Lyhyen Blogihistorian Suosituin Postaus: Why we left the United States and moved to Finland

Olen kirjoitellut tata blogia vuodesta 2007 eli vahan yli kahdeksan vuotta. Taman lyhyehkon blogihistorian selkeasti suosituimmaksi tekstiksi on valikoitunut  huhtikuussa 2012 kirjoittamani Why we left the United States and moved to Finland. Postauksessa myonnan itsekin kirjoittaneeni vahan dramaattisesti, joten sinansa tekstin suosio ei ole yllatys, koska drama just causes more drama :) Postaukseen tuleekin edelleen silloin talloin kommentteja, joskus ihan aiheellisia, joskus aika omituisia.

Kuva alkuperaisesta postauksesta

Kirjoituksesta on tosiaan on kulunut aikaa jo yli kolme vuotta, joten moni asia on muuttunut. Esimerkiksi asumme taas Yhdysvalloissa, vaikka siella asumisesta aika negatiivisesti kirjoitinkin :D Kirjoitus on kuitenkin totuudenmukainen ja esimerkiksi mietteeni republikaanien politikoinneista eivat ole muuttuneet. Edelleenkaan en ymmarra miten puolue, joka niin agressiivisesti hyokkaa naisten reproductive rights (lisaantymisoikeudet?) vastaan, ei valita lapsista tippaakaan sen jalkeen kun ovat tahan maailmaan syntyneet. Toinen mita en ymmarra on looginen epakohta pro-life ja pro-death penalty yhtalossa, eli mielipiteissa, jotka usein kulkevat kasi kadessa. Nama vain siis esimerkkeina.

No en aio kuitenkaan tassa mitaan poliittista keskustelua viritella, vaikka silta ehka hetken nayttikin ;) Why we left-postauksessa mainitsin seka viisumi-, etta vakuutusongelmat. Ne onneksi eivat enaa vaivaa eli nykyisin olen seka LPR, etta vakuutettu miehen tyon puolesta. Sain postauksessa mainitut opinnotkin suoritettua (kiitos Aiti!). Paivahoidon kustannukset sen sijaan estavat edelleen toiden teon, mutta sekin on muuttumassa, koska minimies menee nyt syksylla kouluun. Saa nahda mita tuumaan koulusta, koska niinkuin kirjoitin Why we left-postauksessa "I have reservations when it comes to U.S elementary school system." Toivottavasti minimiehen koulu poistaa nama ennakkoluuloni. Ainakin koulu on Great Schoolsin mukaan saanut arvosanan 9/10 eli ihan hyva koulu pitaisi olla kyseessa. Kohtahan se kaytannossa nahdaan :)

Sen sijaan Nebraskan ystavia ikavoin edelleen :( ja miehen lyhyet lomat ketuttavat. Jalkimmaiseen on vain totuttava ja alettava tekemaan lyhyita viikonloppureissuja pitkien lomien sijaan. Positiivista on kuitenkin se, etta mies tekee lyhyempaa tyopaivaa Marylandissa kuin Suomessa. Tama yllattava fakta johtuu siita, etta mies joutui jatkuvasti tekemaan ylitoita Suomessa, koska hanella oli usean ihmisen tyot tehtavana YT-neuvotteluiden seurauksena. Mies on kotona aina yleensa samaan aikaan, paitsi jos on sattunut liikenneonnettumuuksia tai on lockdowneja. Ikavoin myos sukulaisten lastenhoitoapua. Me emme Marylandissa paase kahdestaan miehen kanssa mihinkaan, koska meilla ei ole sukulaisia alueella. Mutta taman tiesimme jo muuttaessamme, joten siihen olimme asennoituneet jo etukateen. Onneksi me olemme kolmen huipputyypin tiimi :)

Tallaisia mietteita talla kertaa, mukavaa loppuviikkoa kaikille!

Vierailulla sosiaaliturvatoimistoissa...

Aiemmassa postauksessa mainitsin, etta minun pitaa hakea viela uutta sosiaaliturva-korttia paikallisesta Social Security Administrationin (SSA) toimistosta. Numerohan minulla jo on, koska ensimmaisen kerran muutin tahan maahan jo 10 vuotta sitten. SS-kortti sen sijaan oli syntymasukunimella ja siina on teksti "valid for work only with DHS authorization", koska sain sen ollessani taalla opiskelijaviisumilla.

Mies joutui ottamaan palkatonta vapaata tata korttimuutoksen hakua varten, koska julkista liikennettahan taalla meidan asuinalueella ei ole. Tai no tunnin kavelymatkan paassa on juna-asema, mutta SSA-toimistot eivat ole sen junamatkan varrella. Paatimme lahtea Columbiaan, koska siella oli lahella myos MVA (eli paikallinen DMV) ja voisimme samaan syssyyn kayda hoitamassa auton rekisterointiin liittyvia juttuja. Samalla voisimme kayda avaamassa minulle pankkitilin ja kayda ostoksilla Arundel Mills mallissa. Tai niinhan me luulimme.

