This past week I had to do something very difficult. My wife and I began the process of obtaining a visa so she could immigrate to the land of Big Macs, Starbucks, and Oprah.
For those of you who have never immigrated or brought anyone to America following the letter of the law, have no idea how much work it is.
The first step involved me filling out a bunch of papers that had the same information again and again. Time consuming? Yes. Overly difficult? Aside from attempting to write out akwardly arranged Korean address in an American format (and Roman letters) no, it wasn’t difficult at all.
The next stemp was the tricky one. I had to schedule an appointment to hand in my reams of paper (which in my understanding were only kind of a pre-application). Now the only way one can schedule such an appointment is to send them an email…send an email to an email address ending in dhs.gov (dhs = Department of Homeland Security). This is the US government, not Real Player or some random message board, so I therefore had to use the real email address. Sorry Mr. Harder, no aliases this time.
Additionally I think that I tend to be a tad sarcastic when I sit down and start typing, which is definately not something I wanted to be when dealing with my good friends at DHS. So, I seriously sat and stared at my monitor for like ten minutes before I was able to to write:
Dear Madam or Sir,
I am an American citizen married to a Korean national. I would to like to schedule an appointment in order to file form I-130 and begin the visa process for my wife. If it is possible, I would like to schedule this appointment sometime next week. I thank you for your time.
-Wyatt Dunn
Nothing rude. Nothing that might be taken as a threat. No water. Just a totally boring email.
The next day there was a response in my mailbox informing me that my appointment had been scheduled at the US Embassy for Monday, August 14th at 9:30 am. Talk about prompt…and accomodating.
So on the morning of the 14th, Jinhui and I trekked to the embassy in Seoul. God I hate riding the red (in reality orange) bus at rush hour! But for the wife, I’m willing to suffer through it. And in reality, the bus ride was the most difficult part of the day. We arrived a little after 9:00, and after a short wait, our papers were being processed.
But before that, I just want to holler about how miserable a lot of Americans look and act. Most of the Koreans there just looked nervous, but the majority of the Americans accompanying them looked so pissed off. Yes, beaucracy is a pain in the ass, but pouting and / or yelling at your wife isn’t going to make it easier. And also to the dude that got pissed off for getting to the counter and not having the right papers filled out: don’t get pissed off at other people and start swearing and making a scene…next time read the damn instructions they give you when you schedule an appointment, or read them online.
Anyhow, aside from having a family registry deemed too old (a problem solved with a quick trip to the district office…and a PC Bang so a translation could be typed up) out first step towards leaving Korea seems to have been successful. The people took all our paperwork, and our money and told us that they would email Jinhui with further instructions in 4 to 6 weeks. Hooray!!!
Is it horrendously expensive to obtain said visa? The thing I remember about getting a British visa for my wife was the obscenely high price they charged for what was a ten minute chat……
Comment by daeguowl — August 22, 2006 @ 6:25 am
congrats on getting your paperwork for your wife to come to the states so quickly.
it sounded like a pain, but…….it sounds like about 1/14386th of a pain compared to my korean/american citizen cousin who did the same thing to get his korean national (then) fiancee out of korea. unfortunately he had to do it all from the states. hopefully you will all be here soon.
Comment by james — August 22, 2006 @ 7:23 am
Daeguowl,
I had to fork over 190,000 won for the priviledge of handing them like 10 - 20 sheets of paper…and there are more fees to come. Though if the stuff I’ve read is correct, getting a British visa is far more costly than getting an American one.
James,
In America I had a co-worker attempt to bring his parents to the US and that seemed like a much larger pain than this.
Comment by Wyatt — August 22, 2006 @ 8:28 am
Hi Wyatt,
Just wanted to say “good luck!” with all that.
Comment by Nathan B. — August 23, 2006 @ 7:52 am
Good luck, Wyatt, though it doesn’t sound like you’re out of the woods yet. I’ve gone through the Canadian equivalent of the same process, and—contrary to popular belief—it’s no walk in the park, either! All the same, hopefully the two of you will be able to sit down and enjoy Oprah together soon!
Comment by sewing — August 25, 2006 @ 2:38 am
PS: I empathize with you that the process is intimidating, even though one and one’s loved one are completely legit. I used to have to work up a nerve just to get on the phone with someone in the Immigration call centre!
Comment by sewing — August 25, 2006 @ 2:42 am
Sewing,
I know when I was applying for my own spouse visa here in Korea, the immigration officals made me feel like a criminal even though I had done nothing wrong, and was well aware of that fact.
Comment by Wyatt — August 25, 2006 @ 9:30 am