When Leo and I met in 2007, we had no idea the up-hill battle that was waiting for us in regards to immigration.
As a US citizen, I didn’t realize how much I took traveling to other countries for granted.
By the time I went to live in Colombia as a 28 year-old, I had already been to over 15 countries: Haiti, Hungary and Austria when I was in high-school, Greece, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Russia and Puerto Rico (although its part of the US, it seemed like a different country!) in college… and then Russia again, Australia, Mexico, El Salvador, the Philippines, Kenya, Tanzania and India in the years between college and leaving for Colombia.
My family valued traveling and knowing other cultures, and I thought that everyone in the world would have those opportunities.
I was wrong.
The first petition: Summer 2008
Leo first applied for his tourist visa the summer after we met. We were hoping that he could just come the the US with me to meet my parents and family and get to know a little more about where I came from. It was such a fun idea!
The fee for the visa application was $225, which, when minimum wage back then was the equivalent of $150/month, was a chunk of money.
He waited in a long line that wrapped around the outside of the embassy for about 5 hours, only to be denied. They said that he didn’t have enough ties to Colombia to ensure that he wouldn’t out-stay his visa and become illegal. He didn’t own a home, a car, have a job at a lucrative company, have enough money in the bank, etc.
So, I stayed in Colombia for the summer as well, and we had a blast! We even travelled to the coast to help lead worship for a conference together, and I was even more convinced that this was the man for me!
The second petition: Winter 2008
He applied at Christmastime again for a different type of tourist visa, where our church would sponsor him to come. We had to get letters from 5 different Pastors, all explaining that they were asking him to come to speak for specific dates about the work we were doing in Colombia.
The same $225, the same long wait in a line that wrapped around the Embassy, the same answer: no.
We were crushed.
At this point, we knew we wanted to get married, and he was looking forward to asking my father for my hand in marriage in person (he wasn’t so good on the phone).
I went to the US for Christmas with a promise ring on my finger, and had a long conversation with my parents about how to move forward with what we felt like God was calling us to: marriage.
Even though they hadn’t met Leo, he sent a gift of a Bible to me and a letter to my parents. I decided to go ahead and buy my wedding dress and take it back with me to Colombia after Christmas.
We were going to try again for a tourist visa for Spring Break, but my parents said it would be better to just save our money and try for the tourist visa after we were married.
Here’s the deal:
In Colombia, there are only 2 types of marriages that are recognized by the State: a courthouse wedding, or a Catholic wedding. ALL of the Protestants who want to marry in their churches need to FIRST get married “legally”, and then have their church ceremony.
There are NO Pastors who will marry you in a church unless you are already legally married. And, we couldn’t file for a Fiancé visa if we were legally married in Colombia.
So, we took our chances and got legally married almost 2 months before our official wedding. We were not only planning the wedding in Colombia but also a wedding a month later in the US.
Yes, that is 3 weddings total… lol!
The third petition: April 2009
We got everything together and applied for a tourist visa. The same $225, for again the same answer: no.
We were outraged and so sad at the same time. When Leo presented himself the 3rd time in a year, the Consule said “it just looks like you are doing anything in your power to get the the US. If your marriage is real, you need to wait 2 years before even trying to apply again”.
What we didn’t realize is that there is an entire industry of US Citizens getting paid thousands of dollars to marry internationals for the sole purpose of coming to the US. I also heard stories when I lived in Kenya of US citizens falling in love with locals, only to bring them to the US and find out it was all a trick, and that the local only ever wanted to get to the US.
We were advised by other friends at the Embassy to wait 2 years and then apply for a resident visa… that it was extremely rare for the Embassy to grant tourist visas to married couples.
So, we cancelled the wedding in the US, and for reasons completely out of our control, none of my family could come to our Colombian wedding, and they still hadn’t met Leo.
My parents were able to travel to Colombia 6 months after we were married, and we had an incredible time together!
The fourth petition: Summer 2010
A year after we were married, we decided to give the resident visa a try. We knew it was a long process, and we figured that by the time all the steps were accomplished, it would probably be 2 years.
There were 3 basic steps:
1) filling out and paying for the I-130. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/family-immigration/immigrant-visa-for-a-spouse-or-fiance-of-a-us-citizen.html
You had to, again, pay to even start the process. $535 for just turning in the I-130, then an additional $325 filing fee.
2) After his form was received, he was given a case number and a date to appear at the embassy. He received a list of things he had to compile and bring with him:
Medical records (for which, he had to go to one of the US-approved doctors for a complete physical exam, full x-rays and blood work. That cost $100 ( I know… cheap compared to the US, but expensive in pesos!)
Paperwork from our sponsor
Civil documents: police reports (or paper stating that he has no record), birth certificate, marriage certificate, Colombian passport
Passport pictures
He appeared at the Embassy with all of the documentation, and they asked him a few clarifying questions.
3) They gave him another date with another list of items to provide to verify our marriage.
Anyone who has ever married a non-citizen has “The Book”. Some are more organized than others, but ALL contain:
-Pictures together. We chose pictures where also had different hairstyles to show the progression of time of our 3 years together
-proof of joint bills (which was really hard for us, because there was only 1 bill in our name… all the rest were in our landlord’s name)
-proof of residency (we had to get a letter from the school where I worked who had a contract with the landlord, stating that we had been living together and paying rent since we were married in May of 2009)
-proof of marriage (we had to compile letters from friends and family who had known us from dating to marriage to verify that we were indeed a couple. The Embassy asks for 2-3 letters, and we had over 20)
-proof of joint bank accounts (which was super tricky because Colombian banks didn’t allow for joint accounts then… we had to open one at a bank with ties to the US, and even then, we barely had enough money for the minimum amount to open the account)
We also chose to include our ministry letters from when we were dating to the current time, sharing with our supporters about the work we were doing together in Colombia.
We arrived for our joint interview at 7am. It was a beautifully sunny day, and we were told to sit in a nice patio area with benches and a clear roof, in front of some darkened windows. There was a coffee and bread station nearby where you could spend $5 on bread that cost $.50 out on the street.
There were 3 other couples also sitting nervously with their “books” in hand, waiting.
I honestly think that we were being watched for the entire 6 hours we were made to wait.
I had brought a book, and we passed the time talking, eating expensive bread and trying to be patient.
One window slid open, and a man called out a number. Then another. Two couples were called up. It was obvious what was going on. One was given their visa, and the other was denied.
We looked at each other and knew that this was it. Either way, this was the day we would know, for sure, whether we would be able to go to the US together.
Our numbers were called, and we stepped up to the window.
We handed over our book.
The man leafed through it, and stopped on one of our support letters. He asked about the kind of work we do, and shared that his parents had been missionaries in Thailand.
I honestly can’t remember all the specifics, besides the fact that he spoke to us together and separately, and then gave Leo his passport, saying that his visa was approved. We had 6 months to get to the US for the next steps of the process.
We waited in another line for about an hour for them to put the official visa in his passport, and walked away from the Embassy crying… but this time, happy tears!
colombiatotheworld 