Is it really worth it

[PuppyLove 24]

I think a couple of you are mis understanding what I mean. My fiancé is definitely worth it, I wouldn't be going through the process if she wasn't. I'm not whining at all, I'm just was expressing my thoughts. Regardless what your personal political views are, because both side have they're faults. But the lack of common sense this country lacks will be its downfall. Going back to if she's worth it, I won to successful companies, I would give those up for her.

The nightmare in Europe, will send its effects over the Atlantic in the next 6-18 months. The president is making it difficult to proper here. That piece of paper they call the Constitution is being destroyed and disregarded, and rights re being taken away. Like I was expressing before, I would rather move somewhere where I know the government is going to screw you, than think I'm a free citizen with only the freedoms our forefathers fought for are taken away.

Also I'm not going on a tangent because I'm fed up of waiting. I realized that part, when I filled. I now find it sad, all of the people on this forum have to wait the decision of somebody in a cubicle to decide the fate of a life together. But it gets upsetting when I see ILLEGALS, get a path to quick immigration, ILLEGALS get financial aid assistance for college, ILLEGALS get healthcare in hospitals, meanwhile Natural born citizens stand in line and get treated like #######, just because you make a certain amount you do not get the benefit others do, and coming soon... If you don't purchase healthcare your are subject to fine.

So where do you think it doesn't happen? What other country is better than USA ? Taxes are in every country. Illegals immigrants are in every country too Illegals don't get a quick Path to citizenship. That is not true

[Waiting234 18]

Hispanic citizens vote for Democrats. If they voted for Republicans, Obama would build a fence to keep illegals out.

All they need to do is punish severely, with taxes, anyone that employs an illegal alien. After all, the illegals are not receiving protections that are intended for workers. Instead they complain about Walmart being "unfair" and allow employers to exploit illegals.

You make the mistake of assuming any of this has anything to do with the legal process of immigration. It is like complaining that you had to wait months for a mortgage while bank robbers just steal the money. One is a legal process, the other is a crime.

By marrying/being engaged to a foreign woman and wishing to offer her the legal benefits of living in the US you enter this process voluntarily. Enjoy!

What you say here is exactly what is wrong with America. Your second paragraph of "all they need to do" will never happen. You make the mistake of assuming that immigration is a separate process when in fact, every process is tied together, effecting one or the other in some kind of way. There are no legal benefits to living in the USA, unless you want to sue over nonsense.

[JensJrny2Ray 367]

So while waiting now 6months and 5 days since applying for a k-1 visa and is still waiting for a NOA2 approval. Is it really worth all this hassle of applying for a visa to become an American citizen? Yes I understand there is a few rotten apples that have made the process the lengthy process that it is, but mostly in genera!l 2 people fall in love and want to get married and start a life together and possibly start a family. But you a have a government employee who could care less what happens to the people and lives they are reviewing. I am an naturally born American, I own a business, I employee 10-15 in house employees and 15-20 subcontractors, I pay a boat load in taxes, because I work hard. Isnt that the American dream to become successful, prosperous,have a good life...not in today's America.... All of the illegals in America get citizenship because of a Dream Act...blah ..blah... So because they are here illegal they have the ability to skip the..but what about the fact that they are here illegally. If my fiancé decides to board a flight, properly go through customs, enters the US...and we decide to get married... We could possibly be committing immigration fraud... Maybe if she entered illegally and then we got married it would be ok? Doesn't make any sense.

Then comes the interview, so after all of the hoops and have jumped, and you have given them pretty much your first born, you go for your interview. If the consulate representative wakes up on the wrong side of the bed that morning...he/she can just say ...Um Not Approved. What makes that person god. And decides that an American naturally born citizen cannot wed his fiancé because they just didn't feel like it. ( I understand they have to make sure they don't let anyone in) but if it is a clean cut case, no arrest records on either party, more than information and documents... Why does it take 9-12 months for what seems to be a total of 2 hours of administrative work.

