Obtaining Citizenship

[Secret Agent 001]

My wife is in the process of obtaining citizenship, so I thought this might be a good time to recap our journey from Colombia to getting married in the USA to getting a green card to obtaining citizenship. All the paperwork was done by my wife and me without an attorney. Unless there are complicating factors it’s doable without a lawyer. (I equate it to doing a complicated tax return with multiple Schedule C businesses). I did consult an immigration attorney prior to my wife’s arrival. He advised me to get her in under the old immigration law, which was expiring 4-1-1997. We did that, but I really don’t think it was necessary in our case. He also strongly advised me not to attempt the application process on my own, and to avail myself of his rather expensive services. That turned out to be B.S.

We were married in the USA in 1997. My wife entered the country on her existing tourist visa. (I believe the proper thing to do is to get a fiancé visa, even if she already has a tourist visa). We got married here and applied for permanent residence (green card). The INS was backlogged back then, so it took about a year for us to get an appointment for her interview. Meanwhile, she could not leave the country unless she wanted to stay in Colombia until her case was completely processed. Of course, she elected to stay here, but it nixed our (her) plans for a big church wedding in Colombia. We had a small church wedding and reception in Bogota a year later.

We were eventually notified by mail that we had an appointment for her permanent residence interview. The interviewer asked us several questions, including why we got married in Nebraska, lived in Colorado, and now lived in Wyoming. Anything that might look a little fishy draws their attention, since they are looking for sham marriages done just to get a green card. None of the questions were overly personal, however, and the interviewer was friendly, but business-like. We were also asked if my wife had been working, since that would have been a no-no. Nothing was said about the tourist visa.

My wife received her green card without any problems. She could finally get a drivers license. She has been living here as a permanent resident for 11 years without any immigration problems. Last year she decided to apply for citizenship. She downloaded the application and got to work on it. There was a lot of paperwork to round up from Colombia, the USA, and England where she went to college for a couple of years.

Back in 1997 I did almost all the work on her permanent resident application. Unknown to me at the time, I falsely answered one of the questions. (This being a public board, I won’t go into details). My wife did almost all the work on her citizenship application, and she answered that same question with a different answer. When I reviewed her application, I noticed that we had a problem. It could have been interpreted that we had tried to hide a material fact regarding my wife’s immigration eligibility. I included an affidavit with her citizenship application explaining what had happened, along with documentation to support the “revised” answer to said question. We submitted the application and hoped for the best. Had we used an attorney, this would not have happened since the attorney would have specifically asked my wife every question instead of assuming he knew the answers, like I did. So gringos, take notice.

A few weeks after submitting her citizenship application we received notice that she should be in Denver early on a Saturday morning to get fingerprinted. A few weeks after that we were notified by mail that she had an appointment for her interview. While at the fingerprinting office she got a booklet designed to help her prepare for the citizenship test. It reminded me of going to your local motor vehicle office to get a drivers license. The booklet was much larger than a drivers license booklet, but the principle is the same – memorize the booklet and you will pass the test. It is mostly about US history and government.

The interview appointment was for 9:00 am on a Thursday, but she needed to be there at 8:30 am. The immigration office is about 2 hours from our house. Since I had an appointment in Denver on Wednesday, I left my wife at a hotel a few blocks from the immigration office on Wednesday afternoon. I returned home to pick up our daughter after school and get her back to school Thursday morning. My wife went to the interview alone on Thursday morning and was finished shortly after 10:00 am.

She aced the test. I don’t think they even tested her for English proficiency since it is clear that she speaks English well. The interviewer was a lady in her 60’s who was cordial but no-nonsense. She had a big file that included my wife’s application. According to the interviewer, there were irregularities in the way that my wife had been granted her green card back in 1998, so she went to consult her supervisor. My wife was left to sweat bullets for about 10 minutes. When the interviewer returned there was no problem, and then she proceeded to grill my wife about her marital and employment status.

My wife said she was grilled extensively about her marriage - trying to trip her up – looking for any signs that this was a sham marriage. It didn’t help that I wasn’t there, and my wife had to explain that I had to get our daughter to and from school that day. Nothing was said about the question on the application to which we had given contradictory answers. So, with the test passed and the interview over, we are waiting for a letter in the mail telling us when and where to go for her to take the Oath. After that she will have obtained citizenship. I’ll follow up on this thread when that happens.

Looking back on everything, it doesn’t seem like it was all that difficult. (But of course I wasn’t the one on the hot seat). However, along the way there were times when we were not sure of how to answer certain application questions, or what to do next. During those times it didn’t seem so easy. And there was a fair amount of material to gather for the citizenship application. The immigration office itself can be intimidating.


