Scandinavians

[jaycali 415]

The I-129f took 183 days and I had just given up on it ever coming, so of course we got married and it comes a month later. I think the hardest is that the two other Ameri-Dane couples who filed this fall/winter have been approved in under 60 days with no expedites. I think I'd be ok with waiting if I knew everyone else was too, yah know? Part of me has the trigger finger on the IcelandAir site and I'm just ready to say "F it, I'm going home" and the other part is just hoping it is right around the corner. I just don't know what we are going to do if takes much longer (and yes I know other people have taken a really long time).

The wait is excruciating. But the weight lifted off my shoulders after passing through POE was one of the most relieving feelings in the world. I remember waiting for my bags in baggage claim thinking "That was it? Really?" and with a sense of "Wow, all those people on VJ weren't lying.. It actually does end!" However impatient you may be at times, you just have to remember that your husband will get the visa. You will be moving back to the US. The black hole you're in right now isn't a permanent one.

Is it particularly hard? Besides the cash help issue, it would be easy for us in Denmark. We become eligible in about 1,5 years for the cash help thing to go away. It is fairly easy for me to just live here without it, but I am a UKC.I find the American one particularly awful and drawn out more so than most countries.

Ridiculously easy for almost any European citizen.Harder for American citizens. Harder still for American citizens with spouses who don't work in Norway, on a Norwegian salary (ie, me). I have no clue where I'm going to find a $50k+ year job in America to meet the income requirements, especially without a college education (which is, btw, not on the table). On top of that, there's the language and the job situation for my husband.Going from a country within the eu/eøs/efta countries, TO a country within the eu/eøs/efta countries is a cake walk. American immigration takes long - but it's not difficult at all. Going from America to Norway? Total ###### show.

Immigrating within the EU/EEA/EFTA is like moving between US states. The Schengen area doesn't even have internal passport control. There's a POE system where you can be going to Denmark, but if you land in say Paris, that would be your POE. All you have to do to move from Norway to Italy is register yourself as a resident with local police within 90 days of your arrival. There is no application involved - You have the right to live and work in any other EU/EEA/EFTA country.

Americans have to go through the same process any other non-EU/EEA/EFTA citizen has to. Although, Americans are usually lumped together with Aussies, Japanese, Canadians etc. in the "low-risk" category. I'd assume there is much less scrutiny if you're an American marrying a Norwegian than say a Somali marrying a Norwegian. Still, as Llamainvasion said, it's a "totalt ###### show." The income requirements are absolutely insane - I had to prove I made 250,000 NOK (45,000 USD) a year - three years back in time! Forget the "current income" requirement of 18k! Co-sponsors? They won't even hear you out. The only exception to this requirement, and this is new, is if you've recently been a student and graduated or you have lived together abroad, with children, for a number of years.

If you're from a 3rd world country, they now do DNA testing on nearly all applicants to make sure you're not related.

but even my husband occasionally run into the "oh ha ha, dumb Americans, I bet you love guns and hate women's rights!" thing. In that regards, America is much friendlier.

I actually got the "yer not one of them tree huggin' French lovin' 'yurrpeans are ya?" one time, but other than that - Agreed. Norwegians love to think of Norway as "verdens beste land" (world's greatest country), but when they hear an American politician on the news refer to the US as "the greatest country in the world" it's somehow "ridiculous." I think many Scandinavians/Norwegians tend to think of the US as some backwards, crime ridden banana republic. I still get the occasional "How can you live in such a dangerous country?" from friends back home.

I live in Hawaii.. My cousin called me when the Connecticut shooting happened and asked if I was okay I responded by asking if he was ok after the protests in Athens last week.

The US should be compared to the EU, rather than as a single country the context Norwegians think of a country.

I'm maybe somewhat questionably Scandinavian, but I figured being from a Nordic country is close enough so I decided to pop in and say hi.Hi!I'm not officially quite started on my visa, but I'm mailing my documents and evidence to my fiancé in the US this Monday so he can file sometime soon. We're trying to get an early enough start on the whole thing so that we can get married once we graduate in 2014. So, yay, lots of waiting and annoyance is about to happen, and I'm the sort of overworrying kind of person who will be hanging out on these boards a lot and re-reading guides to be sure we haven't overlooked something... Like my sidebar says, I live in Finland, so I'm one of the weirder kind of Nordic people With our strange language and all that. And I'll be heading to San Diego, provided my visa is approved one day, however long that'll take.Also, just as a thought, maybe moving to Scandinavian countries is more difficult than moving to the US because our social security is so much better... So the government is jealously protecting the money they give to people, or something. That would make sense, at least.

Hi, welcome to VJ! Good to see some Finns again!

I know the feeling - I was on this forum every single day, from day 1 of filing until I got on a plane to move here. It really helps throughout the entire process. REALLY helps. This forum saved me and my wife thousands of dollars that we didn't have to pay in lawyer fees.