So is it really worth it to be an American anymore:

;You work hard, employ people, make a good living,... Just to have the government say " you make to much, and we have to give your hard earned money to these people here, who obviously can work but dont choose to, because they don't have to"

; Oh you met a special person and want to get married to them but they are not an American... So you go through the proper process set forth by the government...and it drags on and on...just to have a decision made by someone who could less, but all these ILLEGALS, can get prefered treatment to get they're citizenship. What happened to the ILLEGAL part, haven't they committed a crime, but they government tends to persecute and hassle they group of people that go through the proper guidelines set forth so everyone is on an equal playing field.

; Now you have your K-1 visa in hand, hurry up you have 90 days to get married, thanks for allowing us so much time get married . Now comes 2 years of having to prove it is a real marriage...etc. Once again your future is in the hands of someone who doesn't care, so you have prove to them all of your personal details... Great now this person is like a priest whom you tell all of your personally intimate details as if the 2 weeks of training they just can determine whether it is legit or not.

The American dream is not about the dream of a better and prosperous life, it is how to work the system, and learn how to lie, cheat and steal..and if you don't want do those the government will give to you from those who bust their a$$.. So you don't have to.

At least in other countries, you know your getting mis treated by the government, but in America, where the government works for you, they actually work against you. My American dream is turning into a nightmare and maybe it's time to wake up from the nightmare and find a country where at least I know I'm getting screwed instead of a false dream.

Well, I guess you can look at things negatively like that if you like, or you can choose to pull up your boot straps and march on. I waited 176 days for my NOA2. I went into the process knowing it would take at least 6 months, maybe even longer to get the approval and then after that, well there's packing up and moving my whole entire life. I made the choice, along with my fiance to start the process.

I do not believe for a minute that all the USCIS employees could care less about the applications they process. Or that they wake up on the wrong side of the bed and decide "LOL, denied!" on applications.

I am not moving to America to become an American, I am moving there to be with the man I love and live our lives like normal people do. Because of his parents' health, we chose the USA to be the place to live. Honestly, I would have preferred to stay here, but I am excited at the prospect of a new life and new adventures.

There are so many theories floating around as to why their applications are taking so long to process, it's the Dream Act, it's Obama's fault, it's the devil's fault, the employees aren't working hard enough, maybe they only have 2 employees at CSC, maybe Grumpy Cat is in charge and she's just saying no to everything.

When my application was being processed everyone was crying about how Vermont was soooooooo slow and coming up with theories for that, now it's CSC and people are crying about that and saying it's not fair how Vermont is so fast. I just knew, that eventually my application would be processed and I should spend my time making money to pay bills, and get everything taken care of that I need to, and spend the time with family and friends that I will be missing very much when I leave. Life is what you make it.

[NikLR 13,232]

I worry about moving to the USA. I worry about finding a job. I worry that if I go to school I'll be paid significantly less for that job than in Canada. I worry that I would even be able to afford that education on the pay cheques that may receive. I want to be able to contribute to my household, not be a drain. I worry about the cost of health care as well. The USA is not the country I grew up in, despite it being next door. Heck, the province I am currently residing in is so different from the one of my birth I still am baffled sometimes, despite being here 11 years. I can only hope it will all work out, even though the process is long and hard to do it. Sometimes it helps to remember the process is even longer if he was moving here. And we don't have a Dream Act to blame it on!

If you worry about this process, imagine how much your fiancée worries about moving.

[Waiting234 18]

I definitely hear ya buddy.

My fiancee just picked up her K1 last week, after starting the process in June of 2012.

I definitely cursed the USCIS more than a few times during the process. What really does take them so long?

I've had numerous background checks due to my profession and other licenses, but nothing has ever taken this long. Our case is obviously legit to anyone with half a brain looking.

But it's a symptom of a much larger disease in the US government. Honest to goodness, if I didn't love America so much, I would've jumped ship and moved somewhere else with her.

I can tell that you're a patriot, and that you aren't whining. You're posting a lament for your country.

I also hear you about the other part. I had some friends who overstayed their J1 visas, and then got married to some of my closest friends. No hassle for them, no waiting on USCIS.

It's horse-s***.

But, as others have said, don't give up! It was a great feeling when she was finally approved!

My case is also clearly legitimate to anyone who has spent the time to look at it and we filed in March 2012. Today, we are waiting for a Tuberculosis test result. We were approved with no issues at every step of the way, never even sent to the dreaded "fraud unit" at the Dominican Embassy, which many are sent there just to be approved anyway. Our RFE from USCIS only delayed us 2 weeks and that was the fault of my lawyer, whom I since fired and am doing it on my own.

