Getting Married (Part 2)

The US Embassy, London 

(Read Part 1 here)

The interview date has been set!
Next week I'll be with my love!
THE WAIT IS OVER!
The morning is bright and blue skied
It makes me nervous
Big events of my life usually happen in the rain.

I arrive at the Consulate
A folder two inches thick with paper under my arm
Duplicate copies of my application
Forms forms forms
DS160, I-134, medical report, birth certificates
Police certificate dated within the last six months
Passports
American standard passport pictures
Affidavits of support
Pictures
Evidence.

The check-in takes half an hour
I am given a ticket
I sit with a man from Manchester and a woman from Cambridge
His wife is in Austin
Coincidentally, so is Cambridge's husband
We have all been waiting 9-10 months for this day

We watch the sanitised images
Of the United States of America
Flash across the big screen at the end of the room

America knows how to put on a show

The Aaron Copland-esque soundtrack triumphantly plays across the heads of the waiting 

America. Innovation. Diversity. See all that America has to offer. 
My heart aches for my love and the land that will soon be my home.
I check my ticket number again. I110.
I101. I102. I103.
An hour later I am called to the window.

The woman behind the window is being trained.
She has never seen the software before and is being walked through
Step by step,
Click by interminable click,
The man training her is patient.
They are both kind and full of smiles.
I try to remember to breathe.
Page by page I hand over my documentation.

DS160, I-134, medical report, birth certificate

Police certificate dated within the last six months

Passports

American standard passport pictures

Affidavits of support

Please write your name on the back and sign here.
I am shaking. My mouth is dry.
Your application looks great Miss Lyons!
I smile.

The man asks for my Australian police certificate.
My heart and stomach simultaneously drop to the floor.
I don't have one.
He says I need a police check for every country I have lived in for more than two years from when I was sixteen.
Where does it say that?!
I ask him,
Where does it say that? The website asks for a police check dated within the last six months.*
He shrugs. It's very clear.
I am crying. No where does it say you need a police check from every country you have lived in for more than two years from the time you were sixteen.
Don't worry. It won't delay your application. 
But I won't get my visa today?
No. But it won't take long. That's all you need. 
I am so frustrated I want to scream.
Do you know how long it takes to get a piece of paper mailed from Australia?!
I wanted to leave yesterday. March. January.
They take my passport and pile of papers.
I am told to go and wait in the waiting area until my number is called again.

I sit and sob.
A man offers to get me a tissue.
I cannot speak.
Another hour passes. The video is back to the beginning.

America. Innovation. Diversity. See all that America has to offer. 

I am called to another window.

The woman is kind and full of smiles.

I am still crying. 

Okay Miss Lyons. Do you still intend to marry Aaron? 

I nod through tears. 

I need you to say it out loud honey. 

Yes. Yes. A thousand times yes. 

She smiles. Great. I'm just going to ask you a few questions. 

How did you meet Aaron? 

She has tissues ready. 

Your application looks great, honey. It's all approved except for the police check. So once we have that we're good to go. 

She hands me back my passport and a list of instructions. 

Outside the sky is still infuriatingly blue.

*The immigration website has since been updated to reflect these changes.

Part 1, Part 3, Part 4