For what its worth, here are a few suggestions from a novice who is almost through the process:

• I would start by going to a bookstore and getting a “How To” book. Get one that was published recently. Some of them include sample forms.
• Pay very close attention to the applications. Follow the instructions carefully. Don’t assume (like I did) that you know your wife and therefore you can answer all of the questions. If you don’t speak each others language fluently, get someone to help you (as a translator). Legal stuff is not the same as conversational Spanish or English.
• Make sure Immigration has your current address and check your mailbox. Sometimes there is very little time between the day you receive a notice and the date of your appointment.
• Arrive for your appointments early. It might be similar to getting screened at the airport.
• Don’t volunteer extraneous information, either on the applications or in the interviews. The interviewer may want to chat-it-up with you. That’s fine but be on your toes.
• If you find yourself in a situation where you think you need to lie on an application, or omit, cover-up, or mislead – Don’t. You need to consult a good immigration attorney.
• In addition to the information that Immigration has on paper, the interviewer is sizing you up. Dress like you would for a job interview. Look neat and well dressed, without being overdressed.
• Go with your wife to all of the appointments.

[GrizGator]

Hmmmm....very interesting story, especially since we will go through lifting of conditions this summer and then naturalization in a few years. I was surprised to hear that your wife got grilled during the naturalization interview....that's news to me....I'll have to look into it more on visajourney.com. Perhaps, as you mentioned, it was because of the "irregularities" in the original process.

I agree with you and would advise all gringos interested in marrying a Colombiana NOT to marry her in the U.S. while she is on a tourist visa. My understanding is that this is frowned upon and in 2009 you may not be as lucky as Secret Agent's wife was in 1997. Do it the proper way....either marry her in Colombia or go the K-1 route (this all depends on what is practical and what fits within your and her moral and ethical framework)

I also agree that it's best, if at all possible to go with your wife for all appointments, whether it's at the embassy in Bogota, at a U.S. field office (for adjustment of status and/or lifting of conditions), or whatever. It's not required in all cases, but I think it makes sense.

Good luck to all and congrats to Mrs. Secret Agency on her citizenship.

Griz

[Secret Agent 001]

Shortly after my last post we received notice to attend the naturalization ceremony. The event was held at a large theater on a college campus in Denver. My wife was instructed to be there at 12:35 – I think to turn in her green card and whatever paperwork was left to do. Everyone was there very early, as we were, so they let all the guests into the theater to wait until the ceremony got started at 1:00 pm. All of the new citizens were seated in the front half of the theater, while guests (family and friends) sat in the back half and in a large balcony. It was all very organized and orderly.

There were 304 people getting citizenship from 74 countries. My wife was the only Colombian. There were probably close to 1000 guests there to witness the ceremony. A couple of immigration officials spoke, we watched a couple of short videos, and the Oath was administered to the new citizens all at once. Then the official citizenship document was passed out to each new citizen, and there was an opportunity to go down front and take photos. The citizenship document is the size of a diploma, with the citizen’s photo and an embossed seal.

For many of the new citizens it was the culmination of many years of effort to leave their home country and attain citizenship in the United States. So for those people it was a very important day. That was really the most meaningful part of the event. Its not that my wife and I took the ceremony lightly, but we didn’t have to struggle anything like what many of the new citizens did. We had it pretty easy, just do the paperwork and follow directions. So my hat’s off to all those people who struggled mightily to get here, and did it legally to boot.

[Ohio Al]

Griz & Secret Agent,
Can you shed any light as to why it is not a good idea to marry a woman who is visiting the USA on a Tourist Visa? I was under the impression (probably mistakenly) that if you were to marry wheil she was on a tourist B- type visa that the only downfall was that she could not leave the country and regain entry until her adjutment of status.

Thanks for any information you might have.

Al

[LastLion]

CONGRATS to you wife Secret Agent man... I have heard it is a wonderful ceremony..

[Secret Agent 001]

Al - I don’t really know if it’s a good idea or not. It worked for us, but that was in 1997. I wasn’t completely sure it would work back then, but I figured if the INS wanted to play hardball they would make my wife return to Colombia and obtain the appropriate visa. I just couldn’t see sending her back and waiting for months to get a visa if we didn’t absolutely have to. Then there would have been the time and expense of me traveling back and forth to Colombia while we waited for a visa. The attorney I consulted advised me to get her here and apply for a green card under the old (pre-April 1, 1997) law. He didn’t seem all that concerned about the tourist visa situation.

The problem is that when a Colombiana gets a tourist visa to come to the USA, she is stating that the purpose of her visit is tourism only. So if she comes into the country with the intent of getting married, then that is a violation of the terms of her tourist visa. Her status in the USA should match her visa, whether she is a tourist, student, fiancée, etc.

It’s a tricky situation if you have a novia SOTB who has a tourist visa. I wonder how many people are going to take the time (maybe months?) to get a fiancée visa when there is nothing stopping them from just going to the USA and getting married? The authorities might cut you some slack, like they did with me, or it could turn into a big hassle. So it’s a tough call. If your novia doesn’t have a visa at all, then the decision is easier – just get the appropriate visa for her visit.