Greetings!! Gary here again.
In my last post I wrote about waiting nervously at the immigration window with your Russian fiancee in a U.S. airport. Today I have a TIP for you about which airport to bring her to. Actually this information applies not just to a Russian fiancee but for any foreign woman you want to bring to America for marriage.
The tip is this: Make sure that the FIRST place your intended bride touches American soil is at a city as close as possible to where you live. The reason for this is because where she lands first is where she will go through immigration processing. And from that airport, her immigration documents will be sent to the nearest USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) district office. So if you live on the west coast but land first in New York, her papers will be in New York and will need to be transferred to your area when you continue her immigration and naturalization processing.
This paperwork transfer can extend your processing time by months. In addition, you run the risk of the papers not being transferred correctly and that can cost you many more months. I personally know a man who’s wife’s papers were lost in the transfer process and it cost more than 9 months, some extra forms, and lots of frustration to get things corrected so she could get her permanent resident (green) card.
If you’re not sure where to land first, I suggest you talk with someone at the USCIS National Customer Service Center. The number is
1 (800) 375-5283. You can find out about them at
http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis Go to that site and put “national customer service center” in the search box. And bookmark the URL I’ve given here. You’ll need to go there often.
Wishing you success and happiness, Gary.
In my last post I wrote about waiting nervously at the immigration window with your Russian fiancee in a U.S. airport. Today I have a TIP for you about which airport to bring her to. Actually this information applies not just to a Russian fiancee but for any foreign woman you want to bring to America for marriage.
The tip is this: Make sure that the FIRST place your intended bride touches American soil is at a city as close as possible to where you live. The reason for this is because where she lands first is where she will go through immigration processing. And from that airport, her immigration documents will be sent to the nearest USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) district office. So if you live on the west coast but land first in New York, her papers will be in New York and will need to be transferred to your area when you continue her immigration and naturalization processing.
This paperwork transfer can extend your processing time by months. In addition, you run the risk of the papers not being transferred correctly and that can cost you many more months. I personally know a man who’s wife’s papers were lost in the transfer process and it cost more than 9 months, some extra forms, and lots of frustration to get things corrected so she could get her permanent resident (green) card.
If you’re not sure where to land first, I suggest you talk with someone at the USCIS National Customer Service Center. The number is
1 (800) 375-5283. You can find out about them at
http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis Go to that site and put “national customer service center” in the search box. And bookmark the URL I’ve given here. You’ll need to go there often.
Wishing you success and happiness, Gary.
