Time is flying, today I am in Hawai’i for exactly a year. On October 2nd, 2008, around 8.15 in the evening, I landed on the airport of Honolulu. Did I miss the Netherlands the last year? Yeah, from time to time I did but fortunately it wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be. I used to have a serious case of homesickness whenever I stayed away from home for a bit, sometimes even so bad that I could become really really sick of it. But this year, far away from the Netherlands, it all wasn’t so bad, I don’t think I was really homesick. Nevertheless I do look forward to see my family in the Netherlands again, haha.

I wrote about the new rules of the Dutch passport a while ago, that it wouldn’t be so easy to renew the passport because the honorair consulate in Hawaii is not longer allowed to renew passports somewhere this year because of the new fingerprint rules and such, and that I will have to fly to the mainland US, or get my passport renewed in the Netherlands when I would be there.

It is something very nice again from the Dutch government, even more because I have heard that people also need to pick their passports up again at the location where they renewed their passports (they normally send them), this because they need to check on the fingerprints inside the passports, if they’re made correctly or not. That’s going to be fun, so we either have to return to the mainland after a certain amount of time, or we have to be lucky and receive it in the Netherlands before you leave the country again. The result: double costs. Like I said in my post back then, it will cost us thousands of dollars (or Euro’s, whatever you want) for real if we need to do this within the US. (And another ‘nice’ fact: Foreign Affairs is saying that the machines for the fingerprints are too expensive, or something similar, and that they cannot install them everywhere for this reason… but what seems to be really happening: the ministry of internal affairs is paying for them and not the ministry of Foreign Affairs.. so what about that? Foreign Affairs doesn’t even have those costs as they said in the beginning.. it is really outragious.   hoe vind je die? Die extra kosten zijn er dus helemaal niet.. I think it is becoming a more and more scandalous story.

But oh well, I thought to myself, about a week ago, that it would be wise to renew my passport already as I would still be able to do this within Honolulu (until somewhere in September, normally it would be until the end of June but they are delayed in the process). My passport is then valid for another five years (why isn’t it valid for ten years, like in most countries?), and when they give us troubles in The Hague when we request a passport for our daughter later on, then we do not have to go to the mainland within a few months because I would have to get a new passport myself. We would still have some years time until we need to renew my passport and then we can also request the new passport for our daughter. She will get an American passport right away so a Dutch passport isn’t needed right away.

And so I did. I called the Dutch Honoraire Consulate in Honolulu last week to schedule an appointment for today. They’re located in a big officebuilding, near the Aloha Tower (there where the boat parade was and where I made a video of the Queen Mary 2).

We (Michelle joined me, and even though it was not really needed, it does make it more fun) had to be there at 11 this morning, and we could’ve been there at 10.45 AM, but unfortunately we walked pass the building. This happened because the building showed number 1000 while we had to be at number 745. We knew the office was located on the 7th floor, so everything which was lower, was automatically not something we looked at, and so we passed those smaller buildings quite easily. When we checked the numbers, we saw the number 900 something, and we thought it could take a while until we would be at our number, until we suddenly were in the 1000’s again… yeaahhh, wait a second… that’s not right, it was going up…. Right, our conclusion was that we had to walk back and probably missed something. It turned out that the lower buildings, which we initially passed, were in the 800’s and that we did need to get the first building. And what do you think? It turns out that this was indeed number 745 but this number was hiding a bit, especially because the number 1000 was quite big and catchy. Hahaha, yeah that went smooth. We went inside and up to the 7th floor in a really fast elevator (you really notice that your bloodpressure changes, you will really be dizzy for a bit after the elevator stops).

Once we got in, I pushed the little bell on the front desk and an employee of the consulate came to the front, it turned out that this person would also be the one who handled the passport renewal for me. She took me to a seperate room, a bit like a meetingroom (they’re really in between other offices, in a big officebuidling, where they have some space, it really looks like some kind of company when you see it like that, it really does not look like something which you think of when you think of a consulate.. then again, it is a honoraire consulate, of course, so they’re already smaller). Here I gave her my papers, the passport and the passport (which were 55 dollar for 9 pieces, by the way (I just needed two of them but they gave me 9 haha), they’re so expensive because the Dutch format is different than the American passport photo format and so people have to go to a special photographer, and when you only have one official recognized photographer on the island, then you can expect that they can ask you what they want, of course).

Anyways, I talked a bit more with the consulate employee, mostly about the upcoming birth and how things would go when we wanted to apply for a passport for her, and of course about the whole deal of the passports what the Netherlands is doing right now. She said that she has hope that they will have more machines available later on, and that they would renew passports again for the Dutch citizens because, like she also said, there are more Dutch citizens in Hawaii then you would expect (she gave an example of the one time that they needed a person on the Big Island who would be able to speak both Dutch and Indonesian, and it aparantly had a lot of replies from people who were interested, and this was pretty specific because of the Indonesian part. And it seems to be like this on all the islands, there’s really a great deal of Dutchies here… it makes it pretty messed up that the Netherlands is leaving all these people alone with their passports, there’s enough people who are not able to fly to the mainland or the Netherlands but still need their passports). She also said that, even though there are other HC’s being closed, that she does not expect that Honolulu will be closed so easily, because, for example, what if someone loses his or her passport, then they would not be able to leave these islands as they cannot take a plane to the mainland.