Olin Columbian SSA-toimistolla vahan myohassa eli 10 minuuttia ennen toimiston avaamista. Tama tarkoitti sita, etta toimiston edessa oli jonoa jo pitkalti kulman taakse. Jonossa seistessani en voinut valttya kuulemasta edessani olevan iakkaan naisen valitusta siita, kuinka viime kerralla hanelle oli sattunut todella toykea SSA tyontekija, joka oli kaskenyt hanen nayttaa miten hyvin han kavelee ilman tukea, vaikka hanella oli laakarin todistus disabilitystaan. Kyseinen henkilo siis kaveli rollaattorin avustuksellakin hyvin vaikeannakoisesti. Muutenkin jonossa oleva porukka oli aika suurimmaksi osin aika huonossa kunnossa. Ja jo ulkojonossa huomasin sen ikavan hajun, joka johtuu pesemattomyydesta:( Sisalle paastyani odottelin tunnin ennenkuin paasin tyontekijan luokse. Taman tunnin aikana sisalle talutettiin muun muassa nainen, joka ei enaa pysynyt pystyssa omilla jaloillaan olleenkaan ja tuskinpa tajusi maailman menosta muutenkaan mitaan...

Kun tuli oma vuoroni sain huomata paatyneeni ehka juuri sen toykeimman tyontekijan eteen. Olin tayttanyt muutoksenhakupaperit etukateen, joten minulla oli antaa valmis paketti papereita tadille. Tati ei ilmeisesti kuitenkaan tykannyt kirjoittamistani numeroista vaan huokaili ja kysyi, etta onko kirjoittamani numero 9 numero 5 jne. Kun tuli avioliittotodistusten vuoro (niilla siis todistin nimenvaihdoksen), han katseli niita vahan aikaa, jonka jalkeen kaytiin seuraava dialogi: "Where did you get married? " "Finland" "Where?" "Finland" "Oh Germany," Arvaatte varmaan, etten saanut nimea vaihdettua. Tati ojensi paperit minulle takaisin ja kaski menna paikalliselle oikeustalolle "to get a certification." Tama kuulosti minusta todella oudolta, joten yritin sanoa, etta nama on ne paperit jotka USCIS eli immigration hyvaksyi eli ei naita tarvitse erikseen sertifioida. Eipa auttanut vaan minulle osoitettiin ovea.

Seuraavaksi lahdimme siis ajamaan kohti Marylandin paakaupunkia eli Annapolisia ja siella sijaitsevaa oikeustaloa. Tassa vaiheessa jo tiesimme, etta melkeinpa turha reissu, mutta ei tassa muukaan auttanut. Ja turha reissuhan se oli, mitaan "certification" ei ollut saatavilla, ainoastaan "certified copy", joka ei auttanut asiaan yhtaan. Tarkemmin papereitamme tutkiessa, oikeustalon tyypit viela huomasivat, etta olimme menneet naimisiin kirkossa ja sehan on "religious ceremony" joten mitaan certified copyakaan ei voinut antaa. Virkatodistus ei kelvannut ja ainoa ohje mita meille annettiin oli, etta kannattaa menna takaisin Suomeen hakemaan oikea "marriage certificate". Tassa vaiheessa totesin, etta haluan muuttaa takaisin Suomeen.

Suomeen muuttamisen sijaan lahdimme viela kerran kokeilemaan onneamme Glen Burnien SSA toimistoon. Talla kertaa mies tuli mukaan, ehka minulle ei heti osoitettaisi ovea, jos mukana olisi oikea kansalainen, eika vain tallainen kakkosluokan immigrant. Jos Columbian toimistossa oli surkeassa jamassa olevaa porukkaa, niin Glen Burnie oli monta kertaa ikavampaa katsottavaa, hajusta puhumattakaan. Itselle tuli tosi huono omatunto, etta valitan tallaisesta ympariinsa ajeletuttamisesta, kun toisilla menee niin paljon huonommin. Sairaita ja/tai iakkaita, likaisia ihmisia oli joka puolella, kaikille ei riittanyt istumapaikkaa. Olimme Glen Burnien toimistossa odottamassa vahan yli tunnin kunnes meidat kutsuttiin taas takahuoneeseen. Talla kertaa homma hoituikin nopsaan ja ilman asiakaspalvelijan huokailuja. Han tarkasti passin, green cardin ja avioliittotodistukset ja naputteli tiedot koneelleen. Lopuksi viela pyysi minua tarkistamaan tiedot ja sanoi, etta kortin pitaisi tulla parin viikon paasta postitse. Kiitos ja nakemiin.

Tahan ruljanssiin menikin sitten koko paiva eli auton rekisterointi, pankkitilin avaus jne siirtyivatkin tulevaisuuteen. Onneksi MVA on auki myos viikonloppuisin, siella vaan on tosi paljon porukkaa silloin eli saamme odottaa useamman tunnin. Mutta kylla itseani vahan havettaa valitukseni, kun sain taas kerran omin silmin kokea millaisessa jamassa porukkaa taalla on, vaikkei se mitaan "uutta" olekaan. Taalla meidan asuinalueella elaa kylla eraanlaisessa kuplassa.

