Immigration

Many people think that once you are married to a US citizen you can work and do anything your heart desires in the States. I so wish that was the case. Here is a little info about how the process goes and maybe you can see my frustration. So you get married. You're happy and excited for this new adventure and excited to get a job and both be working till you have kids. But for all that to happen you need to apply for a work permit and fill out about 10 other forms for immigration. You can do that on your own or hire a lawyer but there is a catch...if you do it on your own you find that not all the information needed is found online and therefore you will have your case on hold for some time waiting for you to get all the other papers that you could have sent in the very beginning if you only knew. So after filling out all the papers and getting all the info that was online, we decided to go and just visit with a lawyer to make sure we have all we needed. Well, to our surprise, there were a number of things that were no where on the papers. So after all that work we decided to go with the lawyer since we obviously had no idea what we were doing. So he did all the paper work and made sure it was all correct and sent it in. But since we were married in Utah and now reside in Florida, we have to show even more paperwork. So immigration still put or case on hold while we got a Certified Copy of our Marriage Certificate, which the State of Utah only sends out upon request. So we finally got everything done and then we were told it will be at least 2 months before we will get the work permit. Mind you that I could not change my name for the longest time because no one would accept the Marriage License for some odd reason. They all needed proof that I was going through the Immigration case before they would let me do that. So now, after having been married for almost 8 months I finally have everything but the Passport in my married name but still no work permit. So now I have a company wanting to hire me and I have to say "Please Wait!" for who knows how much longer before I get that permit. Oh and on top of that, I can't even leave the country because if I even so much as go to Mexico or Canada it's considered that I am abandoning the Immigration case and would have to go to Romania while Scott stayed here and go through the process that way. So, anyone else think this is frustrating? It's no wonder people end up working illegal and bending the law when, if Scott didn't have a good enough job, we would be in very big trouble! So there you have it...my frustration with the Immigration system. But don't worry, I will not work illegal. I'm just frustrated!