Stuart = Legal Resident!
You probably know that when it comes to Stuart and the US government, they don't always get along. Over the past 10 years he has run into several dilemmas dealing with the fact that he is not a US Citizen. About once a year there has been some kind of big issue. This year, however, is starting off great!! We have been going through the process of getting him a green card. After all the paper work was filed and proof of our legitimate marriage was collected we finally had our green card interview.
We were scheduled to be at the USCIS building in Atlanta yesterday at 9:30am and, believe it or not, we were out of there by 10:00! We had all of our papers, pictures, forms, letters, cards etc in order and put on our nicest smiles. Besides the fact that they didn't let me bring in my water bottle, and my shoes set off the metal detector, everything went smoothly and according to plan. The lady that interviewed us asked about 5 questions, thumbed through our file a few times, made copies of our licenses, and said we were approved. Stu and I kind of sat there for a minute in disbelief...that's it? SWEET!!! We collected all of our things that the lady didn't even bother looking at and walked out the door. It was as easy as that. Thanks in huge part to all of your prayers and support. We feel so relieved but we still have to wait 4-6 weeks to actually get the green card in the mail.
Once we have his card, Stuart will be free to travel in and out of the country and work wherever he wants. This is different from citizenship. That's a whole new process that we haven't looked into yet. Because he's not a US citizen (only a legal resident) he still has a South African passport and can't vote...or have jury duty (lucky duck). However, having a green card makes everything so much easier than it has been (since he's been on visas up until now) so we're not complaining! The other thing is that his green card is called a "conditional green card" since we've been married for less than two years. So it's not TOTALLY over. We'll have to go in again in two years, but for now all is well!
