Everything Changes

It's one thing to be a Military Wife.

It's another thing to be a foreign Military Wife.

As I start the paperwork for my change of status to immigrant, it dawns on me what a huge ordeal this is going to be. When Chris and I got engaged, and married, I guess it was always in the back of our minds that there'd be some paperwork. But the sheer volume of forms to fill out, affadavits, certificates, this that and the other, is simply overwhelming.

I'm seriously contemplating hiring an immigration lawyer, but I just got quoted $1400 just for a consultation on top of approximately $1300 worth of US Government fees. Those prices seriously hurt my head.

The paperwork and the cost of this was the last thing on our minds when Chris and I decided to get married. We were just so stoked and excited (and still are) about starting a life together that the logistics of it all just seemed to fall by the wayside for both of us.

I remember my friend Giovanna, from Brazil, who married her sweetheart that she met over here while in college, mentioning this that and the other about the process, but she never went into too much detail, and never made it sound like much of an ordeal. Actually we never spoke about it much, period. We worked together and our conversations were usually either work related, or pertaining to her and her husband remodeling the basement of their house, which she was very proud of. :) Immigration and visas? Maybe mentioned once or twice.

Thankfully though, Chris is being awesome about this entire thing. He's probably keeping a more level head about it than me! That's one thing I've always appreciated about him, he rarely ever gets stressed, or if he does he doesn't let it show, whereas I stress out far too much at times, and it definitely shows! When I bombarded him with text messages today saying I needed his last three W2s, his last three income tax returns, his birth certificate, passport sized photos, etc etc, when he comes to St. Louis, it was all perfectly fine. Even if I felt bad about the amount of hassle, he easily agrees to do whatever it takes. He's truly wonderful like that. I really am lucky :)

Anyways, I probably will choose to get a lawyer just to make it easier, and I'll contemplate the cost and how we're going to afford it later. At least I'll know everything is done correctly that way, then I can just focus on being a fantastic, wonderful, less-stressed, wife :) Sounds like a plan, huh?

xA