I Married An Alien

My husband’s religion has basically the same roots as mine. He is Orthodox (Christian, not Jewish Orthodox), so his religious traditions are somewhat similar to Catholic. I grew up Presbyterian. We are pretty flexible and accepting of each other’s beliefs. I never thought that we’d have religious differences–but it turns out there were a few [...]

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Ugh, English almost caused our marriage to end! My husband refused to learn English for several years. This baffled my family, made it very hard for my husband to find work, and to be honest–it just really felt unfair to me–not only did I have to work full-time, plus study in the evenings, but I [...]

Filed under: American Culture, Emotions, English Language, Finding a Job, Foreign Culture, Language Learning, Uncategorized | 5 Comments »

One of THE hardest times of my entire life were the first years of marriage when my husband was unemployed. He was miserable. We were so poor. Each month, I wondered how we would pay the rent! We wanted to have a normal life–a house, a car, new clothes sometimes–nothing special, just normal. But even [...]

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In some families, children automatically become bilingual. When a child interacts with one or more caretakers (whether parents, other relatives, or a non-family member such as a nanny) in one language, and interacts in a different language with other caretakers, the child will automatically learn both languages. However, many families speak two or more languages [...]

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For foreigners who have life insurance through their jobs in the US, there are no issues. BUT for foreigners who try to get their own policy (not through work), it can be difficult, even for permanent residents (or foreigners who have a greencard)!
My husband applied for an individual life insurance policy at age 26–the insurance [...]

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I am not really sure how to contain all of the issues in one post. Marriages like mine–in which the wife (that’s me) is Western and the husband is from the Middle East or East–will tend to have the most conflict as far as child rearing. This is because even though men from these areas [...]

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I just read an excellent article on obstacles for partners in intercultural marriages. The author is Christine Benlafquih. This article is SO true of the obstacles my husband and I had.
If you are thinking about marrying a person from a culture or country foreign to your own, I strongly recommend reading this article. I wish [...]

Filed under: American Culture, Driving, Emotions, English Language, Finding a Job, Foreign Culture, Immigration, Marriage License, Parent Reactions, Uncategorized | No Comments »

If your relationship shows all the signs of a healthy relationship–communication, each partner likes spending time with the other, interaction with each other’s family and friends, and so on, you probably don’t need to worry over this issue.
Remember, people in most countries of the world are very patriotic and would NOT want to live in [...]

Filed under: Emotions, Immigration, Parent Reactions, Thoughts, Uncategorized | 19 Comments »

This post regards couples in the USA who have gotten married in the USA. (For couples looking for information on other scenarios, like one of you is in the USA and another is in a foreign country, you might start with immigration discussion boards on the sites of law firms–but remember the information posted often [...]

Filed under: Immigration, Questions, Uncategorized | No Comments »

When you have questions about a visa situation, you can always call United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
Their National Customer Service Center is at (800) 375-5283.
They may ask for your A# (or Alien #). (You can find this on the I-94 record that you receive when entering the United States. If you entered illegally, [...]

Filed under: Immigration, Questions, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »