My only sister is getting married July 9, in Seattle. Well, hopefully.
Her fianc? is from New Zealand (they met there when she was teaching for an abroad program) They have been together for 4 yrs, have lived in NZ, Vancouver and Charlotte, NC together. Shared banking, etc. So they have a huge paper trail of their love, so to speak.
To make a looong story short they had to hire an immigration lawyer (to the tune of $8k) to do everything required. The lawyer said worse case scenario it would take 6 months. Once you get the papers you need to get married within 90 days. So they gave it an extra 60 days to be on the safe side and booked the wedding. Seattle because it's a bit closer for New Zealanders to travel and more exciting than Ohio

So we are less than 3 months away from the wedding and NADA. It's been past 6 months and the first phase hasn't gone through yet. Once the first phase goes through, the second phase can take 1-3 months.
what is SO infuriating is you can run across e border, birth a baby in an American hospital and not pay for it.. And that child is immediately a citizen. How fvcked up is that? Yet my sisters fianc?, who is an aborist and could add to this economy, wants to pay taxes, buy a house, etc is getting screwed. I just don't understand.
Were all trying to stay positive and just assume everything will work out. Both my SIL and I are already pushing it on flying (she's due 1 week before me) I'm the MOH, she a BM (theres only 3 of us on her side BTW) so if they postpone it, we wont be able to go. I will be devastated.
I'm so frustrated and so upset for my sister. She is getting married at her dream location (Treehouse Point in Seattle.. It's an amazing Bed&Breakfast and has a bunch of tree houses to stay in... Google it, its elfin incredible!) and I would hate for her to lose it...
Thanks for letting me vent.
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Re: Possibly the most stressful wedding EVER...
This! If they have the ceremony and reception booked already can they just go through with it and work the legalities out at a different time?
I hope it gets straightened out soon. I'd be devastated too if I had to miss my siblings wedding b/c of some BS bureaucracy.
Their cut off date is June 18... Then they cancel and wait for paperwork and reschedule. Its just their dream location and booked through the summer..
Interesting... H's cousin husband is from Ireland. He was here on an expired student visa. He never went back to Ireland. It seems like those who play by the rules get screwed while those who break all the rules get it easy.
I can understand them (the govt) not wanting a quicky wedding, but to not allow the fiance to be in the state?! How are you supposed to be a in "real" relationship when your other half is sequestered in another country? I know long distance relationship exists (IE Klassy) but sheesh!
i can empathize wiht your situation...one of my best friends married a guy from australia that she met while traveling abroad in Europe. I remember her wedding was VERY up in the air for a long time and she ended up getting married just a few weeks after me in Denver (close to aus) and i couldnt go. although, i don't remember it being as hard for him to get his fiance visa...i know it took a while, but maybe thye just waited to plan anything until he had it. i dont know. they didn't have the history that your sister has though...they were together less than a year.