Sellaista taalta, toivottavasti seuraavaksi saan aikaan mukavamman postauksen!    

p.s Nyt pitaa antaa pieni hatunnosto SSAlle. Kavin nimittain toimistoilla maanantaina ja heti perjantaina oli kortti postilaatikossa! Nopeaa toimintaa siis kun osuu oikean tyontekijan luokse :)

The Immigrant Spouse

Viime aikoina on useammassa kolumnissa, keskusteluryhmassa ja varmasti blogeissakin keskusteltu expat vs immigrant tittelista. Esimerkiksi taalta loytyy yksi kolumni, jossa vertaillaan naita nimikkeita ja mista loytyy useita linkkeja muihin juttuihin aiheesta. Nytpa seuraa hyvin sekalaisia mietteitani asiasta:

Viisumissani luki, etta olen "immigrant spouse". Tama siis olisi kait suoraan kaannettyna maahanmuuttajapuoliso ja sellainenhan mina olen. Kaytannossa kuitenkin kaytan itsestani nimitysta "foreign" tai "Finnish", jos se joskus tulee keskusteluissa esiin. Mies oli periaatteessa Suomessa myos maahanmuuttaja, vaikka en muista, etta koskaan olisimme keskustelleet hanesta mamuna. Jotenkin tuntui, etta aviomiehen ja perheenjasenen lisaksi hanella ei ollut muuta tittelia ja hanen oleskelunsa Suomessa oli niin itsestaanselvyys, ettei kukaan mistaan maahanmuuttoprosessista koskaan kysellyt. Han oli tosin myos "amerikkalainen" tai "Nebraskasta" keskusteluissamme, mutta aika harvoin. Itse han sanoo "I'm from Nebraska", mutta ei yleensa "I'm an American."

Vaikka olenkin "immigrant" taalla Marylandissa, en ole myoskaan tormannyt kertaakaan siihen, etta kukaan tapaamani ihminen olisi aloittanut keskustelua maahanmuuttaja-statuksestani tai millaan muulla tavalla maininnut minun olevan "immigrant". Enemman ollaan juteltu ihan muista jutuista. Pari uutta tuttavuutta on ehdottanut minulle tyopaikkoja tyyliin "sopisit hyvin NSA:lle koulutuksesi puolesta", johon olen sitten maininnut etten ole kansalainen, joten en voi hakea. He itse siis ovat toissa kyseissa paikassa. Itsellani ei ole kovin selkeaa aksenttia, mutta teen toki virheita englannin kielessa, koska kyseessa on kakkoskieleni. Olen kuitenkin huomannut tulevani Marylandissa suhteellisen hyvin ymmarretyksi, ehka jopa paremmin kuin Nebraskassa. Luulen, etta tahan vaikuttaa se, etta Nebraska ei ole kovin kansainvalinen paikka, joten olen ollut useille ensimmainen ulkomaalainen keta he ovat koskaan tavanneet.

Meidan maahanmuuttaja-kokemuksiin vaikuttaa varmasti se, etta mina seka mieheni  ja tietenkin lapsemme voisimme ulkonaon perusteella olla suomalaisia tai esimerkiksi anglo-amerikkalaisia. Mies onkin saksalais-englantilainen sukujuuriltaan. Suomessa kuulumme siis ulkonaollisesti valtavaestoon ja miehelle usein tultiinkin puhumaan automaattisesti suomea. Central Maryland taas on toinen juttu eli taalla olemme usein ulkonaollisesti vahemmiston edustajia kun esimerkiksi kaymme kaupassa viereisessa kaupungissa. Ensimmainen koulupiiri mita katsoimme oli hyvinkin non-diverse eli minimies olisi ollut 7% vahemmiston edustaja siella. Nykyisessa koulupiirissamme minimies kuuluu pieneen enemmistoon, siella ovat erilaiset etniset ryhmat jakautuneet tasaisemmin. Mielenkiinnolla odotan koulunkaynnin alkua, koska minua kiinnostaa nahda miten minimiehemme sopeutuu kielitaidoltaan kouluun. Koska aika vahan taalla kuitenkin kuulee mitaan muita kielia kuin englantia puhuttavan, niin maahanmuuttajan tunnistanee ennemmin ehka kielitaidosta kuin ulkonaosta?

Expat tittelia en ole kayttanyt itsestani, enka miehestani, mutta se loytyy kuitenkin blogin tunnisteista. Talla olen erottanut sellaiset jutut, jotka eivat liity maahanmuuttoprosessiin vaan yleiseen elamaan taalla. Yhta hyvin olisin kait voinut luoda immigrant tunnisteen, mutta totta puhuen en ajatellut asiaa sen enempaa. Expat ei yleisesti kuulu kayttamaani suulliseen sanavarastoon, joten olen luultavasti napannut sen jostain muusta blogista.

Tiedan olevani varmasti etuoikeutettu, kun minun ei ole tarvinnut miettia maahanmuuttaja-statustani liiemmin. Nykyinen tittelinihan olisi oikeasti Lawful Permanent Resident eli LPR. Vaikka maahanmuuttoprosessi sinansa on nyt ohi, on viela muutama tarkea juttu hoidettava, joissa tama status tulee esille. Minulla ei nimittain ole vielakaan social security cardia, jossa olisi nykyinen nimeni. Minulla on ainoastaan vuonna 2005 saamani kortti, jossa on edelleen syntymasukunimeni. Se pitaisikin vaihtaa pikimiten, koska minun pitaisi hakea Learner's Permit eli eraanlainen esi-ajokortti ajamisen opetteluun, enka saa sita ilman todistetta social security numberista nykyisella nimellani, Tama vaatii pitkaa jonottamista virastossa, joka taas vaatii autokyytia, joka taas tarkoittaa sita, etta mies joutuu ottamaan palkattoman vapaan toista. Taalla on kylla monta kertaa tullut ikava paakaupunkiseudun julkista liikennetta :) Nama ovat kuitenkin pienia juttuja, jotka vain on hoidettava.

source: weheartit.com

Tama nyt oli vahan tallainen sekainen kirjoitus, jolla ei ollut paljoa paata eika hantaa :D kunhan pohdiskelin asiaa. Mielenkiinnosta kyselen, etta milla "tittelilla" te muut ulkosuomalaiset nimitatte itseanne? Enta te, joilla on puolisot jostain muusta maasta, mita "tittelia" heista kaytetaan?

