Job Discussion Forums

Justin Trullinger · Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 4:21 pm Post subject:

Erm, congrats, dmb.

If congrats are in order, which I'm not sure of, since marriage per se doesn't seem to excite you.

Be sure to invite all your friends, family, and everyone else you can think of, in the hope that you'll get enough presents to offset the expense of the day.

(Another advantage of marriage that I've heard of is presents! It doesn't matter HOW LONG you live together- you never get any presents for it. But even the most disastrous weddings have a lot of presents.)

Best,
Justin

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

Thanks Justin. This is Turkey. no presents.... just cash

Justin Trullinger · Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 7:48 pm Post subject:

But that's just what I wanted!

MikeySaid · Joined: 10 Nov 2004 Posts: 509 Location: Torreon, Mexico

waaiiit... so if my mexican girlfriend and I got hitched... we would have to live in the states to establish her residency there for a given amount of time?

what we'd like to do is work/live together in asia or another such place doing NGO/NPO work....

pipe dream?

MELEE · Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 10:49 pm Post subject:

MikeySaid · Joined: 10 Nov 2004 Posts: 509 Location: Torreon, Mexico

Fair skin, dark hair, dark eyes.

Looks andalusian. If there's a drop of indian blood in her you wouldn't know it.

But she's still from Mexico. I know she could work here...with papers. Heck, she already had one job lined up but the VISA thing got in the way. Working there isn't a problem for me as I understand it. The question is whether or not we could both go and work abroad together, unmarried, or married.

Justin Trullinger · Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 2:59 pm Post subject:

You'd be fine to get married, have kids, got to Asia, work in NGOs, whatever you want. But remember that all the while you're doing this, she has no more right of entry to the US than any other Mexican. This may, or may not matter to you or her.

If you want her to be able to go to the US, to work, meet your folks, or whatever, she'll need a visa. THey probably won't give her a tourist visa, as her being married to you is seen by consuls as a sure sign that she's going there to stay. So she'd have to apply for residency...

Which, as many of you know, is NOT uncomplicated....

Best,
Justin

PS- MELEE is right, it would help if she were white. And what do you mean, she looks "Andalusian?" Like most of Europe, Andalucia has been extremely mixed for a couple of millenia- and Andalucians are blond, brunette, red-headed, brown eyed, green eyed, you name it. Dark hair and dark eyes are probably an indigenous characteristic. I think what MELEE was trying to say is that if she is ethnically indigenous, it gets harder. And if I remember, MELEE, that's your hubby's scenario, no?

MikeySaid · Joined: 10 Nov 2004 Posts: 509 Location: Torreon, Mexico

Regarding the Andalusian thing...It's like saying someone looks Sicilian or looks like "California girl". It's about stereotypes. I stated clearly that she's fair-skinned, has dark hair, and dark eyes. Then I specified that she looks similar to the people of a certain region of Spain... the South of Spain to be precise, an area that has seen a great deal of Moorish influence. I think you could pull from the original (albeit simple) explanation that she's fair skinned, has dark hair and eyes, and looks Spanish... maybe a bit middle-eastern. Short of providing a picture of her... that seemed an appropriate description.

Moving on...

Is it not possible to establish a foreign-born spouses "residency" and then depart the country together? I guess what I'm wondering is...

If a foreign born wife from a developing nation or 3rd world country supported my desire to be in places other than just the US or her country, would it be possible to establish her residency here and THEN move towards her having dual citizenship while residing outside the United States? (In my current relationship... she could loosely be defined as 'white'.)

Justin Trullinger · Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 9:20 pm Post subject:

Okay, Okay. I've spent a lot of time in Andalucia; also in Latin America. I get a little tired of people insisting they look "Spanish" when they mean that they simply don't want to admit to being at all Mestizo. Andalucian isn't much more homogeneous a look than "American" would be. I see these prejudices far too frequently here, as people would rather be any kind of a European that run the risk of being considered Ecuadorian. Sad. I had no reason to believe, though, and it was unfair of me to assume, that this is your case, or your love's. My apologies.

The history of Andalucia, and what its Moorish past means ethnically is a seriously interesting topic- so if you're ever around here, I'd be happy to by a bottle of red wine so we can do justice to it.

But in answer to your question- yes, it's fully possible to establish residency and then travel. You should know, though, that if you're feeling the urge to travel any time soon, it takes quite a while. ANd as far as working towards citizenship goes, I've heard that there are residency requirements for this as well. Don't know that current details, though, but as I understand it, you'd need to be (both of you) within the US for at least a certain number of months each year for the foreseeable future.

For the real scoop, you'll probably want to check the US consul closest to you in Mexico.

But if what you want to do is

Stephen Jones · Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 4124

JZer · Joined: 16 Jan 2005 Posts: 3898 Location: Pittsburgh