Do you have American friends that.......
Feb 20th 2008, 3:18 am
#16
Concierge
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 46,469
Re: Do you have American friends that.......
It is a very common misconception here that marriage to a USC pretty much automatically lets you live here/become a USC.
If fact, I've never met anyone who hasn't tangled with immigration themself, who didn't think that.
In fairness. I think some years ago, it was almost automatic - much more difficult these days.
If fact, I've never met anyone who hasn't tangled with immigration themself, who didn't think that.
In fairness. I think some years ago, it was almost automatic - much more difficult these days.
Well I can tell you that when my mother married my dad in 1948 it was not automatic. She still have to be interviewed at the US Consulate in Germany and became a PR when she entered and wait to be eligible for naturalization.
Feb 20th 2008, 3:19 am
#17
Concierge
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 46,469
Re: Do you have American friends that.......
And do these Brits think that if it were the opposite that the USC emigrating to the UK to live with their spouse doesn't have to go through UK immigration?
Feb 20th 2008, 3:50 am
#18
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Jan 2007
Location: NW Chicago suburbs
Posts: 11,253
Re: Do you have American friends that.......
I didn't mean to imply there was no interview or anything. I just meant that I was told it used to be easier - and one was generally approved. Apparently (so I've been told) things tightened up in recent years, especially after 9/11.
Feb 20th 2008, 3:54 am
#19
Homebody
Joined: Jan 2005
Location: HOME
Posts: 23,182
Re: Do you have American friends that.......
And they get full-service benefits and a council house as a matter of course.
<<<sigh>>>
Feb 20th 2008, 3:56 am
#20
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jan 2008
Location: Lake County IL
Posts: 1,953
Re: Do you have American friends that.......
Bloody immigrants!
Feb 20th 2008, 4:51 am
#21
I'm off to find a spanner
Thread Starter
Joined: Feb 2008
Location: Maine
Posts: 2,867
Re: Do you have American friends that.......
As for friendship with someone that doesn't know about US immigration processing, why would their NOT knowing the process involved exclude them from being a friend. So I have knowledge about one field while they might have knowledge about another. We can learn from each other.
Feb 20th 2008, 5:59 am
#23
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jan 2008
Location: Lake County IL
Posts: 1,953
Re: Do you have American friends that.......
I believe the same mistake is common with the whole anchor baby issue.
Feb 20th 2008, 6:07 am
#24
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 41,518
Re: Do you have American friends that.......
Feb 20th 2008, 6:20 am
#25
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 4,820
Re: Do you have American friends that.......
assume if you moved here to marry a USC or ended marrying one after coming to the US for other reasons that you are an automatic USC?
Sorry if this question has been asked many times before but I am new and I was just wondering because it happens to me all the time. I then have to explain the whole process to them so they can see at the moment I am still British (I'll have dual if I ever get my lazy rear in gear). Thank you all for you patience with a newb lol.
Sorry if this question has been asked many times before but I am new and I was just wondering because it happens to me all the time. I then have to explain the whole process to them so they can see at the moment I am still British (I'll have dual if I ever get my lazy rear in gear). Thank you all for you patience with a newb lol.
I had lots of American friends in this area years before I met Kate ....
Sadly one of the best friends I ever had moved from here to Arizona so I don't see him that much
Feb 20th 2008, 6:28 am
#27
Sursum corda
Joined: Sep 2002
Location: Richmond Hill, GA USA
Posts: 38,860
Feb 20th 2008, 6:32 am
#28
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 2,033
Re: Do you have American friends that.......
Everyone assumes that I was just allowed to move here and stay as well, and they're wondering why I'm not voting in November (even though I have explained it about fifty times). The more direct family knows better since they saw us go through the process (which they thought was horrid - it was an 80 day DCF fer cryin' out loud!
).
Feb 20th 2008, 7:08 am
#29
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2007
Location: Pennsylvania
Posts: 535
Re: Do you have American friends that.......
I think that mis-information about immigration is just as widespread here as it is in the UK. I wonder if any of you have the same thing as I do with my husband's family, which is that they have no problem ranting on about the 'bloody immigrants', when they have a bunch of British emigrants in their own family!
Feb 20th 2008, 12:57 pm
#30
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Aug 2007
Location: Maine
Posts: 2,043
Re: Do you have American friends that.......
Of course. It's hardly unusual that native-born citizens don't know the ins and outs of their country's immigration laws. Most of my wife's friends assumed I magically became a US citizen immediately upon marriage. With all the talk of illegal immigration and work permits, though, it was a bit surprising to discover that quite a few Americans assume that Canadians can simply move to the US, take up residence, get a job, etc, with no interaction with the immigration system.