Hyvaa loppuviikkoa kaikille!

The Old Line State

It appears our next home state will be...Maryland!

Husband interviewed for two jobs and received offers from both. In the end we picked the Maryland job for financial reasons; better pay and better benefits.

 

source: wikipedia.org

 

 

We are now in Finland getting everything ready for the move. Husband will leave in a couple of weeks and lil man and I will follow a month or so later.

 

source: wikipedia.org

 

Neither of us really know Maryland that well. Husband has only been there for his job interview and I've gone through the state twice on a Greyhound bus, without getting out of the bus :) We are very much looking forward to exploring the state once we get there!

 

So the next few weeks will be super busy since we have to pack up the house, sell/give away the extra stuff and say au revoir to all our Finnish friends and loved ones :( I plan on already booking our flights back to Finland for the summer, so it won't be that long until I see everyone again.

 

I will try to document our move from time to time on this blog, but we don't have an internet connection at our house anymore, so posting might be a bit sporadic.

 

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week! :)

 

Becoming an Alien Spouse, IR-1, step #5 - POE at FLL

Five days after the interview, I picked up my passport with the visa sticker and my immigration package from the consulate in Helsinki. The immigration package was a rather heavy A4 sized envelope sealed by the consulate. With the package came instructions on how to pay the ELIS fee of $165. The USCIS Electronic Immigration System fee "covers the cost of USCIS processing, filing and maintaining immigrant visa packets, plus the cost of producing Permanent Resident Cards." The fee can be paid before or after you enter the United States, but the actual resident card (aka "Green Card") won't be produced until after the fee is paid. I paid the fee right away with my Finnish credit card through the online portal, which can be found here.

Photo source

I entered the United States through the Ft. Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport and have only good things to say about my experience. Ft Lauderdale is a small-ish airport, which is currently under construction. It is mainly used by people who fly to Ft. Lauderdale to take Caribbean cruises. Judging by the "Arrivals" screen, most international flights arrived from the Caribbean countries. Also Norwegian flies there, hence there were a lot of Scandinavian tourists at the airport.

Once we arrived to the immigration part of the airport, we went to the "Visitors" line. The line was short compared to my previous experiences at JFK, Newark and Chicago O'Hare. It took us about 10 minutes to get to the first immigration officer. I handed him my passport and immigration package and he said "whoa, what do we have here" :D After that he scanned my finger prints and took my photo. He explained the immigration process to my husband (didn't talk to me at all, maybe he wasn't sure if I spoke English? :) and said we would now be taken to the back room for further processing. He said it was first come, first serve, so it might take a while. Once we got there, there were only four other people in the room, so I figured it wouldn't take long. We barely had time to sit down when I was called to the counter. A very friendly immigration officer asked me to sign a paper and took my right index finger print with actual ink. After that he said we were free to go and my green card would arrive at our Nebraska address within a few months. He also stamped my visa sticker on my passport, which will serve as my temporary green card for one year. All in all the immigration process took about 15 minutes, so it was pretty fast.

So now I'm officially a lawful permanent resident of the United States and an actual immigrant for the first time in my life, since my previous visas were non-immigrant visas. Feels weird :) 

We still don't know where we will be settling, but husband has already received one job offer, so we will not be staying in Nebraska, which is fine by me. We'll see what happens :)

Wishing everyone a wonderful week!

Becoming an Alien Spouse, IR-1, step #4 - interview

The final step  of my immigration journey (in Finland) is here! After I received the medical results, it was time to be interviewed at the U.S embassy's Helsinki consulate in Kaisaniemi. This was my fifth U.S embassy visa interview, and my second in Kaisaniemi, so I was pretty familiar with how it works. My previous interviews were for student visas though. 

My appointment was at 9am and I arrived at 8.50am to Kaisaniemi. I had to wait outside in the staircase for about 20 minutes with about ten other people. After I was called in, I had to go through a security check and had to leave everything but my papers at the coat check.

After that I was showed into the waiting room, where I spend the next 25 minutes mostly waiting for my turn. I was first called to bring my passport, medical info and a printout of completing the form DS-260 to one Finnish speaking clerk. After that I was called to give my fingerprints to another Finnish speaking clerk. Then last I was called for an interview.

Another random photo: Miami, Florida in 2006

The interview took less than 5 minutes, and was mostly small talk. The consul's relative lives in Nebraska, so we discussed that :D She did ask me a few questions:

-why are you moving to the U.S? ("husband wants to")

-how long have you been married? ("x years")

-where did you meet? Which university? ("in college", "Nebraska")

-do you have kids? How many? Is he already a citizen? ("yes, one, yes")

-where are you moving? ("depends on my husband's job interviews, but first to Nebraska")

-when are you moving? ("xx.xx.xxxx")

So pretty straight forward questions. I also brought a ton of evidence of our marriage with me, but they never asked me to show any. I picked up my visa at the consulate 5 days later and now I'm good to go :) Next step, port of entry!

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend!

Becoming an Alien Spouse, IR-1, step #3 - medical

I've finally reached step #3 on our never-ending visa journey. Here's where we were last. Now we've received our interview date and I will be interviewed at the Helsinki embassy in two weeks, yay/yikes!

