Yes, I was happy when Victor got his visa. And I'm very happy that he is with me now. And I always knew that after we were married, he would need to apply for a green card ("permanent residency"). And because he is here and we are happy and busy, I have moved slowly on that.
As I've said before, all we have ever wanted (for more than 25 years now!) is to be able to exchange visits — for Victor to be able to enter and leave the U.S. as easily as I enter and leave Mexico. Why does it have to be so difficult? A relatively simple tourist visa would do, but the U.S. State Department has repeatedly refused to give Victor one, first in the mid-1990s and again in the mid-20-teens.
First, there's the green card application itself. It's 13 parts on 18 pages (!) and includes several dozen questions such as
- Have you ever been arrested, cited, charged, or detained for any reason by any law enforcement official?
- Have you ever engaged in prostitution or are you coming to the United States to engage in prostitution?
- Do you intend to engage in any activity that could endanger the welfare, safety, or security of the United States?
Dozens of these! Worse, because Victor can't read all this in English, nor can I translate all this into Spanish, I had to engage a bilingual friend so that we could truthfully check the box that says, "The interpreter named in Part 11 read to me every question and instruction on this application and my answer to every question in Spanish, a language in which I am fluent, and I understood everything."
But now, having completed that form, additional forms must be included in the application package. I have to fill out an Affidavit of Support (despite having already done so to get the visa), with all the required financial documentation. And we have to pay a USCIS-certified doctor to fill out the Medical Examination form. (And Victor will need additional vaccinations.) And we have to include a copy of Victor's birth certificate (which we do have). And we have to fill out the Application for Travel Document so that Victor might be able to visit his mother next Spring. And we have to include photos (despite having already done so for the visa). And I have to pay $1,225.
Yes, I'm damn aggravated.
