How I Stole My Wife From Another Country

By Author: Theodore Olsen
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I titled this article, "How I Stole My Wife From Another Country," because sometimes people in some foreign countries, like the Philippines in my case, think you are literally "stealing" their women. It isn't like that, except in the movies, and certainly wasn't like that for Marina and me. It all worked out in the end, and I learned a lot-about people, governments, paperwork and how easily bad information on the Internet can threaten your love life and your sanity.

After a couple of business trips to Manila in the early 2000s, where I got to know my company's Pacific Region sales rep and his family, I knew I was falling in love with his niece, Marina. We spent a fortune on phone calls until I got a low-cost Internet phone deal set up for us, and then we spent less money but more time getting to know each other. On my annual trip there in 2008, I knew it was time to figure out how to bring Marina to the States to get married.

Since I thought I could handle the whole K-1 visa procedure on my own, I started studying up on the Internet. Even when I saw the U.S. government page for the Nonimmigrant Visa for a Fiancee, ...
... the application process just didn't seem very complicated, at least not at first. When I got to reading, though, things became less and less clear.

Numbers, forms and headaches

Even though various Web sites seemed to have all the "numbers" listed correctly-the I-129F, the I-134, the later I-864, and all the related paperwork-it got very confusing as to who was supposed to do what, and when, and even where. I finally figured out that I was the one who needed to file the I-129F, and do so with the Department of Homeland Security U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office for my area of the country. Only after reading two more entire Web sites did I understand that the DHS would forward that to the National Visa Center, then on to the embassy in Manila after Marina applied for her K-1.

On top of all that, I couldn't get it straight, with the various unprofessional ways these "helpful" articles were written, exactly what to send to Marina for her to present in Manila, what to submit directly and what should be delivered both ways. I swear I read the instructions several times but still ended up sending my I-134 (affidavit of support) to the wrong place. An original notarized copy was supposed to go to the USCIS, but on one Web site it was listed as something I needed to send to Marina to present in the Philippines. It wasn't like I knew any government bureaucrats personally that I could call up for help, either.

A happy ending, just slow

Eventually, with no help from the online "experts," my petition got approved, but it took almost four months when it didn't have to take that long at all. The problem is, so many things need to be done in the fiancee's resident country-all those "police certificate[s] from all places lived since age 16" plus a medical exam, two of Form DS-156, photos, "evidence" of our relationship and more-that it gets downright overwhelming just to keep track of everything. Of course, there is also the embassy interview, which can be very nerve-wracking, certainly. It's clear to me now that there are real experts out there who could do in mere weeks what it took me, a college-educated layperson learning from the Internet, months to accomplish.

If you want to take all this pressure on yourself, and deal with your possibly frightened and definitely impatient fiancee halfway around the globe, be my guest. You can find any number of so-called experts and visa consultants and Internet sites that will flood you with more government forms and bureaucratic to-do lists than you can shake a stick at. If, on the other hand, you are really serious about getting your future wife or husband to their new U.S. home, you might want to get hold of reputable counsel, real immigration attorneys that know the ins and outs of the process.

Right or wrong, the system "is what it is," and if you think you can enter into it just one time and make it all work like a Swiss watch for you and your future spouse, you should think again. To relieve you of the headaches, tears, extra waiting and separation from your loved one, the fees you will pay will seem like an absolute bargain. Steer clear of the Internet jungle on this one and get an expert's help. You and your happy new spouse will both be glad you did.
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DISCLAIMER: This article is not written by an immigration lawyer , is not intended as legal advice, and should not be construed by the reader as legal advice. If you seek E2 investor visa advice, or advice on any of the topics discussed herein, please consult with PowerVisa.com today.