All spousal visa applicants have to get a medical examination done by a panel physician. The applicant is expected to bring an ID, three passport photos and vaccination records with them to the medical appointment. There are three panel physicians in Finland at the moment, all situated in Helsinki; Anna Back and Georg Borgstrom at the Eira Hospital and Erkki-Pekka Helle at a couple of locations. All of the panel physicians charge about 400 euros for the examination. Helle might be few euros cheaper and Back a few euros more expensive, but the amounts are pretty close to each other. Borgstrom, whom I chose, charged me 400 euros + vaccinations.

A random photo: near Boulder, Colorado in 2009 :)

So out of the three physicians, I chose Borgstrom based on other visa applicants' experiences. Back is apparently extremely thorough and checks the applicants teeth and breasts etc. Helle has apparently a peculiar sense of humor and can be outright rude something. If this was a wellness check, I'd probably have chosen Back. But since this is a visa related visit, I didn't want to be probed thoroughly by someone. I decided against Helle, because I really don't respond well to rudeness. In fact I acknowledge that I'm a bit of a firecracker and should really learn to take insults better. I dislike people who think they're superior to me, and apparently Helle takes that approach with his patients sometimes. I have a feeling we might have ended up in a shouting match with him refusing to sign my papers :D

I was very happy with my choice, Borgstrom was extremely polite and respectful towards me. He is, however, past retirement age and I've heard he has made some small mistakes with the visa papers sometimes. He had to use a magnifying glass to read my vaccination records and his hands were shaking quite a bit when he wrote the visa papers. He checked my blood pressure, lungs, heart and throat and asked if I was healthy. He also asked me about dietary restrictions, which he wrote down. The examination took maybe 15 minutes out of which we discussed my names for 5 minutes :) I don't have very common Finnish first names and they all (and my American last name as well) have meanings. If you translate my non-English names to English, the combination is rather amusing :)

After the medical examination Borgstrom sent me to the lab to have a chest x-ray and a blood test taken. Waiting for my turn there took most of the time. I was done with everything in two hours and Borgstrom told me to come and pick up the results and a x-ray cd in 10 days.

So next up is the interview! Husband checked with the embassy that he doesn't need to be there, so I'll be all by myself, eek! I really hope I'll get approved fast, since we'll be flying to the U.S a week from the interview for husband's job interviews.

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend!

Some IR-1 visa news

No visa still...but there is progress to report: we are now waiting for an interview date!

The lovely NVC customer representative informed us in his "I hate my work" voice that we have a case complete and are now in line for an interview. Scheduling the interview will take them a couple of weeks and we should have an interview in October or so. 

On the road somewhere in Arkansas in 2009

So now we wait, wait and then wait some more again :) But at least we are on the last leg!

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend!

MA, DC, VA, NC, SC, GA, FL, IL or...

Still no visa...the lovely NVC graced us with an email telling us they have huge backlog and won't even be able to look at our paperwork for a couple of months. So now it's been closer to a year and 4 months, so disappointing.

Say what???

It could be worse though, husband could have already moved to the U.S, since we were initially told it'll take 3-6 months. Also, we both have a lot going on here, so we don't have time to dwell on the unfairness of this all. And Finland is the most awesome country in the world to live in, so I get to spend more time here, yay! :)

Patience, however, is not one of my virtues and I especially detest being lied to all the time and spoken disrespectfully to by the immigration customer representatives.

Pics from weheartit.com

In the mean time husband has been looking at some job opportunities. He's received a couple of emails (from NC and GA) offering possible employment, but the pay has been so ridiculously low (less than I alone make right now) that it's not worth moving for. Times are tough I suppose.

Waiting game continues...

Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!

IR-1 visa, some progress

I thought I'd again share where we are at our IR-1 spousal visa process. 

Here's where we were last, which was a bit of a disappointing situation to be in, but thanks to one wonderful aunt, we are again on the right path.

We have now sent all the paperwork to NVC and waiting (hopefully) for a case complete email and an interview date. I might be a bit too optimistic here, since NVC might still issue us a checklist requesting more information. We are, however, keeping our fingers crossed and hoping what we sent them will be enough and we'll have an interview in August or September.

Husband has now started the job hunting process, although it's a bit hard from across the pond. He recently experienced the unfortunate Finnish tradition of yt-neuvottelut ("co-operation negotiations", where the company basically announces they'll fire a certain amount of people), which has motivated him to start looking for another job. While husband wasn't fired, he now has the workload of 2+ employees, so the situation at the office is less than ideal. If husband finds a job he likes, he will move and the rest of us will follow at a later date, if I haven't received the visa at the time of his move. 

So basically, everything is out in the open, but I'm trying not to stress too much about things I have no control over. I love my job and I have plenty of stuff to do finishing up my MBA thesis before I start my PhD studies. Now I'm on a paid vacation for the next couple of weeks and plan on enjoying the wonderful Finnish summer as much as I can :)

Wishing everyone a fabulous month of July!

IR-1: more nightmares, but a glimmer of hope

Our path to spousal visa has been extremely rocky. Before this the rocks were the incompetent people working for USCIS. Now a huge rock named "will not joint sponsor" rolled on our path. No one can force anyone to joint sponsor, but I surely would have wished our joint sponsor would have let us know of their intentions earlier than at the last minute when the only thing missing was their signature.

We were, however, extremely lucky and another person stepped up and said they would joint sponsor. Now we are quickly trying to get all the paperwork ready again, although our visa will be again delayed because of this unfortunate surprise from our original joint sponsor.