If you don't have a criminal record, have a bonafide relationship and no bad immigration history, you have nothing to worry about. I hear Helsinki and Stockholm are fairly similar as far as the interviews go - there are tons of reviews on this site you can read too.

I think immigration is just a new thing in the Nordic countries. The general public are just now starting to get used to the idea, whereas in the US, 99% of the populations are themselves descendants of immigrants. I've talked to so many people in Norway (especially rural Norway) who cringe once you mention the word "immigration." They'll scratch their heads at why my wife couldn't "just move to Norway" while at the polling booths they vote in whatever party shouts "throw them out!" the loudest. Immigration to some seems to be synonymous to "3rd world people coming here to make babies, bring their "unculture", cover up our women and sell drugs to our kids."

Edited January 20, 2013 by Jay Jay

[N-o-l-a 7,167]

@Jay Jay Denmark is not really holding to that freedom of movement within the EU - you have 90 days (more if you are job seeking) to register but you must have work, be a student, or have independent means to be able to register. At least I don't have to worry about being deported.

I'm not bitching about it, because it was my husband's choice to do Denmark and not another EU country which would respect our marriage and my right to live there. I pleaded for England, but alas, was not listened to.

That sucks about Norway though, I think it is kind of cruel to cut people off from their families and culture if they choose an outsider to marry. At least you'll be in good company among the 1/3 of Norwegians who moved to America 150 years ago or thereabouts.

It does certainly seem like a hole and I think people think it is easy because you are actually with your spouse, but I did find the waiting in America without him to be a lot less of a problem mostly because there was a lot more family and community support and things to do. I know he'll get his visa, but it is just the randomness of how long and the waiting game that really gets to you, yah know? May 31 is my going back hell or high water date, though. That'll be about the year mark since my house became vacant.

[jaycali 415]

@Jay Jay Denmark is not really holding to that freedom of movement within the EU - you have 90 days (more if you are job seeking) to register but you must have work, be a student, or have independent means to be able to register. At least I don't have to worry about being deported. I'm not bitching about it, because it was my husband's choice to do Denmark and not another EU country which would respect our marriage and my right to live there. I pleaded for England, but alas, was not listened to.That sucks about Norway though, I think it is kind of cruel to cut people off from their families and culture if they choose an outsider to marry. At least you'll be in good company among the 1/3 of Norwegians who moved to America 150 years ago or thereabouts. It does certainly seem like a hole and I think people think it is easy because you are actually with your spouse, but I did find the waiting in America without him to be a lot less of a problem mostly because there was a lot more family and community support and things to do. I know he'll get his visa, but it is just the randomness of how long and the waiting game that really gets to you, yah know? May 31 is my going back hell or high water date, though. That'll be about the year mark since my house became vacant.

Haha, in the town my dad is from, 2/3 of the population moved to a 4 block area of Brooklyn. Everyone with my last name has "an uncle in America."

That vortex rip in the space time continuum which is the USCIS storage facility for family petitions is a mystery to me. Exactly how long your petition remains lost in that black hole is a statistical crapshoot. But one thing is true - What goes in, comes out. More often than not in the form of an NOA2 with an approval notice.

One day in the near future, you and your Dane will stand in the baggage claim area of a major US airport, and all of this will be nothing but a bad memory. The time between my NOA1 and NOA2 felt like an absolute eternity at the time, now I just remember it as "that time last year."

Hang in there.

Edited January 20, 2013 by Jay Jay

[LlamaInvasion 76]

or you have lived together abroad, with children, for a number of years.

Wait, WHAT?

[LlamaInvasion 76]

Also, Jay, I completely agree that the US should be thought of the same way EU is thought of, and vice versa. My in-laws are constantly amazed at all the countries I've been to. For a long time, they thought my family must be very, very rich, since we could afford to go on such "elaborate vacations" to France, Greece, etc... Eventually my husband sat them down and was like, "You do realize flying from New York to California takes longer than flying across Europe, right?"

(My family also call about stuff like the shooting, but they at least only do it for things close to the eastern seaborder.)

I have my driver's test scheduled for Feb 5th by the way! Scary! D: (I do miss the convenience of Oslo's public transportation...)

[jaycali 415]

Wait, WHAT?

http://www.vg.no/nyheter/innenriks/artikkel.php?artid=10058727 Read this.

Also, Jay, I completely agree that the US should be thought of the same way EU is thought of, and vice versa. My in-laws are constantly amazed at all the countries I've been to. For a long time, they thought my family must be very, very rich, since we could afford to go on such "elaborate vacations" to France, Greece, etc... Eventually my husband sat them down and was like, "You do realize flying from New York to California takes longer than flying across Europe, right?" (My family also call about stuff like the shooting, but they at least only do it for things close to the eastern seaborder.)I have my driver's test scheduled for Feb 5th by the way! Scary! D: (I do miss the convenience of Oslo's public transportation...)

