I’ll tell it here the once. The story isn’t that much fun to repeat.
On our way back from a very full three weeks of Christmas in Charlotte, we overnighted in Seattle. The alarm didn’t go off (and refused to go off in subsequent testing until we rebooted the phone a couple times) and we missed our train. We really just needed to be home, and couldn’t afford another night in a hotel. Weighing the options we rented a car and headed for the border.
Long story short: We ended up back in Seattle for that second night we couldn’t afford at the hotel. Maigen flew back to Charlotte. I drove home.
Six months ago we began the process of application to make Maigen a permanent resident. We stopped that process when we began to consider moving elsewhere, possibly New York. Several thousands of dollars just aren’t that easy to come by. Because we told the border we intended to go through that legalization process, then apparently didn’t follow through, Maigen was bounced. One of those situations where the letter of the law far far outweighs the intent.
I’m in Vancouver. Maigen is in Charlotte. She either has to prove ties to the US sufficient to demonstrate that she is just a visitor to Canada and will return to the US on schedule, or she has to be accepted as a permanent resident of Canada. She has no ties to the States beyond her family.
She’ll be gone at least four months. Probably, she won’t be able to return to Canada for a year. We are moving as fast as we can through that process we dropped six months ago. I heard of a notary who specializes in immigration cases and may get in touch, but that’s $3500 over the course of the process. $3500. Is that a bargain for a mail order bride?
So I’ve been pretty glum. Very busy, working with the Barans on a Fuel project. Busy has been a very good thing. Not sure what sort of impression I made on Brock & Krista, barely holding the tears back. I was very tired.
Life will catch up in a few more days once the project is put to bed. Then I will unpack. Might trim the beard back. Will have to do laundry sooner or later. At least the cat is fed. He was very happy to see me. He very clearly misses Maigen. So do I.
Lessons learned. Moving on. I’m angry that though the law says you have to leave after 180 days, and you are permitted to return 24 hours later, you still have to prove ties to the US. Isn’t it enough that she has followed every other restriction? No job. No burden on the system. Just being with her husband. All this, when a foreign national can stay within the borders for three years illegally and apply for status by default, having proved that they can support themselves.
I’m a little less patriotic than I was a week ago.