Here's where we were and here's where we are now:

- AOS and IV bills are paid

-IV package is sent

-Online form DS-260  is complete

Now we just have to get the AOS package ready and send it and then we wait for NVC to accept it and the IV package. After we get case complete from NVC (should be 1-2 months) we will wait for the interview date. 

photo from weheartit.com

So even though we had another setback, I feel blessed that we have such wonderful people around us, who help us when we are about to lose all hope. 

Hope everyone is having a wonderful month of May!

Becoming an Alien Spouse, IR-1, step #2

After 11 months of waiting, we have reached the second part of our immigration journey. Not a whole lot has happened in almost a year, but now begins the most complicated part of the process.

Step # 1 was sending the  I-130 Packet to USCIS, which was approved (NOA2) after 10 months of waiting.

Step #2 consists of dealing with the National Visa Center (NVC), where USCIS sent our case. This part of the process consists of multiple phases.

1) After receiving NOA2 we began calling NVC about once a week to inquire if they had received our case. They received the case from USCIS two weeks after NOA2.

2) After NVC had received our case we continued calling NVC about once a week to find out whether a case  number and invoice identification number had been given. It took them a month to get us the case number. Once we got the numbers, we also gave NVC our email addresses, so that they will email us if they need something (checklists).

3) Here's where we are now: waiting for the online form DS-261 (choosing an agent, filled by beneficiary/future immigrant, in other words me) to be available. Once I've filled it out, I have to print the confirmation page in the end to bring it to the future interview.

4) Next up is paying the AOS (Affidavit of Support) and IV (Immigrant Visa) bills through an online portal. You need to have a U.S bank account to do this and have to just keep checking the portal for the bills to show up there.

5) After AOS bill shows paid, the petitioner (husband) can print a bar coded cover sheet for the AOS package and can go ahead and send the said package. The AOS package consists of

-the cover sheet with bar code

-cover letter (where the petitioner lists and explains all the documents included)

-Filled out, signed, and dated form I-864 (filled by the petitioner) 

-Tax information of the petitioner (last three years of IRS transcripts). Since husband is missing one transcript, he will substitute this with a letter explaining that he wasn't required to file that year, since he didn't make enough money.

-Petitioner's letter of employment or a couple pay stubs. Since husband's job in Finland is not likely to continue in the U.S, he will add a letter here explaining that his employment won't continue in the U.S. Because of this, we are required to have a joint sponsor (mother-in-law), who will add the following documents to the AOS package:

-Filled out, signed, and dated I-864 form by the joint sponsor

-Tax information of the joint sponsor (last three years of IRS transcripts)

- Proof of US citizenship/residency of joint sponsor, a copy of birth certificate or copy of passport bio-data page

- Joint sponsor's letter of employment and a couple pay stubs

- letter of intent to re-establish domicile in the U.S, written by the petitioner (husband), since he is currently residing abroad, and evidence to support the intent. Evidence will consist of the following documents: U.S bank account information showing an U.S address, copy of a current U.S driver's license showing the same address, letter proving that housing arraignments have been made, quote from a cargo company to ship our stuff to the U.S, quote from a local U.S car dealership about purchasing a car and copy of a temporary Finnish residence permit, showing that the residency in Finland was temporary.

6) After the IV bill shows paid, the beneficiary (me!) can print a bar coded cover sheet for the IV package and can go ahead and send the said package. The IV package consists of:

-Bar-coded cover sheet from payment portal

-Cover letter listing and explaining the attached documents

-Two U.S sized passport photos (2" x 2") of beneficiary with beneficiary's full name, date of birth, and case number written on the back

-Copy of bio-data page of beneficiary's current passport

-Beneficiary's birth certificate (long form Vaestorekisteriote from Maistraatti, which has parents names in English) and a photocopy of that

-Marriage certificate (also from Maistraatti in English) and a photocopy of that 

-Original police certificate (Rikosrekisteriote, can be ordered by email from Oikeusrekisterikeskus). The beneficiary will need one from every country they have lived for at least a year in.

7) After the IV bill shows paid, the beneficiary (me!) will also have to fill an online form DS-260. Once I've filled it out, I have to print the confirmation page in the end to bring it to the future interview.

8) Once both packages have been sent and online form filled, we start calling NVC again to hear if  they've received the packages and if we've gotten checklists (if there's been mistakes, we forgot something) or have completed the case.

9) We wait for NVC to email us a interview date.

Step #3 will be preparing for the interview and the actual interview itself, I'll write more about that when we get to that point. It should take us a couple of more months to get to that point. They sure don't make this immigration process fast or easy!

Ellis Island, NY in 2012. 

My great-great-grandparents immigrated before the Immigrant Inspection Station

was opened, so they never went through it.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Easter time! :)

Our IR-1 path continues, very slowly....

Nothing new on the immigration front, sad to say. It's been over 11 months and so far we've only received NOA1 (notification that they received our petition to apply) and NOA2 (notification that they approved our petition to apply). Now our case is in a storage at the National Visa Center and will remain there for the unforeseeable future, probably for at least a month, until someone checks them out and gives us a case number. After that the more complex paper work part of the visa process begins. Both the petitioner (husband) and beneficiary (me) will have to send our own individual packages with original documents. And of course we have to pay more. After NVC has (hopefully) approved our documents and evidence, they will ship them to the embassy of Helsinki. Then we will get an interview date. It should take 2-3 months before they even bother sending our paperwork to Finland, if they ever get to actually checking it out.

