Under Review" to "Testing and Interview" status. It seems that they found my income was sufficient after all and now they are moving it to the next level.

Here is the information we received:

 Testing and Interview 

Your I485, APPLICATION TO REGISTER PERMANENT RESIDENCE OR TO ADJUST STATUS is now ready for interview scheduling. When scheduling is complete, you will receive a notice with a time and place for your interview. If you have not received the notice within 30 days of the date the notice is mailed, please call customer service at 1-800-375-5283 for further assistance. Please check our website at www.uscis.gov for further updates on your case. If you move, please use our Change of Address online tool to update your case with your new address.

If your case status indicates that you are currently in this step, you have either been scheduled for an interview or are in line to be scheduled for an interview. The amount of time your application will remain in this step will vary by office and is largely determined by the number of cases ahead of yours. The interview notice will have specifics about time, location and anything you will need to bring to your interview. If your application remains pending beyond our normal processing times (as shown below) please contact our national customer service center at 1-800-375-5283.

Please note that not every application/applicant will require an interview. In some instances, an interview is required by regulation and others an interview is requested because USCIS has determined that this is the most efficient means to determine eligibility. For a naturalization application the interview will include your taking the required English and/or Civics tests (unless exempt or waived).

This was good news and finally we can see a light at the end of the tunnel. Now all we need to do is wait for the paperwork to arrive in the mail so we can prepare for the interview. Hopefully soon she will have her interview and she can finally get her work permit. She is definitely getting restless around the house all day long.

 

Taking it to the next level...

Anna and I have been trying to decide what we should do next.

It has been nearly 2 years since I began writing our story on this blog and Over that period of time I have created over 100 blog entries describing the events surrounding our lives. I have shared our hopes and our dreams with our readers and I even shared the fulfillment of many of them on this blog. In my opinion this blog has been a success.

Anna and I both agree that our blog has been a good start, but we are now wondering what we should do next. I am sure I could continue to write "Same ****, different day" blog entries and bore our readers to death or we can try bring it to a new level and take it in a new direction.

After a lot of discussion We both feel that the next logical step should be to write and publish a book. We have even received numerous requests from our readers indicating their interest in a book, so I am certain that there is a demand for it. But as many of you are already aware, I am not a very good writer.  My only writing experience has been in the writing of this blog and it leaves a lot to be desired. If we had to depend on my writing skills for our next meal, we would have starved to death many moons ago ;).

But on a serious note, I am certain that between this blog, our documentary and our 3800 pages of correspondence(Anna and I have over 3,800 pages of written correspondence between us from the time we met until now), we definitely have enough material for a book. But even though we both feel that we have enough material to write the book, neither of us feels comfortable trying to write it ourselves, not to mention the fact we don't have the time either. We are both certain that it would be a better idea to find someone that has a little more literary experience than us to help us with this project.

Needless to say, we are looking for someone who would be interested in helping us write our book. It would be nice if we could have Nicholas Sparks write our story. It is definitely in his genre but unfortunately I am sure it would be easier for me to gain audience from the President of the United States than it would be for me to get the attention of someone like Nicholas Sparks.

Instead I will send the request out to the world seeking anyone who may be interested in working with us on this new book. I cannot make any promises regarding monetary compensation at this time but I am certain the investment in time will pay off in the end.

If you are interested in working with us or you know someone who may be interested, please contact us using our contact form or you can email us directly at annabryan1955@gmail.com. You can also feel free to leave a comment if you have any suggestions or questions.

Some Good News and Some Bad News...

I have some good news and some bad news. I guess I will start with the bad news.
The bad news is, we are still waiting on the USCIS to process our application and we have no idea how long it will take for them to approve or disapprove our application.
The good news is that Anna finally received a package from Russia that we had been waiting on for nearly 2 months.
Her friend Larisa mailed the package on October 12 and we were able to track the package in the beginning but was unable to track it beyond the postal facility in Moscow. For over a month and a half the US Postal Service indicated that it was still in Moscow preparing for shipment. I went as far as contacting the US Postal Service and spent nearly 30 minutes on hold only to hear that it was still in the hands of the Russian Postal Service. Anna received a similar response from the Russian Postal Service. They indicated to Anna that it had been transferred to the U.S. Postal Service. The only thing these government agencies could do was point their fingers at each other. In essence the US Postal Service said "It's Russia's Fault" while the Russian Postal Service said "It's America's Fault".
Needless to say, Anna and I had nearly given up hope in ever receiving the package. But finally I was able to check the status on the USPS.gov website and it indicated that the package had been moved from the processing center in Moscow and was transferred directly to the local processing center in Meridian. Literally this happened overnight. One day I checked and it was still in Moscow and the next morning I check and it is in Meridian. We don't know how it happened but by some miracle it was transferred overnight.
No matter how it happened, Anna and I were relieved to finally get the package.
We can only hope the USCIS will work as "efficiently" as the US Postal Service.

Living in America...

It has been about 4 and a half months since Anna arrived in America on her 90 day K-1 Fiance Visa. Her visa expired on October 20th thus removing her legal status at that time. Given her current status she would be considered to be an illegal alien or undocumented citizen until she is issued a Green Card.

We are legally married now and we filed the required paperwork with the USCIS (US Department of Homeland Security) within the required amount of time but we are still at the mercy of the government while we wait for the USCIS to approve her Green Card. Obviously without a green card she has no legal residence in the United States.

But while we wait, life goes on. The children are attending school every day. In fact they state the "Pledge of Allegiance" first thing every morning in school. Both of them are doing very well in school and we are receiving good reports from both their teachers.

Meanwhile, Ivan celebrated his 9th birthday here and Anna made him a very nice cake for his birthday. It was delicious.

The children also had their first Halloween experience in America. I took the children trick-or-treating on Halloween and they had a wonderful time and came home with a mountain of candy.

We also had a wonderful dinner with my family on Thanksgiving, although the language barrier still makes it difficult for Anna to communicate with my family. Even though Anna is attending English classes twice a week, Anna and I still rely strongly on Google Translator to communicate.

So while we continue to wait for the approval for Green Cards for Anna and the children, Anna and the children are assimilating well to life in America.

Request for Evidence Response Review

Today Anna and I received a message indicating the USCIS Received our paperwork and now our case is back under review. Here is the notice we received.

On November 20, 2013, we received your response to our request for evidence. This case is being processed at our NATIONAL BENEFITS CENTER location. If you move while this case is pending, please use our Change of Address online tool to update your case with your new address or call our customer service center at 1-800-375-5283. We will notify you by mail when we make a decision or if we need something from you. You should expect to receive a written decision or written update within 60 days of the date we received your response unless fingerprint processing or an interview are standard parts of case processing and have not yet been completed, in which case you can use the processing time information on our website to estimate when this case will be done. If you move while this case is pending, please use our Change of Address online tool to update your case with your new address or call our customer service center at 1-800-375-5283.

Once a timely response to the request for evidence is received by USCIS, we review the evidence or information you submitted. If you submitted the requested evidence, we continue with the adjudication of your application or petition in light of the new evidence.

We are crossing our fingers and hope that we don't run into any other obstacles so Anna and the children will be able to receive their green cards soon. Anna can't look for employment until she has her green card or work permit. Generally the work permit is issued first but we won't know for certain until it arrives. So now we just wait....