The Date Is Set.... What's the Process?

As many know, in order to get married to someone from Mexico, you need to fill out paperwork to apply for a Fiance visa.  The best way we found to complete the paperwork was to hire a Lawyer that specializes in Immigration.  We had heard countless stories of people who had their visas returned and they had done it themselves.  So, we decided we would do it right the first time and hope for the best.  I went visa shopping and the best service I could find was Easy Fiance Visa in California.  The process costs about $1300 to pay the visa fees and lawyer fees.  It was the best bargain around.  We started gathering information for the visa: Where we attended school, where we have lived, and our visits.  I had to laugh when we got to the part where it asked about how we knew each other and prove our visits, because we had to have 5 color photos of us together and we took exactly 5 pictures!  I had lived in Mexico almost a year and so I had a Mexican visa in my passport which we felt was great as well.

We had such an interesting time trying to fill out the paperwork with understanding what it was asking and making sure we filled it out the most we could.  We had to upload birth certificates, passport photos, and photos together.  For this reason, I was very grateful that my mom gave me "that look" and I took pictures that time in Mexico.  What happens during the visa process is confusing and it takes a long time but it is worth the wait.  After filling out the paperwork in about 2 weeks, we finally submitted it along with the story of how we met.  The lawyer reviewed the paperwork then it was sent off to USCIS or Immigration.  This is where the real journey begins!  The estimated completion time is 2-5 months.  It is so important that everything was completed correctly so that it doesn't take any longer than necessary.

After you are approved by Immigration, the papers are sent to Homeland Security to do background checks and both of us and that takes 2-4 weeks.  If we are approved by then, the paperwork is sent back to the lawyer from what I understand, and then the appointment is made with the United States Embassy in Mexico which is located over the border south of Texas.  This appointment can take up to 2 months to make.  Before you go the appointment you have to have a medical exam done by affiliated doctors and complete an interview.  If you pass the medical exam and interview then within the 24 hour period they give you the visa.  From that point on, we have 6 months of time for Viole to come to the United States.  Within those 6 months, after she passes the border, we have 90 days to get married.  After the wedding we then have to pay another lawyer fee and start the process for the Green Card and Permanent Legal Residency, which is another 4-6 months.  Then we wait for citizenship 3 years later.

We are so excited to announce that we have chosen the 27th of March, 2013, to be married in Salt Lake City, Utah, in the Salt Lake City Temple.  A temple is a house of worship, a place where we know we can receive the blessing of being married for not just time, but for all of eternity.  This blessing isn't until death, but an eternal or never ending marriage as long as we stay true and faithful to God's commandments.  What happens in a temple marriage or anything inside of a temple is not a secret, however it is sacred.  The word sacred means special or holy, and for this reason we do not mention it.  We dress in white to symbolize purity, this is how we want to return with our families in the presence of our Lord and God.  We are excited to participate in such an event and are working to stay on God's path.  The date is set and now we are just waiting to hear back about the visa, hoping that our fairy tale will come true.

We don't know if this will be how our story starts, but we know how it will end.  We might not know when, but we do know where.  The important part of this story is the God's will is everything.  We can make plans for our lives, but God's ways are always higher than ours, meaning- God has a plan for our lives and it is for our good.  If it means that I have to move to Mexico to be with my eternal bride, I would do it in a heartbeat.  But we are crossing our fingers, praying, and hoping that everything turns out the way that we have planned.  Please hope and pray with us.  The story is just beginning, the fairy tale is not over......