I've tried real hard to find positive sides to this pointlessly long visa path, but have failed miserably

(photo from weheartit.com)

All in all I estimate that our path to IR-1 spousal visa (10 year "green card") will take us a year and four months. That is, if we're lucky. And in the end they might still deny me the visa. Is immigrating to a country that has not really impressed me lately really worth all this time and money? I don't think so, but husband does.

Hope everyone is having a sunny weekend!

Online friends (and NOA2)

I'm not ashamed to admit that I have never met some of my Facebook friends. Although these "online friends" constitute a very small minority of the friends I have on Facebook and some of them have somewhat restricted access to my profile, they're still my friends. Most of these people I have been online friends with long before Facebook even existed, which means I've "known" some of them for over 15 years. That is quite the long time. I got to know them through a newsgroup, back in the day when people still usually wrote their opinions in their own names. 

The other day I found out one of these friends had passed way, from cancer. I never met him and he lived on the other side of the world, but I'm still sad. One of our group members wrote: "Some of us know each other personally, some just through the group but it doesn't matter. We were (and are) a misfit family." It is extremely sad to lose a member of that family. He was a wonderful, fun-loving person, only a few years older than me. I know he fought for quite some time and I hope he is at peace now.

from weheartit.com

When there's bad news, there's often some good news to balance things out.

Our I-130 petition for spousal visa was approved and our immigration process is going forward!

Take care everyone!

R is for RFE, S is for sickness and T is for thesis...

Add one e in there and you get rest, which is exactly what I need right now :D

First, a sucky part, we received a Request for Further Evidence on our spousal visa petition :( It really sucked, since it's soon been 10 months since we submitted our petition and now after all that time USCIS decided they weren't going to accept out Finnish Marriage Certificate. Needless to say, we were baffled and so was the USCIS customer service representative, when we called to ask about it. They just suggested sending the Marriage Certificate again with an explanation that this is the valid Marriage Certificate. Husband also went to the local Registrar's office (Maistraatti) and got an excerpt from the population system to add some more documentation to our response. There is nothing else we can do, and if they don't accept the Marriage Certificate with the supporting evidence, then they will deny our visa and that's it.

Another sucky thing is that I'm rather sick now :( Husband and lil man got sick first and now it's my turn. I always get the worst case of every sickness that the boys drag in :D Hopefully it'll pass soon, since I have some stuff to take care of at work tomorrow, and cannot stay home and rest.

As for the last letter, I've submitted my Master of Arts thesis, woot woot! I cannot even begin to describe how relieved I feel. It wasn't perfect and I wasn't happy with it, but it's submitted and hopefully I can move on with my life now :) I'll know in a few weeks time what grade the professors who read it suggest and then I have still a chance to withdraw it from the final inspection and submit a fixed version. Unless I get the poorest or second poorest grade, I'm not going withdraw it. If all goes well, I will graduate in June the latest.

I've also worked on my Master of Business Administration thesis and if I work very hard for the next month or so, I might be able to return it in April. The MBA thesis is a lot easier to write than my MA thesis, so I'm not stressing too much about it.

Photos from weheartit.com

I'm off to get some more rest, hopefully everyone is having a wonderful weekend! :)

Happy New Year 2014! Resolution time!

2013 came and went, way too fast!

I'm glad to bid farewell to 2013, but I'm a little sad I didn't accomplish as much as I had hoped to during it.

Due to some health set backs I haven't finished my MA thesis yet, which I'm really bummed about. I knew it would be hard to work full time and write a thesis, but I didn't plan on the other difficulties :( But, I do hope to get the thesis done by the end of this month. I haven't been able to write much of my MBA thesis either, so my New Year's resolution is to finish both theses!

Tin results 2014: seahorse, small dog and a bigger dog. 

Conclusions: I'm going to Sealife and will be getting two puppies this year, yay! :)

My other New Year's resolution is pretty common; I plan on taking better care of myself. This means more sleep, less stressing over things I have no control over :)  I also want to do some adjustments to my diet; I wish I could promise to give up on sugar candy, but I know I'm too weak to do that. Instead I will add more greens to my diet. I eat plenty of fruits, but I need eat more veggies. I gave up on bread last year, which has worked out great for me, although I do still eat Carelian pastries :) 

As for my other wishes for the brand new year 2014, I really wish we could just put this darn immigration nightmare behind us and move on with our lives. It has now been 8 months since we applied for my IR-1 spousal visa and nothing has really happened since. Our papers have been transferred from one service center to another, so basically from one desk to another, but that's it. Extremely frustrating. Oh well, one more thing I have no control over :)

Did you make any New Year's resolutions? If so, I'd love to hear them!

Wishing everyone a fabulous New Year 2014! :)

p.s One more reminder, take part in the Giveway! Ends tomorrow :)

Immigration nightmare continues...

I've been meaning to write more about our immigration stuff, but nothing, absolutely nothing, has happened since my previous immigration related post, Immigration Limbo. It's now been over 5 months since we sent our petition and it hasn't even been looked at. Calls to USCIS have given us a variety of time estimates on how long it will take for them to approve our petition, the answers have usually ranged from a year to two years. So basically it could take about 2,5 years to get a spousal visa. USCIS customer service has been very inconsistent with their answers and their level of service has been extremely poor. Husband waited once almost two hours in line only to be disconnected. Lovely.

Ania approached me (as a blogger) on Facebook and asked if I could forward some info in my blog, so here it goes. I'm only copy/pasting this and have no further info in the matter. This is especially important for those who are in the same immigration limbo as we are:

"AS you probably know I-130 petitions are terribly backlogged. Also, Overland Park is not fully operational yet. That means that petitions have been piling up there since MAY.

