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It's 2 hours before I head off to the airport for Manila. Quick business trip this time: 10 days. It's going to be an intense 10 days though.
Which is exactly why I'm writing a short blog entry now, because it's highly unlikely I'll get a chance to blog while I'm in Manila. Plus I'm hoping it'll help me relax a little. I always get a little tense when I'm traveling internationally--it's too far if I forget anything :-).
Latest news is that last week Steve and I sent out our application to INS to remove the conditions of my permanent residency. Translation: we need to prove to INS that we're still married so they can change my status from "conditional permanent resident" to "permanent resident."
When you get married in the US, they grant you "conditional permanent residency" to make sure you didn't get married for the green card. 90 days before the 2nd anniversary of you getting your green card, you're supposed to file an application with proof that you're still married. It's really important that this be done, or else when your permanent residency status expires, you're subject to deportation.
Some of the things they need are copies of: leases where you're both the signatories, joint bank accounts, birth certificates of any children born to the marriage, insurance policies where the spouse is the beneficiary, joint tax returns, and at least 2 affidavits from people who have known you at least since you got married saying that yup, you're still married.
I had to send all our stuff in a box--there was no way they'd all fit in an envelope :-).
The cost of the application? $545. Yeah, that'll put a dent in our budget for a while :-). And in 2009, when I apply for citizenship, it'll cost us $675--and that's if the price doesn't go up between now and 2009.
If you think that's bad, you should see how much it costs now to apply for permanent residency in the first place. When I applied for my green card two years ago it was $385. Now it costs $1010.
How long will the processing take, you ask? Well let's see. INS is backed up right now because they got FLOODED with applications when people found out they were raising the fees--they were trying to beat the price increase. Can't say I blame them :-). I would've done it myself, but the person I talked to on the phone said, "Don't send your papers out earlier than the 90 day window. If you do that they'll just send it back."
So right now, at my assigned service center, they're sending out "We got your stuff and will start processing them" receipts for applications they received September 19. That means it'll take weeks before I'm even told, "Yeah, we got your application."
And I'm one of the lucky ones. In other service centers, they've only gotten around to applications dated July or August.
The actual processing time takes about 6 months. If all goes well and they're satisfied with the proof, the application could be approved without need for a personal interview. I'll keep you updated :-).
Labels: Immigration, Travel
visits since January 11, 2005
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