So after a couple of months of gathering documents and getting organized(organized means putting things off till I am 100% sure I had everything) I booked an appointment to submit JJ’s I-130 petition. I emailed the embassy on Sunday the 15th and was notified on Tuesday March the 17th that I had be given an appointment for Thursday March 19th. Along with this appointment notice, I was also notified that I would need my birth certificate and JJ would need a copy of her basic certificate. Since we didn’t know about the last two items we would have to delay our appointment. I emailed the embassy and moved the appointment back a week to Thursday March 26th. I went into fast action mode and had my mom Fed-Ex my birth certificate, which they had on hand.(Thanks to my Dad for being so organized) We also had to send JJ’s basic certificate(기본중명서) and family certificate to a translator for a certified translation with notary stamp. Luckily, we received everything in time for my appointment on the 27th. Here is a list of everything I brought with me and then another list of what they actually took from me.

My documentation
A copy of my birth certificate
A copy of my US passport
A copy of my Korean Foreigner Identification Card

A copy of my work contract

Form G325A for myself
A passport photograph of myself

JJ’s documentation

Form G325A
A passport photograph

A copy her Korean passport

A copy of her Korean National Identification

Certified Translation of her Basic Certificate(기본중명서)

Certified Translation of her Certificate of Family Relationship(가족관계중명서)

Documentation of our marriage

A copy of our marriage certificate

Certified translation of our Marriage Relationship Certificate(혼인관계중명서)

Evidence of bonafide marriage

Copies of wire transfers from her Korean account to my American account

Copy of our Joint Savings Account

Copies of our Joint Credit Cards

Copy of her name listed on my insurance

Photos taken during our relationship

Emails from various family members

Copies of airline tickets from our trip to America

Since I read on the Embassy website that I could attend this part of the process without my wife, I got on the bus alone about 6:45 a.m. on Thursday. My appointment was for 10:00, but I wanted to be there as early as possible. The bus Gods were shining down on me. I arrived at the bus stops at the same time as both of my buses and it ended up taking me about one hour and 15 minutes to get to the Embassy. I had about an hour to kill, so I went to Starbucks and sat around for awhile. At 9:00, I went to the wrong embassy entrance(the front one) and was directed to the side entrance. I quickly cleared security and then made my way to the third floor. The whole place seemed to be pretty deserted. I guess with the new visa waiver program there are not that many people having to visit the embassy. The third floor was a little more crowded with about fifty or so people waiting for visa interviews.

To be continued….