This afternoon we leave for two day trip to Monterrey where we will try to register the birth of our little nanette at the US Consulate. Hopefully we´ll get her passport too and she can finally travel to the US without having to be smuggled in on a French passport. I think everything will go okay even if the paperwork and proof of presence in the US and citizenship requirements on my part are a little daunting. Because Seb isn´t American I have to go out of my way to prove my citizenship. It all strikes me as odd because my friend Haley who is American and living here just went throught the same process and didn´t have to bring in any papers other than the forms. Her husband is also American though and apparently there is a big difference *scratches head* .
Proof of presence and of citizenship is done through college transcripts, W2 forms and old photographs. You know stuff everyone travels to Mexico with, naturally. Of course I have all this stuff lying around! Why not? You are also required to make a list of all the times you left the country came back since your were born. Apparently they can "quiz" you on this list which is really daunting because not only did it take me four hours to make the list with the help of an old passport, I would have a hard time remembering that in 1997 I flew into Munich and out of Barcelona but on the next year´s trip I flew into Paris and out of Rome. Then there are all the aller-retours when I met Seb a few years later. Sometimes I flew into Geneva and then it depended on what was cheaper, I flew into Paris or Lyon. Dates, dates, dates, there are tons of them! Looking at the list after I completed it, it looked more likely that I was a very suspicious international spy than the innocent mom of two I was pretending to be. There will be a juicy promotion to a post in Bora-Bora for the agent who uncovers this little coup.
After I prove that I am indeed an American who has lived in the US for 5 years or more, then there´s the pregnancy to prove. The proof consists of ultrasounds photos, doctor´s affidavits, photos of the hospital and photos of the doctor and hospital staff, hospital bracelets and the crib card. I have to prove that she was born here and is ours (just look at dad´s ears I´ll say), and I have to I suppose prove that we are not trying to pass off this little Mexican chiquita as our American/French baby or some other mysterious babe swapping extravaganza. Piece of cake.
Then there are the forms for the CRBA, the Social Security card and the passport with photos and copies of all of my documents and all of Seb´s documents. Whew! I just hope and pray that everything is correct. I am cross-eyed from filling out little forms and brain dead from trying to decide on addresses I should use. Do I have everything sent here or to my parents or in France to the in-laws? Should my official mailing adress be our old house since we´ll probably eventually get back there? Decision, decisions.
I have already uploaded my 30 day photo for tomorrow and we will hopefully be back in time for me to post the next installment. I´m trying to be disciplined about this.
Wish us a smooth ride! Sometimes this stuff is much easier than we make it out to be.
6 comments:
Wow. Talk about red tape. Did you realize ahead of time that it would be this much work? Did you have to send for all those documents or did you know in advance that you would need them?
I'm wishing you luck! Sounds like what you go through for a green card.. lol
Good luck! I went through something similar in Italy to get Jack's US citizenship, but it was much easier since I was married here and a resident. There was the issue of my husband Giampaolo not being a US citizen, and my father came to the rescue with high school transcripts (I have my college transcripts, but studied a year abroud and got my degree in 5 semesters, so that hardly covered the five-year requirement).
I think it's harder in Mexico because more people attempt fraud to get to the States legally.
There is no way I'd remember all my trips back and forth and I only have one old passport. Anything before 1998 is long forgotten!
I hope you manage and once you've got the documents they want the rest is just a formality. Good luck!!!
Another thing, and not to freak you out! Are you sure you can do it alone? With Jack my husband had to be present to give his consent.
Oh wow! That sounds a nightmare - and an incentive to have future babies in the US just so we don't have to deal with it. It was so easy to register A with the Swiss Consulate. There's no way I could remember all my international trips, and I'd have the same problem looking like a spy. I have multiple visa runs to Burma when I lived in Thailand. And when I was with the English ex, I had so many trips to the UK that the immigration officials at Heathrow started giving me a hard time about all my entries....
Would it be easier if you brought her to the US on her French passport, then applied in the US?
Good luck!
Good luck! I hope it all goes (went by the time you see this) smoothly. My guess is that it won't be nearly as difficult as it could be - you guys are not the type of people these onerous requirements are written for. That might sound harsh, but my experience with the US consulate here (getting a visa and also being friends with quite a few of the staff) is that there are very strict requirements in Mexico because so many people are trying to find loopholes to get into the US. When they see someone who is obviously American and not Mexican, it tends to be a rubber stamp job. I had a folder full of paperwork for our visas and they didn't even look at any of it!
Post a Comment