On to the TB test result. We were forced to wait until one week before our interview for her to have her medical. If a test result can take 10 weeks to resolve, we should be allowed to have medical done 10 weeks before her appointment, if we so please. If the requirement is that it is only good for one week, then we should be allowed to take it twice, we are paying for it anyway. Due to scarring beneath her lung when she had surgery at the age of 11 months old, the lung x-rays came up positive, but only if the x-ray technician shined the x-ray over the scar. She is the purest picture of health.

I don't want you to think I have a problem taking a TB test to demonstrate that we are healthy, in fact, we've taken 3 different types of TB tests in private industry only to prove that she tests negative. The test our government requires is hardly ever done in the USA, including if someone has TB. Not to mention that I was not quaranteened in her country. If this disease was such an epidemic, then I should have been kept there as well. I walked into the clinic with her and told them that if she has TB, then I must have it too and should not be allowed to return to my country. They allowed me to return, in fact, they insisted on it.

So, if you think our system is messed up from your experience. Think of how much more messed up it is for other people. We all need a better system, including you. Anything over 2 months for a K-1 visa is inexcusable.

[ricnally 259]

Yes, NikiR, definitely a larger burden for the beneficiary. My USC fiance's life goes on pretty much as before (except he misses me). For me, on the other hand, the upheaval is complete, and the unexpected delay in obtaining the visa is a large part of the reason I find myself in my present situation--living in rural BC where I know exactly no one; unable to work; and about to become homeless in a few weeks. I plan to move to Vancouver and sponge off friends until I get my visa or they grow to hate me, whichever comes first. I have trepidations about the future in the U.S. but at this point, I'd just like to get at it. Life in limbo is no fun.

[rascalcat 28]

I hate when people say this, because reuniting a family is not a privilege, it is a human right.

Its sad how people forget this. Just makes me realize how crazy the world is.

[CRAKZOR 4]

/agree with the OP

Obama did this for mor democrat votes

This k1 process sure is long and tedious and I'm really feeling it today out of all days how much I miss my fiancée, but it's just testing how strong ur love really is.. Being apart hurts I wish any filers before and after me the best of luck and those waiting year+... Hold on and may God be with you

[del-2-5-2014 1,339]

So while waiting now 6months and 5 days since applying for a k-1 visa and is still waiting for a NOA2 approval. Is it really worth all this hassle of applying for a visa to become an American citizen? Yes I understand there is a few rotten apples that have made the process the lengthy process that it is, but mostly in genera!l 2 people fall in love and want to get married and start a life together and possibly start a family. But you a have a government employee who could care less what happens to the people and lives they are reviewing. I am an naturally born American, I own a business, I employee 10-15 in house employees and 15-20 subcontractors, I pay a boat load in taxes, because I work hard. Isnt that the American dream to become successful, prosperous,have a good life...not in today's America.... All of the illegals in America get citizenship because of a Dream Act...blah ..blah... So because they are here illegal they have the ability to skip the..but what about the fact that they are here illegally. If my fiancé decides to board a flight, properly go through customs, enters the US...and we decide to get married... We could possibly be committing immigration fraud... Maybe if she entered illegally and then we got married it would be ok? Doesn't make any sense.

Then comes the interview, so after all of the hoops and have jumped, and you have given them pretty much your first born, you go for your interview. If the consulate representative wakes up on the wrong side of the bed that morning...he/she can just say ...Um Not Approved. What makes that person god. And decides that an American naturally born citizen cannot wed his fiancé because they just didn't feel like it. ( I understand they have to make sure they don't let anyone in) but if it is a clean cut case, no arrest records on either party, more than information and documents... Why does it take 9-12 months for what seems to be a total of 2 hours of administrative work.

So is it really worth it to be an American anymore:

;You work hard, employ people, make a good living,... Just to have the government say " you make to much, and we have to give your hard earned money to these people here, who obviously can work but dont choose to, because they don't have to"

; Oh you met a special person and want to get married to them but they are not an American... So you go through the proper process set forth by the government...and it drags on and on...just to have a decision made by someone who could less, but all these ILLEGALS, can get prefered treatment to get they're citizenship. What happened to the ILLEGAL part, haven't they committed a crime, but they government tends to persecute and hassle they group of people that go through the proper guidelines set forth so everyone is on an equal playing field.

