A legitimate marriage

[Amélie Unbound]

As many of you know, my British husband is going through the process of getting his permanent residency here in Canada, so that he can live and work here permanently and without restrictions. It has taken quite a while, but we're finally at the final stage. And it's at this stage where they want to meet us in person. We have an appointment later this week.

Presumably, since I'm sponsoring him, they will want to make sure that our marriage is legitimate. Of course, our marriage is legitimate, but I'm nervous about the interview nonetheless. I don't do well in interviews of any kind. When I'm being questioned, I tend to stammer and to word things all wrong. Not only that, but even after 2 1/2 years of marriage, there are still things I'm finding out about my husband. (I mentioned that to my mom, and she said that after 36 years of marriage to my dad, there are still things she's finding out about him too!) What if they ask me questions I can't answer?

I'm not even sure what to expect. My only point of reference is American movies I've seen about people trying to get their "green card". But I don't know if it will be like it is in the movies. I don't know if they'll ask me questions about what kind of toothpaste he uses.

So anyway, would you all pray that everything goes well for us? And if anyone has any experience with this kind of thing, please share.

 

[alwaysyoung]

I don't have any advice but I can understand how this could be a stressful situation. I pray that God will give your heart peace and give you wisdom in your words. God is faithful to be right by your side during the interview. Let His strength rest in you. I am sure all will go well and it will be over soon! *hugs*
Lisa

 

[felinity]

Don't worry! My husband is Canadian and going through the green card (permanent residency) process here in the U.S. For the interview here, people recommend that you take: pictures of you together and/or with family (like wedding photos), account records in both of your names, letters addressed to both of you, and so forth.

The interviewing officers are trained to tell if a couple is really attuned to one another, if they finish one another's sentences, if they seem at ease with one another. Don't worry -- you'll be fine. Just try to be yourself.

 

[Amélie Unbound]

Thank you both for the support and encouragement.

 

[felinity]

You're welcome.

By the way, I've been using forums about American marriage-based visas as an invaluable resource during this process. Do a google search for whatever the name is of the form you filed, and you can probably find something similar for Canadian immigration. For whatever reason, I think http://britishexpats.com/ has good information on Canadian immigration, as well. If you can find a good board, you're likely to find first-hand accounts of what the interviews are like.

Now don't worry, I'm sticking to my previous opinion that everything is going to be fine and you have nothing to worry about, but if you want to prepare a bit in advance for what the interview is going to be like, you might check out the forums.

Let us know how it goes!

P.S. I'm hoping to start that process in Canada at some point in the future - probably after my husband gets U.S. citizenship.

 

[gracepaints]

American movies exaggerate (what a suprise!). I'm sure you will be fine. My father's wife passed her green card review when she could still barely speak English and (I think) the two of them weren't really getting along that well. I think there are tell-tale immmigration fraud signs that they look for and I don't think they are ones you can just stumble into. You'll be fine.

 

[faith177]

It was nothing like we expected we brought a huge file of stuff, pics, letters ect.... and they didnt even look at any of it. Although I would still recomend to bring any you have just in case. Dont worry its pretty easy

 

[fuzzymel]

Dont worry about being nervous. Most couples they encounter are probably nervous especially for an interview as important as that. Nerves are probably the least thing they are looking for.

 

[Amélie Unbound]

It was nothing like we expected we brought a huge file of stuff, pics, letters ect.... and they didnt even look at any of it. Although I would still recomend to bring any you have just in case. Dont worry its pretty easy

What kinds of questions did they ask you?

 

[Cordy]

Orchard, it seems like you have a nice and close relationship with your husband. I think you seriously have nothing to worry about. Just be you, and go in with a prayer for confidence. Things will be just fine.

 

[Glorianna]

I recently had my green card / conditional permanent resident interview here in the USA. Like you, DH and I were very nervous. We prepared thoroughly and took everything that we could find that would support our marriage. The interviewer was really sweet. He joked with us and didn't really ask us questions. He just asked us to verify some of the information he had such as address, etc. and he took some (definitely not even half of what we had).

My advice? Don't be nervous but do prepare yourselves thorughly. Your interviewer may be stricter than ours was so it's best to be over prepared than under prepared.

Although this is a site for American immigration, you may find some of the topics discussed on visajourney.com helpful. It's definitely been helpful for DH and I!

 

[Rebekka]

I'm sure all will be fine, and I'll pray that you won't be too nervous.

 

[felinity]

I love visajourney.com. It's been invaluable as we've gone through this process.

...But I'll be so glad when my husband gets his permanent residency
and we'll be done with immigration for a while.

 

[Amélie Unbound]

Thank you to everyone who's responded. The encouragement and information means a lot to me.

The appointment is later today. I don't feel very nervous, praise God. I'll let you know how it goes.

I'm actually not sure if we need to bring photos and things like that, since they had us send them all that kind of stuff months ago. We had to send in photos of our wedding, and photos of dates we went on before we were married (not that we had a lot of pictures of us on dates, because we didn't usually have people taking our picture when we were out together, but we did have one picture of the two of us at the zoo), and we were asked to provide any other information that would show that our marriage is real. So I think that's already taken care of. But I'll bring stuff anyway, just in case.

Thanks again, everyone.

 

[RunnerGirl]

You've probably had your appointment already -- I'm sure it went just fine! I do remember that anxiety when my husband and I had to go in for his green card. A few "how'd you meet?" and "when's her birthday?" type of questions, but it wasn't bad at all. Hollywood definitely exaggerates.

Hope all went well!

 

[Amélie Unbound]

Well, my husband is now a Canadian permanent resident! Yay!!

The hardest part about the whole thing was finding a place to park.

It was really very straightforward. The woman didn't ask us any questions at all about our marriage. She just wanted to see my husband's passport and our marriage certificate. She asked him a few questions about his job. She asked us to confirm that our address was correct and that our names were spelled correctly on the document she got my husband to sign. And that was pretty much it.

So there was nothing to be nervous about at all.

I don't think it's always that simple though. While we were in the waiting area, we could hear some guy being interrogated behind one of the closed doors. It didn't sound like it was going well for him!

 

[~Nikki~]

 

[Cordy]

Well, my husband is now a Canadian permanent resident! Yay!!

The hardest part about the whole thing was finding a place to park.

It was really very straightforward. The woman didn't ask us any questions at all about our marriage. She just wanted to see my husband's passport and our marriage certificate. She asked him a few questions about his job. She asked us to confirm that our address was correct and that our names were spelled correctly on the document she got my husband to sign. And that was pretty much it.

So there was nothing to be nervous about at all.

I don't think it's always that simple though. While we were in the waiting area, we could hear some guy being interrogated behind one of the closed doors. It didn't sound like it was going well for him!

Yay!!!

 

[Rebekka]

Hurray!!!!

 

[felinity]

Wonderful news! Congratulations.

If anyone has a moment, my husband and I could use a quick prayer that his permanent residency process go smoothly (and quickly) from here on out. We've been waiting a long time, but we may be at a resolution point soon.