You've made the big jump and gotten married - to an American, no less - and you're ready for the next step, you think. The process is long and complicated, whether you are married to an American citizen or not! Most people assume that once you're married to a citizen of the country where you want to work that they have an automatic right to live and work there as well. Unfortunately, the same rules apply to everyone when it comes to a getting that eponymous green card (which is now actually pink, I overheard on my last trip to the American Consulate. I wouldn't know, we haven't gotten that far yet.) The application process is the same whether you are going for an employment-based immigration (someone has a job for you) or a family-based immigration .You also have to pay the same amount of money for both - which adds up to quite a bit in the end.

When you send off for information about immigration, you receive a nice little 2 page info sheet which is supposed to clearly explain the whole process, complete with little cartoons and bad graphics. It is somewhat straightforward, but it really gives you no clue as to how complicated the process is. It sounds easy enough: Immmigration is a two step process.

The first thing you need is an immigrant petition. This establishes whether you should even attempt to apply. If there's no chance, they tell you. This part is done by the sponsor (the American) for his/her spouse. The sponsor needs to prove that she is a citizen or resident alien (my husband hates this term - it's like we're letting the Martians stay a while, but they'll never be real Americans). Then you need to prove that there is a legal relationship between you and you're alien relative. You can prove citizenship with any number of documents, but you only need one of them, e.g. birth certificate, passport, alien registration card, etc. You're relationship to the person to be sponsored can be proved with a marriage certificate. But, if you've been married before, you also need to have your divorce papers on hand.

There's also a biographical information form for both of you, I suppose so that they can check up on what you've written down and another biographical type form. You need to know your past addresses for the last five years, which can be difficult enough for some of us, especially those who have moved around a lot. We had to guess at some of my husband's addresses. Your past employment is also on the form.

Once you've gotten all of this together, you're halfway there. If you have the time and the money, or if you're in a hurry to get to the States, then it's best that you take all the paperwork and go to the consulate in Frankfurt. But, be sure to get there early. The place is overrun with military people and heaps of people trying to get visas for business or who knows what, so there are lines everywhere. Plus, if you make a mistake on some part of the form and write, for instance, "N/A" (not applicable) in a space where you should have written "none", then you get sent to the back of the queue. There's no changing your answer at the window. So, be prepared to wait and run back and forth, but it's worth the effort to do it there, because mail-in applications take 60 to 90 days, and if you make a mistake then, the whole thing gets sent back for correction! This part of the process costs $80, plus the cost of passport photos (2 of each person, the sponsor and the "alien"), never mind the cost of getting to Frankfurt in the first place, which as we all know can be up to DM 150 with the train.

We managed to get everything right after about three hours in the consulate. After going to the back of a line 3 times, the guy in front of me asked, "What did you do wrong, so I don't make the same mistake? You've been in this line a couple times already." NO KIDDING! Needless to say, he got it right on the first go after a warning about the N/A and none problem. We got stuck on the question: "List all of the communist parties and terrorist organizations you have belonged to in your lifetime." I wrote N/A. Bzzzz! Wrong answer. Go the back of the line. They are a bit picky about these things, so read carefully.

When everything was correct and handed in, we were handed information for the second part of the application, which is even more complex. I'll tell you about that in the next issue. Hopefully the article will be written from somewhere in Michigan, USA, with my husband and daughter there with me. Keep your fingers crossed!