Our Green Card Experience

The longest and (by far) the most confusing and complicated portion of our immigration journey. For this reason we opted to use an online service to help. This is a happy middle ground between attempting to do it ourselves and using an attorney for the entire process. Doing it ourselves would have been the least costly in the short-term, but in the long-term you never really know. What if we screwed up, the applications got rejected, and we had to redo everything? This risk didn’t seem worth it to us. Using an attorney would have likely been the most costly - we never actually got a formal quote from an immigration attorney, but our research told us it would be thousands of dollars. This is where Boundless Immigration came into the picture. Before I continue, I’d note we are in no way affiliated with Boundless; we’re simply a customer.

Using Boundless was a relatively easy process. That’s not to say there weren’t bumps and frustrations along the way, but overall our experience was positive. We elected to use the premium service, which, in addition to the guided application process, provided us with access to an independent immigration attorney towards the end. We thought the extra cost was worth it. There will be an entire blog post related to our experience with Boundless in the future, so check Our Blog for that.

The Green Card process has many parts; we’re going to attempt to break it all down here:

The Forms and Applications -

When we applied I was taken back by the number of forms and applications. At the start, I assumed there would be 1, maybe 2 - there were 7.

I-130 - Petition for Alien Relative - this is the form filed by the U.S. citizen (petitioner) on behalf of their spouse (beneficiary). This filing also included I-130A - Supplemental Information for Spouse Beneficiary.

I-131 - Application for Travel Document - this is the form necessary to obtain authorization to travel outside (more specifically to return to) the United States while your application is pending.

I-485 - Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status - the big “main one”. This is the form to obtain your green card (permanent residence).

I-765 - Application for Employment Authorization - this is the form necessary to obtain work authorization while your application is pending.

I-864 - Affidavit of Support - this is a “legally enforceable contract that a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, or lawful permanent resident (LPR) signs to accept financial responsibility for an alien, usually a relative, who is coming to the United States to live permanently”. A more detailed explanation is available here. This completed form along with the associated evidence was the second biggest portion of our filing package - it was 159 pages long.

I-944 - Declaration of Self-Sufficiency - this form has since been discontinued by USCIS. It was required when we applied under the Public Charge rule, which was essentially made you have to prove that you would not become dependent on the U.S. government (the public) for financial support. Our completed application along with the associated evidence was, by far, the biggest portion of our filing package - it was 242 pages long. We’re not going to go into this any further since it is no longer applicable - be thankful for that.

Biometrics -

Biometrics is part of the process where USCIS collects the applicants fingerprints, photographs and signature to conduct background and security checks. There is more information in Our Blog.

Medical -

The green card process requires a medical exam performed by a government authorized doctor. The doctor completes Form I-693 - Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record. Once the doctor completes the exam and the I-693, they will seal it in an envelope and it cannot be opened. The seal envelope gets submitted with your application package.

The Documents and Evidence -

Each of the forms lists required the attachment of certain documents and evidence to support your application.

The following is an overview of documents we needed: birth certificates for both, passports for both, driver licenses for both , visas for Girl, social security cards for both , I-20s and education transcripts for Girl, and financial documents (banking and investment statements, tax returns and transcripts, credit reports, home deeds, mortgages, pay statements, and more) for both.

The applications and forms also require you to provide evidence of relationship (evidence your in a bona fide marriage). Different resources will provide different lists of what is good evidence. The following is an overview of what we used: joint bank statements, joint credit card statements, health insurance statements showing dual coverage, life insurance coverage, auto insurance coverage, joint cell phone bills, joint gym membership, jointly filed income tax returns, itineraries and booking details of trips taken together, education enrollment records showing we live together, driver licenses showing the same address, cards/gifts/messages from family and friends related to our wedding and other occasions, and an endless amount of photos during our time together (literally from when we met through when we filed the application, plus continued accumulation post-filing through our interview).

Truth be told - the whole process of proving ourselves was a bit surreal. Literally documenting and creating a record of life, for the sole purpose of proving you’re in a legitimate marriage.

We’re going to do a deep dive on the different evidence we used in future posts in Our Blog.

The Interview -

The interview is probably the most intimidating part of the whole process. For this reason, we decide to hire an immigration attorney to help us. In preparing for the interview, we both reviewed all applications and form multiple times; we knew them inside and out. The attorney also reviewed our completed filing package, answered questions for us, and told us things he thought may be questioned or asked about during the interview. Additionally, as noted above, we also continued to accumulate evidence of relationship post-filing through the interview date, which we brought to the interview with us.

Guy’s message to Girl pre-interview:

I believe the USCIS agent can tell almost immediately if the couple they are interviewing is in a legitimate marriage. We are in a 1000% legitimate and loving relationship and marriage. Given this, there is literally nothing to worry about. We didn’t lie about anything on the applications or forms and we aren’t lying about our marriage or why we’re seeking a green card. So if we don’t know the answer to something, just say so - don’t guess and don’t lie. Speak from the heart, and speak only the truth.

The interview itself was as you might expect. The USCIS isn’t there to make friends. They are blunt, terse, cold, and abrupt; they want facts, not BS. It lasted 20-30 minutes. We sat at the desk, our attorney sat behind us. The USCIS asked us questions, mostly about our relationship and life since we got married. At the end, as suspected, there was nothing to worry about - our case was approved on the spot. Relief.