Hi everyone 👋
I-129 F Sent - January 9th, 2023
I-129 F Received - January 12th, 2023 (NOA-1)
I-129 F - Notice Date - January 13th, 2023
While I'm obviously a complete nervous wreck over this entire process, I do worry about two things that could potentially hold up our case - but I might be overthinking everything.
My fiancé was formally adopted by his stepfather when he was 3 or 4. He was able to order a copy of the adoption certificate which I included in the packet. He never knew his father and before he was adopted by his stepfather, he had his mother's (maiden) last name. The adoption certificate he gave me was a bit of a joke, which leads me to my next concern...
My fiancé hails from a (very) small island named Jersey, located between France and England. Per a Google search and more in depth research, Jersey is technically not part of the UK. It's a self-governing, crown dependency of the UK (they literally have their own money, and it's so cute). Basically, how my fiancé has explained it, they have their own rules and laws, but if they ever got in trouble and for whatever reason needed help, they'd be protected and/or assisted by the UK (war, disease, disaster, etc). However, his nearest embassy that he'll be interviewed at is London, and his passport classifies him as a "British Citizen". I've visited and it's a very unique little place, literally only 5 miles x 9 miles to give you an idea of the size. I should also note that Jersey actually has a handful of Embassies on it's island, but U.S. isn't one of them.
So, when I say that his adoption certificate was a joke, it's a single piece of paper that gives my fiancés former name, his new name, his mom's name, his stepfather's name, and his mom and stepfather's job title, along with the date that the adoption/name change took effect - late 80's, but the certified copy is dated for 2019. It's quite comical to look at, because it doesn't look "official" at all (I joked that it as whipped quickly on a Microsoft word doc), but since Jersey is such a small place, I imagine their documents probably don't look as official as a large country such as the US, which I'm used to seeing. Hopefully, USCIS won't think it looks sketchy.
Regarding Jersey and this entire process, when discussing timelines and comparing my case to others', I honestly have no idea if I should be comparing to other UK cases, or if Jersey is a whole other beast. I keep going back and forth in my head, since his "local" embassy is technically a flight across the sea in London.
Of course I chose to fall in love with a wonderful man who's lived his whole life on a small, unknown island LOL.
Good luck to everyone else who's starting their journey!