Green Card
Themes in this story: Legal consultations, deciding to pursue a green card, finding an attorney, setting clear expectations, preparing documents and evidence, navigating the interview process, never-ending paperwork, adjusting to life after approval
Vanessa: The topic came up multiple times throughout the course of our relationship but what made us decide to take more action and start consulting with attorneys was the fact that the presidential election was coming up and there was quite a bit of uncertainty. We were optimistic at the time, but I think we were also wondering, What is this going to mean for us?
Luís: Another big reason for starting the process was the change in the legal analysis we were hearing about my case. I’d had legal consultations with several nonprofits over the years, and they all gave me really pessimistic perspectives about my situation. They told me it would be hard for me to find a path to citizenship without a pardon and to get one, Vanessa would have to depend on me in some way. At the time, we had just graduated from college, I was doing my master's, and we were living in different places. I barely had an income, so it seemed very difficult for us to make that argument. I tried to just put it in the back of my mind and keep living my life. Then one day we decided to get a consultation with Path2Papers. That was the first time that I got a positive perspective about my case.
Vanessa: After that, we consulted with two private attorneys and they had the same analysis. That's when we decided, Okay, we should move forward as soon as possible.
Vanessa: We wondered the same thing. I mean, these attorneys did still recognize a possibility of having to get the pardon and proving dependency, but this time around, they seemed pretty confident that it should all work out fine.
Luís: I also think it was different because with some of the non-profit consultations I did it was just a 20-minute phone call. And in that very short call, I had to describe everything about my situation for the attorney to give me their analysis. Whereas with Path2Papers it was a little longer and more comprehensive. And with the private attorneys, since we paid them, we got a full hour of their time in person. In that way, I think there was a difference of interaction that helped me feel better about being able to tell my story in detail.
Vanessa: We knew we wanted someone in our area, so I did some online research and filtered my searches by location and by the topics they worked on. I think I contacted about 12 people. Of those, the majority got back to me and I followed up with a couple specific questions to make sure they had experience in what we needed in order to pay them. Some of them would respond and say, I can't tell you until you pay my fee and we have a consultation. Others responded and said, Yes, I absolutely do work on these things and this is my fee for a consultation. From that second group we eventually narrowed it down to the person we ended up choosing.
Luís: Yea, we took the analysis we’d gotten from other consultations and we’d summarize that analysis along with how I came into the U.S., how long I'd been in the country, how long our relationship was, that kind of thing. We’d send all of that to them along with our questions and honestly, it was pretty easy to narrow down because we could tell right away who we felt comfortable with based on their communication style.
Luis: Thankfully, our attorney was pretty easy to work with. I think it helped that we prepared really well for our first consultation with a list of questions for them, not only about our case, but also about expectations. Things like, How many times are we going to see you throughout this process? How often can we email or text you? Which interactions will be charged and which are free? We got very clear answers from our attorney so we were all on that same page and that was a helpful place to start.
Luís: There were two sets of documents that we submitted. The first set was everything related to my immigration journey. Ever since I was a kid, my family told me to save every little paper with my name and information on it. Because I came with a visa, having that original passport and visa with the stamps showing every time I came to the U.S. with a tourist visa was extremely helpful. Our attorney said a lot of people do not have that, and have to go through another process in order to get it.
The other set of documents was everything related to our life together. Thankfully, by this point, we had been living together for three years, so we had shared bills, bank statements, and all these things that are critical to proving that our marriage is legitimate. I will say that, even though we had these documents, most of the bills at the time had Vanessa’s name so I had to call, for example, PG&E, and ask for my name to be added to the statement.
Luís: We were very fortunate that our attorney walked us step-by-step through what to expect in this process, as in, where to show up, what's going to happen, what questions could come up. This helped a lot with my anxiety. Originally, we were hoping we wouldn't need to go to an interview, but in the end we had to. This was all happening around the time of the ICE raids in LA so it was stressful.
Vanessa: Right, and so you can imagine, both of our families were very wary of us going to an immigration interview. But our attorney assured us that there was no need to be fearful, that we were doing everything right and it was going to be okay. The in-person consultation in preparation for the interview was definitely very reassuring.
Luis: For me, it also helped that I had friends who had just gone through the process two weeks before me in the same office, so I got to hear about their experiences. Our attorney had told us that, due to the new administration, a couple questions might come up that could be a little confusing. Knowing that in advance was a huge help because when my friend was asked those questions in her own interview, she didn’t understand them and answered incorrectly. Thankfully, the person interviewing her very kindly offered to read the question again. They said, I actually didn't understand the question myself, so let me re-read it. And that's when my friend answered correctly.
Vanessa: Our attorney also helped demystify the interview process by reminding us that these officers are human. They're not trying to make your life harder than it already is, they're trying to do their job.
Luis: We had such an easy interview. It was scheduled for the afternoon, around 12:30. Our attorney had mentioned to us that the later you interview, the longer you're going to wait and that’s what happened. We waited about an hour and a half, which was a very long time. Once we were let in, our interviewer apologized for making us wait so long. She said, We respect your time, and we are sorry that we did this to you. Let's get started.
Vanessa: I think she asked maybe four questions: when we met, where we met, what the next big stage was after dating, and then questions about our wedding–and that’s it.
Luís: I think the only question I had to answer by myself, without Vanessa contributing, was about what Vanessa does for work, and where she works, which was easy for me to answer. I was relieved that there were no trick questions like: which side of the bed does your wife sleep on?
Vanessa: She didn't ask to see our documents at all. We’d submitted our latest bank statement, PG&E bill, internet bill, and 10 photos. She did look at the photos, but just briefly and she was very warm about them. She actually made a funny comment about how one of our friends looks like a cast member from the show Friends, and we were almost too nervous to laugh. But it all worked out and we got approved.
Luís: Honestly, the paperwork never ends. I’ve had to go to every bank, the IRS, and the Social Security Office to change my ITIN to my social security number. It’s not that difficult, just tedious, because I need to be on the phone with all these financial institutions and some don’t even know what an ITIN is and I have to explain it, which just confuses them. I need to transition every aspect of my life.
I’ve had a wide range of different emotions throughout this process. I think at first, I was a little resentful, just because I have put so much work into living as an undocumented person. It was a huge aspect of my life and I wasn’t sure how it was going to feel to not be undocumented anymore. But now I'm realizing that it was just one aspect of my identity. There are other parts of my life that don’t involve my status. I was so happy to be able to go back to Mexico to see family and friends whom I haven't seen in 13 years. We also have plans to travel together internationally this coming fall. So it’s both exciting and overwhelming. It’s just a really big transition.
Vanessa: It makes me emotional to talk about because it has brought so much peace to our lives in ways that I hadn’t really thought of before. And so even though it has come with more paperwork and conditions - like the fact that in two years we have to continue to prove that our marriage is legitimate, I think it’s still an immense privilege. Here I go, crying again. I just feel so grateful. Especially given the times that we're living in. It’s a blessing.
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