There are tons of things I miss about Oslo. The kebab shops for example. But the public transportation is not one of those things. I'm sorry, but I thank the heavens every single day I walk out of my apartment here that I'm not at a dark, snowed down "trikkestopp" at 7:30am with 54 other people trying to get on. A year ago around this time I would take the tram every day from Jernbanetorget and home during rush hour...... I'd rather sit in any freeway traffic in my own car any day! Good luck on your driver's test! I'm sure you'll ace it! Once you have your license in hand, I'm inclined to believe you won't miss sporveien.

I get where you're coming from with trying to explain that you don't have to be rich to travel to Germany hahaha. You have no idea what a genius many Americans think I am that I can speak, read and understand English, two forms of Norwegian, Swedish and Danish!

Edited January 21, 2013 by Jay Jay

[LlamaInvasion 76]

Oh, you got my hopes up. I still don't see anything about this on UDI's website.

Unntak fra kravet til tidligere inntekt

Noen personer kan få unntak fra kravet til tidligere inntekt hvis de kan legge ved dokumentasjon på at de tilhører en av disse gruppene.

Du er over 23 år, og har hatt en likningsregistrert nettoformue på minst 1 million kroner de siste to ligningsoppgjør.

Du mottok alderspensjon eller uførepensjon siste ligningsår, som til sammen er større enn eller lik minste pensjonsnivå i den aktuelle perioden.

Du gjennomførte militær verneplikt eller siviltjeneste siste ligningsår.

Du har oppholdstillatelse fordi du er faglært eller spesialist, eller har tidsbegrenset oppholdstillatelse som ikke gir grunnlag for permanent oppholdstillatelse, men som likevel gir grunnlag for familieinnvandring (for eksempel studietillatelse eller tillatelse som forsker med egne midler, se liste her).

Du har studert. Du må være norsk borger, nordisk borger eller utlending med permanent oppholdstillatelse som har tatt høyere utdanning (høyskole eller universitet) i Norge eller utlandet, og som det siste likningsåret har tjent opp minst 60 studiepoeng eller tilsvarende, eller har tatt fagskoleutdanning i Norge tilsvarende ett års normert studietid som erstatning for lønnet arbeid. Hvis du har avsluttet studiene dine på våren, må du legge ved dokumentasjon på at du har tatt 60 studiepoeng sammenhengende det siste studieåret. Hvis du ikke har hatt normal studieprogresjon på grunn av sykdom må du fremlegge dokumentasjon på dette. I slike tilfeller må vi vurdere hver enkelt sak helt konkret

There's also this:

Etter utlendingsforskriften § 10-11 kan det gjøres unntak fra underholdskravet ved familieinnvandring dersom “særlige sterke menneskelige hensyn” tilsier det. Utlendingsdirektoratet instrueres herved om å legge til grunn de retningslinjene som er gjengitt nedenfor ved vurderingen etter § 10-11. Ved anvendelsen av retningslinjene, må Utlendingsdirektoratet se hen til formålet med underholdskravet og formålet med de enkelte retningslinjene.

I tilfeller hvor søkeren er en utenlandsk borger som har levd i et langvarig og etablert familieliv med en norsk eller nordisk borger og partene har felles barn som er norsk eller nordisk borger, kan det etter en konkret vurdering gjøres unntak fra underholdskravet. Dette gjelder likevel ikke tilfeller hvor det aktuelle familielivet er utøvet i Norge mens søkeren har hatt ulovlig opphold.

Do you think I have to report Utflytning for that time to start counting? What counts as "langvarig og etablert familieliv?" I'm terrified of losing my membership in Folketrygden, since we're not presently insured.

I will always miss the convenience and crowding of Oslo's public transportation over the stifling rush hour in America. Having my license won't change that. I've been here long enough to know that. I thrive on crowds, the pushier the better. I like the anonymity of a big city. I hated everything when we lived in bumfuck, nowheresville, PA. It's slightly better in Pittsburgh, but not good. The closest I've come to everything I love about Oslo was NYC.

[N-o-l-a 7,167]

Being that we are trying to conceive, I'm curious if anyone of you know we do when a child is born in America, vis a vis the Danish embassy/passport. I know with my birth in America, it was registered at the British embassy and I have what is basically a British birth certificate. Is it the same for the Danes? I can't seem to find the info on the embassy website....

[Mr. Borkström 63]

I get where you're coming from with trying to explain that you don't have to be rich to travel to Germany hahaha. You have no idea what a genius many Americans think I am that I can speak, read and understand English, two forms of Norwegian, Swedish and Danish!

You understand Danish? You ARE a genius!

