Artifact #1

Anecdotes of José and Laryssa

In the case of José, he was an emigrant from Mexico. He left his wife and daughter.  José came to the United States in search of a job, so that he could provide for his family still living in Mexico.  He found a job as a construction worker and sent money to his family for several years after being here in America.  After being in the United Statesfor a years years, he found a new "wife" and has children with her.  Though he still sends money to his family in Mexico, he rarely talks or visits them.

Another story of recent U.S. immigration is of Laryssa. Laryssa Meideros Pearson is my sister-in-law.  For the first twenty years of her life, she lived in Brazil with her mother.  After meeting my brother near her hometown, they started dating.  Months later, he proposed to her.  They worked on mainly one major detail while they were engaged: her immigration to the United States of America.

In order for her to come to the United States legally, she had to go through a major, expensive process. It began with James, my brother, submitting papers.  The papers were an application for the K1 fiance visa.  In these papers, he had to clarify that they had personal contact with each other.  He put together pictures of them together, bank accounts, where he and she lived, if Laryssa had a criminal record, if she had a passport, etc.  They put these papers in in January 2010. They received an interview date in February.  The interview was to be in June 2014.  They paid a total of 1,000 dollars before the interview.  The interview was in the American Consulate located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  After the interview, James and Laryssa were told that she could come to the United States legally in two weeks, which was also still in June.  They were also told that they would need to be married legally in 90 days between the time that she arrived in the U.S. and the Visa expiration. They spent another $1,500 to get everything settled for her arrival in America. 

For her green card application, she had to fill out very similar paperwork, but with her married name instead: who she was, where she's from, who she's married to, social security number, drivers license (Brazil).  This was another sum of money.  They have filled out these papers three times.  The last time they sent them in was in December 2013.  She has yet to have a green card. 

As soon as she has her green card, they will have to pay $600+ in order for her to gain U.S. citizenship. 

Laryssa has two children born in the United States.