; Now you have your K-1 visa in hand, hurry up you have 90 days to get married, thanks for allowing us so much time get married . Now comes 2 years of having to prove it is a real marriage...etc. Once again your future is in the hands of someone who doesn't care, so you have prove to them all of your personal details... Great now this person is like a priest whom you tell all of your personally intimate details as if the 2 weeks of training they just can determine whether it is legit or not.

The American dream is not about the dream of a better and prosperous life, it is how to work the system, and learn how to lie, cheat and steal..and if you don't want do those the government will give to you from those who bust their a$.. So you don't have to.

At least in other countries, you know your getting mis treated by the government, but in America, where the government works for you, they actually work against you. My American dream is turning into a nightmare and maybe it's time to wake up from the nightmare and find a country where at least I know I'm getting screwed instead of a false dream.

I agree with you and there are two issues involved.

First issue is relationship. I love my Wife and would walk the end of the world for her but it helps if USCIS/DOS gives us clear roadmap of our journey. I would move home to Nigeria to spend the waiting time with her but I have to have income to sponsor her here and I also have 4 children from previous marriage that I have to provide support and medical for.

Second issue is the process. The only people that will say that the process is other than ridiculous are those that breezed through USCIS in 2 months and then had a 5 minutes interview in Stockholm where the CO mostly chatted up the beneficiary.

Good luck to all of us that are still waiting.

[lynndy38 64]

I can totally see where the OP is coming from my husband talks daily about how the USA has changed lately,he refers back to the constitutional rights ALOT I think its ingrained into many Americans so when they feel their liberty is compromised in any way it freaks them out,maybe a little more than non US citizens. And lets face it,during the visa process you are turned inside out and nothing feels private anymore. I think it just gets to you every now and then.....you have a vent and then just get on with it as you really have no other choice.

I do have to say though it annoys the hell out of me to be told its a privilege to move to the USA it really doesn't make the non US citizen feel welcome at all, especially as many of us are leaving everyone and everything we love behind just because we've fallen in love with an American. And please don't say well don't come here then, I will embrace and respect the American laws and culture I will work and pay my taxes. I just ask that I'm not made to feel I should spend the rest of my life grovelling and feel like a second class citizen. I don't believe I deserve that.

Lets all hope this recession ends soon it certainly seems only the people at the top are benefiting right now.

[fantonledzepp 159]

So while waiting now 6months and 5 days since applying for a k-1 visa and is still waiting for a NOA2 approval. Is it really worth all this hassle of applying for a visa to become an American citizen? Yes I understand there is a few rotten apples that have made the process the lengthy process that it is, but mostly in genera!l 2 people fall in love and want to get married and start a life together and possibly start a family. But you a have a government employee who could care less what happens to the people and lives they are reviewing. I am an naturally born American, I own a business, I employee 10-15 in house employees and 15-20 subcontractors, I pay a boat load in taxes, because I work hard. Isnt that the American dream to become successful, prosperous,have a good life...not in today's America.... All of the illegals in America get citizenship because of a Dream Act...blah ..blah... So because they are here illegal they have the ability to skip the..but what about the fact that they are here illegally. If my fiancé decides to board a flight, properly go through customs, enters the US...and we decide to get married... We could possibly be committing immigration fraud... Maybe if she entered illegally and then we got married it would be ok? Doesn't make any sense.

Then comes the interview, so after all of the hoops and have jumped, and you have given them pretty much your first born, you go for your interview. If the consulate representative wakes up on the wrong side of the bed that morning...he/she can just say ...Um Not Approved. What makes that person god. And decides that an American naturally born citizen cannot wed his fiancé because they just didn't feel like it. ( I understand they have to make sure they don't let anyone in) but if it is a clean cut case, no arrest records on either party, more than information and documents... Why does it take 9-12 months for what seems to be a total of 2 hours of administrative work.