Please, please read our VisaJourney forum thread. We are trying to make some noise and get noticed. 

We need our Letter to be viewed and commented on many times before we sent it Pres. Obama and others.

We need it to be posted all over FB, Twitter and wherever else 

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/459909-usc-green-card-petitioners-committee/

That being said, I am asking you if you'd be willing to post the Letter on your blog and on FB?

The processing times for I-130 are beyond ridiculous.

I-130 petitions have the lowest priority right now.

The link to The Letter is here uscgreencardpetitionerscommittee.blogspot.com"

Wishing everyone, whose visa process is going nowhere, much strength while we play this extremely annoying waiting game!

Immigration Limbo

The U.S immigration process is  both laborious and expensive. A seemingly easy case of getting a spousal visa takes forever, and ever. We were thinking we might be able to head over to the U.S early next year, but now it seems that was too optimistic of an approach.

It's been almost four months since we sent our I-130 to USCIS. Nothing has been done to our case, even though we were initially told cases filed overseas (U.S citizen living abroad) usually get NOA2 in 60 days or so, since there no longer is a DCF option. That turned out to be completely untrue and the USCIS customer service has given us a whole lot of other misinformation as well. I'm not surprised.

Our case is now in Overland Park, KS and has been there since May. Nothing has been done about it and nothing will be done for another month or so at least, since Overland Park division will not open until the end of September the earliest. So, they sent our case to a place that is not even open yet. When they eventually do open (no one knows when, one customer representative seemed to think it's open, but its not),  they have several tens of thousands of cases waiting to be processed. I'm under no illusion that our case will be processed anytime soon.

How I see their customer service... (from weheartit.com)

Now this really puts a damper on our plans, as we originally thought they would maybe process our case within 9-12 months, so that we could move in the spring. That is not going to happen. 

I know the immigration process is nothing personal, and I know I'm just another unwanted immigrant among hundreds of thousands of others. But I have to say that the fact that they sent our case to a place that's not even open, knowing that they won't do anything about it for at least another 5 months, kinda makes me wonder if we should even bother moving.  Our plan was to stay for 3 years and move back when little man goes to school, that won't really be possible if I get the visa next fall or later.

Oh yeah, I was told to stay optimistic and just wait patiently. Thanks, I'll do that ;)

Becoming an Alien Spouse, IR1, step #1

This month we've been getting ready to start the long and arduous immigrant visa process. I've already had four student visas to the U.S, so you'd think this would be a piece of cake. Well, it's not. It's annoying, costly and takes forever. If everything goes well, I might get my visa sometime next spring. I keep wondering though, if I really should be doing this in the first place, since as an immigrant I'm clearly not that welcome in that country, this based on my previous experiences there. I do hope that whichever state we end up moving to will convince me otherwise :) I'm also trying to focus on the good sides, like that husband will be happier and the fact that I might actually get to work in my own field (U.S History). Thoughts like that make this process seem a lot less repelling :) 

Equality before the law. Yup, but only the for the citizens

First step in our immigration process is for husband to send the petition, called I-130.

The  I-130 Packet consists of:

   1. Completed and signed form I-130 

   2. I-130 filing fee ($420)

   3. Completed and signed form G-325A and photograph (petitioner, husband)

   4. Completed and signed form G-325A and photograph (beneficiary, Sugar) 

   5. Proof of petitioner's U.S citizenship: Copy of U.S Passport and birth certificate

   6. Proof of Relationship

      -Primary evidence - Copy of marriage certificate

      -Secondary evidence - "our story"-letter with 7 pages of photographs, clip from husband's hometown's paper's social section with our engagement story, thank you cards from both of our weddings, copy of our lease here in Finland (in both of our names), copy of some of our flight stubs...

   7. Completed form G-1145 for email/phone notification

Seems pretty straightforward, I guess this is the easiest part of applying :) Has anyone of my readers done the CR/IR1 before? Any advice? 

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend!

Plans and immigration

In a previous entry I pondered on whether we should stay in Finland or move back to the U.S. It seems the latter option is now on the winning side and we have started collecting the paperwork needed for my visa. It's a long and arduous project, so it'll take us quite a bit of time and we won't be moving to the U.S this year.

Since I've been married to my American husband for over two years by the time of the planned move, he'll be petitioning an IR1 visa (Immigrant Visa for a Spouse of a U.S. Citizen) for me. Getting an immigrant visa to the United States is no small feat, it takes time and money. I've previously had four U.S student visas and applying for those was a piece of cake compared to what an IR1 applicant will have to do. Not to mention that it takes 8-12 months to get the immigrant visa. On the other hand, I had to reapply for student visas several times, whereas the IR1 gains me the so called green card for the next 10 years. After 3 years of permanent residency in the U.S, I'm allowed to apply for a citizenship. I'll be posting more on the visa process as we move ahead with it.

As to where we are moving, it is still under debate. I would like to move somewhere where my family could easily travel to (mainly the east coast), but where we are moving depends on where my husband finds a lucrative job. We've been checking out the job situation and it seems Florida has a lot of jobs that would interest my husband. 

source: wikipedia

My husband's current employer has a Chicago office, so he might ask to be transferred there, although it is very unlikely that they would agree to that. The location is something we'll have to seriously start thinking later this year, when the visa process goes forward. After I receive the visa, we have 6 months to move to the U.S, giving us ample time to get things sorted here in Finland, so I'm not too worried about that.

Hope everyone's having the most amazing weekend! :)