The latest news

As you can see, I haven't been posting much lately. It has been a stressful couple of weeks with moving, working and being without internet. I don't know how I managed to live without the net before.... I feel so cut off from the rest of the world! Not to mention that I can't even watch my favorite shows.. gasp.

But now to the serious side. Jamie and I got the worst news last week. UDI rejected our appliaction for family immigration. Actually, they rejected our appeal (because they previously denied it in February) AND our wish to have Jamie stay in the country while UNE reviews our case for one last chance. I can't count how many people have asked me, "you guys are married, can't Jamie be a citizen?" No. It doesn't matter what country you are from or want to live in, marriage is NOT the magic key. Marriage doesn't grant you any international rights, save for the right to APPLY for a residence permit. Citizenship is never the first step, it's always residency. Citizenship is not necessary to have to live in a foreign country. It's something that comes down the line many years from now if the person feels like it. Residency, on the other hand, is not too hard to obtain, IF you are in the right categories. Yes, you need to have a clean record, a birth certificate, a passport, and a valid marriage license. But there are so, so, so many other requirements that most people don't know about.

What has gotten in our way, is the requirement, "that the person living in Norway had a registered income corresponding to salary grade eight in the pay scale for Norwegian state employees the previous year, and that he/she still receives this income. This must be documented by enclosing your latest tax certificate." Since I was working in Oregon that time, I was making much less that what I would in Norway. To put it bluntly... my wage is almost considered to be that of poverty. It doesn't matter how much I make now, or that I have been able to provide for Jamie from the moment we sat foot in Norway. It doesn't matter that I got a job within the three first weeks of moving back. None of this matters to the immigration bureaucrats. And you know what's the worst part? If we had applied only ONE year earlier, we'd be exempt from this requirement. This is a new law that was put forth in 2010. Argh! If you want to read up on the entire process of family immigration to Norway, click here.

In the meantime, Jamie has to leave Norway, as he was not granted permission to stay for the final appeal. In my opinion, that is just cruel. There is no reason why they shouldn't let him stay here. They are causing financial hardship on both of us by enforcing this. I have to pay for the ticket, and he has to find a place to stay, a job and a car within just a couple of weeks from now. Yes, the system is strict. And it seems like it doesn't bend for a hardworking, honest married couple. We haven't done anything wrong. Neither of us have criminal records. We have never hurt anyone. We haven't robbed anyone or committed fraud. We are a family, and they are separating us.