First Anniversary and Immigration Update
We were celebrating our first anniversary few days ago. It's been a hard journey for both of us because we are living apart between US and Indonesia and are in the middle of the immigration process. We can not wait for this process to be over so we can be together again soon and share our adventures on our blog with people who share the same passion with us.
We were married on October 25th, 2015 in Ayu's hometown of Cirebon, Indonesia. It was, of course, a very memorable day for the both of us. It was filled with celebration, food, pictures, and plenty of attendees. Surrounded by all of the noise and excitement, we both knew the adventure and the challenges that would await us; though, we just didn't know how challenging they would turn out to be.
When Joe came back to the United States, it was then a matter of putting together the first of many fees to our immigration lawyer to get the process started. That didn't start until December 18th, 2015.
Since then, we had dealt with spending an absurd amount of money, sending in countless forms, having to send in extra evidence that our marriage is indeed valid. After we convinced the USCIS that we are in fact, truthful in our intentions for marriage, we then had to submit even more money and more documentation to the National Visa Center.
Now we are waiting for a response from them. However, through impatience, Joe made a call to the NVC on October 24th, 2016. After a surprisingly short hold time of forty-five minutes (I know what you're thinking, but this is the NVC, average hold times can take up to two hours), he spoke with an agent named Katie who informed us that they have received everything on September 25th, 2016 and that we will receive a response two weeks from now.
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When Joe came back to the United States, it was then a matter of putting together the first of many fees to our immigration lawyer to get the process started. That didn't start until December 18th, 2015.
Since then, we had dealt with spending an absurd amount of money, sending in countless forms, having to send in extra evidence that our marriage is indeed valid. After we convinced the USCIS that we are in fact, truthful in our intentions for marriage, we then had to submit even more money and more documentation to the National Visa Center.
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| The journey |
Now we are waiting for a response from them. However, through impatience, Joe made a call to the NVC on October 24th, 2016. After a surprisingly short hold time of forty-five minutes (I know what you're thinking, but this is the NVC, average hold times can take up to two hours), he spoke with an agent named Katie who informed us that they have received everything on September 25th, 2016 and that we will receive a response two weeks from now.
Never had we known what to expect when we decided to try for the immigration process. We both agree that it was for the best we were somewhat naive about how much heartache and stress this process truly is. In the midst of all of this, we still somehow found the time and the money to see each other back in May and do what we love best, what brought us together in the first place, travel.
We're hopeful a resolution is on the horizon and when that happens, when Ayu is able to come to the US, we will be able to pick up where we left off and continue our adventure and share our experiences with all of you.
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| A gift to celebrate our paper anniversary |
We're hopeful a resolution is on the horizon and when that happens, when Ayu is able to come to the US, we will be able to pick up where we left off and continue our adventure and share our experiences with all of you.
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