So is it really worth it to be an American anymore:

;You work hard, employ people, make a good living,... Just to have the government say " you make to much, and we have to give your hard earned money to these people here, who obviously can work but dont choose to, because they don't have to"

; Oh you met a special person and want to get married to them but they are not an American... So you go through the proper process set forth by the government...and it drags on and on...just to have a decision made by someone who could less, but all these ILLEGALS, can get prefered treatment to get they're citizenship. What happened to the ILLEGAL part, haven't they committed a crime, but they government tends to persecute and hassle they group of people that go through the proper guidelines set forth so everyone is on an equal playing field.

; Now you have your K-1 visa in hand, hurry up you have 90 days to get married, thanks for allowing us so much time get married . Now comes 2 years of having to prove it is a real marriage...etc. Once again your future is in the hands of someone who doesn't care, so you have prove to them all of your personal details... Great now this person is like a priest whom you tell all of your personally intimate details as if the 2 weeks of training they just can determine whether it is legit or not.

The American dream is not about the dream of a better and prosperous life, it is how to work the system, and learn how to lie, cheat and steal..and if you don't want do those the government will give to you from those who bust their a$$.. So you don't have to.

At least in other countries, you know your getting mis treated by the government, but in America, where the government works for you, they actually work against you. My American dream is turning into a nightmare and maybe it's time to wake up from the nightmare and find a country where at least I know I'm getting screwed instead of a false dream.

I also agree with you. It is upsetting.

[bigdog 376]

My wife was worth it.

[Protocol417 161]

People obtaining green cards/citizenship through the Dream Act have to fit very specific requirements, requirements that I don't think your fiancee would be barred from trying to attain should she choose to.

I understand your frustration... we're all going through this, aren't we?... but I think you might be a little misinformed about the color of the grass on the other side, if you will.

My ex-husband's sister (a USC) was married to a Mexican who had entered the country illegally. They owned a home together, had a child together, and he worked multiple jobs and paid taxes just like everyone else for 10 years (just under an assumed name), and they lived in fear the entire time that he would be driven from the country. In fact, apart from being in the country without the correct paperwork, he had to be far more law-abiding than the common American citizen, because something as mild as a speeding ticket could have ripped that family apart. Once, they actually had to flee the state to avoid such a fate, leaving their very frightened daughter in the hands of her grandparents, not knowing if her parents could ever return. After a decade of this, they were lucky enough to be placed across from an extremely incompetent DA and in front of a very kind judge, who said "enough already" and granted him the green card he'd been fighting for.

So it's not as easy, or dear god "preferential" (really?), as you make it sound.

Is a 9-12 month wait, if that option is available to you, worth avoiding all of that?

YES. A million times YES. That is precisely why we are all here, and not in some back alley trying to get an identity for our loved ones.

[Jon and Krissy 452]

I think you misunderstand the OP. My husband is obviously worth it, which is why we live together in DK, but I do really wonder about our future in America. We are very much keeping the option open of moving somewhere else when the situation changes a little.

As to the poverty line thing, that is your problem and I'm not even sure how that is possible. Without even trying in America, I can be above the poverty line and have been in the past.

We really fought back with the immigration process, but I'm not the type who is going to tolerate BS from my government.

I do worry that our life will be harder in America and I do worry about our future. I've been feeling nothing but guilt about making him move to a country in which life will be a lot harder for him. I do think that America has more potential than the current EU nightmare going on in Europe, but in many ways we are certainly not better. I highly suspect that at some point we'll end up moving back to Scandinavia.

I wish we had that option. America is done. I'd do anything to be able to move to the EU, Australia, New Zealand, or Canada.

[indiana_sweetie 120]

I wish we had that option. America is done. I'd do anything to be able to move to the EU, Australia, New Zealand, or Canada.

I'm sure I would have no problem getting permission to live in Kosovo with my husband. But...unemployment is about 47%. Everyone heats with coal in winter, so everyone coughs. My husband tells me about the "black fog" that comes at night. I'm asthmatic. I couldn't handle it health-wise. As for work, he already has some little jobs lined up once he gets here....one of my friends needs ceramic tile installed, another needs the bathroom finished....things like that. I know he wants to work full time. My biggest worry is how he will be treated because he will be a new immigrant.

Edited for clarity

Edited March 24, 2013 by indiana_sweetie