[N-o-l-a 7,167]

You understand Danish? You ARE a genius!

Surely!

Danish is the hard.

[MrsB2012 10]

Being that we are trying to conceive, I'm curious if anyone of you know we do when a child is born in America, vis a vis the Danish embassy/passport. I know with my birth in America, it was registered at the British embassy and I have what is basically a British birth certificate. Is it the same for the Danes? I can't seem to find the info on the embassy website....

Hi NOLA,

I'm confused- are you a British Citizen or US Citizen or dual citizen? I was under the impression that you're a USC because you're filing the i-130 for your Danish husband, however I just read further up that you're a UKC? It's my understanding that if you're a US Citizen and your husband is a DK citizen, that regardless of where your child is born, it can have both Danish and US citizenship up until the age of 18. The link below gives info about children born to US citizens abroad. I think for the child to have Danish citizenship, there are other requirements aside from him/her just being born there. I think some of the guidelines pertain to Danish parent's ties to DK, but I could be mistaken. It's also my understanding that at the age of 18 it's the Danish government that requires the child to choose one or the other (US or DK citizenship), I could be wrong though. Anyone else that has experience with this, I would love to hear some feedback!

http://travel.state.gov/law/citizenship/citizenship_5199.html

On a side note, and I know this doesn't pertain to you, but I've read (also have a friend experiencing it now) horror stories from women who have children with Danish men in Denmark and the the nightmarish struggles they go through to take their child outside of DK when things have gone south with their Danish partners. If my husband and I ever had a child in DK I would get him/her a US passport immediately, "just in case".

[Moomin 292]

Being that we are trying to conceive, I'm curious if anyone of you know we do when a child is born in America, vis a vis the Danish embassy/passport. I know with my birth in America, it was registered at the British embassy and I have what is basically a British birth certificate. Is it the same for the Danes? I can't seem to find the info on the embassy website....

YOu have to report it in order to get the passport. As far as I know, you contact the Danish embassy in the Washington DC and bring all relevant documents with you so they can verify the eligibily. Just remember both parents have to be present.

Here you go; http://usa.um.dk/en/ - since some links on the website is dead, I imagine they're not too busy. Write them a neat email asking what the process is for a child born in the US to get a Danish pasport when the child has not been to DK yet.

EDIT: I didn't even see the reply above mine, sorry! A friend of mine is Danish, living in the US and the child was born in the US.

Edited January 22, 2013 by moomin

[MrsB2012 10]

YOu have to report it in order to get the passport. As far as I know, you contact the Danish embassy in the Washington DC and bring all relevant documents with you so they can verify the eligibily. Just remember both parents have to be present.

Here you go; http://usa.um.dk/en/ - since some links on the website is dead, I imagine they're not too busy. Write them a neat email asking what the process is for a child born in the US to get a Danish pasport when the child has not been to DK yet.

EDIT: I didn't even see the reply above mine, sorry! A friend of mine is Danish, living in the US and the child was born in the US.

Sorry, I was thinking the child would be born in DK, not the US. Disregard my comment

[N-o-l-a 7,167]

YOu have to report it in order to get the passport. As far as I know, you contact the Danish embassy in the Washington DC and bring all relevant documents with you so they can verify the eligibily. Just remember both parents have to be present.

Here you go; http://usa.um.dk/en/ - since some links on the website is dead, I imagine they're not too busy. Write them a neat email asking what the process is for a child born in the US to get a Danish pasport when the child has not been to DK yet.

EDIT: I didn't even see the reply above mine, sorry! A friend of mine is Danish, living in the US and the child was born in the US.

I figured I had just missed it, but I'll email them should the need arise.

Sorry, I was thinking the child would be born in DK, not the US. Disregard my comment

No, it is ok, I've heard the same things about Danish custody and was prepared for that before I moved here. The Danes are very protective of their own, which is fine by me.

I'm a dual citizen, my mom is American and my biological father is a Yorkshireman.

[jaycali 415]

Oh, you got my hopes up. I still don't see anything about this on UDI's website.There's also this:Do you think I have to report Utflytning for that time to start counting? What counts as "langvarig og etablert familieliv?" I'm terrified of losing my membership in Folketrygden, since we're not presently insured.I will always miss the convenience and crowding of Oslo's public transportation over the stifling rush hour in America. Having my license won't change that. I've been here long enough to know that. I thrive on crowds, the pushier the better. I like the anonymity of a big city. I hated everything when we lived in bumfuck, nowheresville, PA. It's slightly better in Pittsburgh, but not good. The closest I've come to everything I love about Oslo was NYC.

I'm pretty sure you have to report utflytning.. But I won't say anything for sure - but that's what I was referring to yea.

I think they do it on a case by case basis for exceptions like that. This came up after a lot of media coverage of families being separated by ridiculously strict bureaucratic rules.