Plan so far

Mick was here for Christmas and we made some wedding decisions! We set our date for Friday, July 30, 2010. At first I was not very happy with having the wedding and reception on a Friday but considering how much money it saves, we had to do it. I'm hoping since we will have our reception later in the evening that everyone will be able to make it to that even if they couldn't make it to the ceremony. We established our budget, and we decided on our reception site. I'm going to wait and post pictures once we actually pay our deposit just in case something happens and it were to fall through for some reason. Everything is starting to fall into place and its very exciting!!

The Ring

Here it is....


so beautiful

First Wedding Planning Decision Made!

We have decided who is doing our engagement pictures. Actually it wasn't much of a decision because I already knew who I wanted. I went to high school with Katie, and she is an amazing photographer. The reason that I want her to do our photos is that I feel she has an eye like mine and takes the exact pictures that I would want taken, and I think that is extremely important. She knows what she would want pictures of and takes those kind of photos of people, at least that's what I think. I asked her if she would take them for us, and she was very excited about doing it. Here are some examples of her photos:





*Photos taken from Katie's website, http://www.fashionhomephotographs.blogspot.com

We are going to have them done sometime in April when Mick is over here. Yay!

Welcome!

I decided to start this blog for anyone who wants to keep up with the long journey that Micky and I have ahead of us, and I thought it would be a good record for the two of us to have later on. Also, when looking into the US Fiance' Visa process, we have not been able to find a lot of real life examples, so I thought it might be helpful for anyone out there going through what we are going through.
That being said, I should probably tell a little about our situation. Micky and I (Stephanie) met in the summer of 2004 at Camp Kennybrook in Monticello, NY, where we were both camp counselors. Mick is from England, and I am from the US. Long story short, we really hit it off, saw each other again in Australia winter 2004 and decided to make things official between us on Jan 1st 2005. Since then we have been in a long distance relationship, taking turns visiting each other. Mick is a geography teacher, and I recently became a Neonatal ICU nurse. On my recent trip to England in October, Mick proposed (Oct 28th)! It was the perfect proposal, very memorable, and completely surprising.


We are planning on having the wedding in the US sometime July-Oct of 2010. Between planning the wedding and completing the US Visa process to allow Mick to live here, we have a great deal of work ahead of us.

The following is the outline of the Visa Process.......seriously daunting:

• 1. The US Citizen files the I-129F petition for the foreign fiance(e) with the USCIS. The I-129f is filed at a USCIS Service Center in the US (where you file depends on where you live). The petition phase is very straightforward. Approval timelines vary with each Service Center, with the processing times ranging anywhere from one to five or six months. We have to send proof of our relationship, how we met, photos, plane tickets, emails, etc showing that we have a real relationship.
• 2. After the I-129F has been approved, the petition is sent to the Department of State's National Visa Center (NVC) where it is processed and forwarded to the correct embassy and consulate. The process of sending the approved I-129f from the Service Center (through the NVC) and arriving at the embassy takes about a month. The fiance(e) has 4 months from the time the I-129F was approved at the Service Center to obtain the K1 Visa at the US Consulate in the foreign country. He has to go for a medical and an interview tith a consulate officer at which point if he is approved he will receive his visa.
• 3. Once you have the K1 Visa it is good for only one entry into the United States within 6 months of the issue date.
• 4. Once in the United States, you have 90 days to get married (see "Special Note" at question 3.7)
• 5. Immediately after marriage, you must apply for an Adjustment of Status, Form I-485, to become a permanent resident. You may also apply for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) to work (required until your I-485 is approved) and "advance parole" in case you want to travel outside the United States and re-enter before getting your green card (I-485 approval).

  .....And then...

• 6. If your I-485 is approved prior to two years after you were married you will be issued a "Conditional" Permanent Resident status (green card) which is valid for only two years. If you are interviewed and approved greater than two years after you were married you will get a full normal Permanent Residency with no conditions valid for ten years. The time it takes to approve an I-485 depends on where you live and the nearest local USCIS office's processing timeline.
• 7. If you were given a "conditional permanent residency", after two years from the date you were granted this status, you will have to apply to have the "Conditional" status removed; if approved you will get a full 10 year green card. If you had a full permanent residency status without conditions then this step is not required.

Anyone wanna help???