And we talked about some more things next to this. Michelle told me later that I am pretty talkative at some moments haha. Poor child, she couldn’t do anything else but wait until I was done talking.

I have to say that the people on the Honoraire Consulate were very friendly. I will receive my passport again within two to six weeks (normally it would take about two weeks but because of the whole thing of the change to the new way of renewing passports, it might take a bit longer so they take it a bit wider), and oh well, I don’t need my passport right away so that’s ok.

And that was the story of my passport renewal, for now at least haha.

We also fed some fishes at the Aloha Tower today and we made a short video about the Pali Highway, when I brought Michelle to her work later today, but I will write more about this later on.. probably somehwere tomorrow or the day after that, it depends because I still need to convert and upload the video’s to Youtube. So, some patience please

I really have to get something of my chest.. The Netherlands has to be the first again with something, like always, and of course, the civilians will be the ones who will have to pay for it. Nobody has these things, the United States don’t even have those things in their passports as we as Dutchies already have (such as a chip), and now this… so typical for the Netherlands again…

It is about the following piece that I read a few days on the website of the Dutch Consulate General in Los Angeles (originally written in Dutch):

Introduction fingerprints and passport application

Starting mid 2009, passport applications will need to be accompanied with fingerprints of the applicant. This will have consequences for the Dutch living and working abroad (non-resident Dutch).

Where to apply for passports?

As non-resident Dutch you can apply for your passport at every embassy, every Consulate General and each Honorary Consulate (HC). In the future, when fingerprints need to be taken and it will no longer be possible to obtain a passport at the HC’s. To improve the service to you at the highest possible level, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs decided to equip fifty HC’s with equipment with which fingerprints can be taken. This will mean the necessary investments in security and communications. In anticipation of the introduction of fingerprints in passports and because of the renewal of the equipment, in the United States of America, starting from June 28, 2009, it will only be possible to apply for a passport at the Embassy in Washington, the Consulates-General in New York , Miami, Chicago or Los Angeles and the HC’s in San Francisco, Houston, Orlando, Atlanta and Boston.

source: http://www.netherlands-embassy.org/files/pdf/PaspoortaanvragenOpmaak.pdf

So, in other words, it looks like I wont be able to renew my passport in Honolulu later on but that I will need to fly at least 5.5 hours towards the US mainland for an application.

You can renew your passport right now then? You might say, and you’re right, but Michelle and I will get a baby soon and that kid needs to get a passport also (after all, we want the kid to get a double nationality so it can choose for him/herself which nationality it wants to have at adulthood).

If you think about it, it is pretty crazy that we will need to fly 5.5 hours, and we’re not alone as there are more Dutch on these islands. Why does the Honoraire Consulate in San Francisco this equipment while it is fairly close to Los Angeles and why do we need to fly 5.5 hours to the closest location?

Just look at this will cost us to renew a passport.. A ticket to the mainland is about 500 dollar, a kid below the age of two is for free but he/she will not remain a baby forever, so when it is time, we can actually count on some 1000 dollar. Then we might have the cost for a hotelstay since not all airlines fly back and forth multiple times a day, plus are you sure you are done on time at the consulate? Then you will have possible costs for a taxi or rental car and there will be enough additional small costs. Come, let’s renew our passport.

And then they dare to say, in the last line of that document that these measures “are in the interest of both the government and yourself”. Well, it surely is not in my interest. The only interest that it gives me is that I can write something in my blog again, but yeah, some interest that is.

The messed up thing next to this all is that I wonder how expensive this equipment will be.. The Americans have these devices everywhere, the border, homeland security buildings, consulates, embassies, everywhere and then it is impossible for the Netherlands to add a few more of these devices? I would almost tell them to send the bill to me as I am almost sure that it will be cheaper for me to pay for those devices than to travel up and down to the mainland.

Oh well, maybe there will be some sunshine after all as you can also request a new passport in the Netherlands, if you are visiting there that is (we’re currently planning to go to the Netherlands around the holidays). But, of course, it has some conditions attached:

As you are not living in the Netherlands any more (or maybe never lived in the Netherlands), the city of The Hague typically does not know if you still have the Dutch nationality. Your old passport or identitycard are no conclusive proof of your Dutch nationality. It only shows that you still had the Dutch nationality at the time the previous travel document was issued.

Source: http://www.denhaag.nl/smartsite.html?id=21603

In other words, they will need to find out if you still have the Dutch nationality and this is something that you will need to prove with all kinds of documents such as a birthcertificate and proof of deregistration in the Netherlands.

And I get different worries about a certain part of the same website of the city of The Hague:

You usually will go to the Dutch representation in the country which you reside for a new passport or identitycard. It is important that you are known for a (later) determination of your nationality.

So does this mean that I will have to renew passport in the United States at least once, just in case if I want to get a double nationality later on? And there are so much more questions which arise with all this, such as the timeframe in The Hague. It takes about two weeks in the United States to renew my passport but how about the Netherlands? The site of The Hague states the following:

10 working days, unless further investigation to identity, nationality and/or fraud is needed; then up to 8 weeks.

And there is a way to make this faster, in this case it will take three working days, but that will cost extra again. And what about the last part? The further investigation? Do they mean the above, the documents that you need to show and such? I can’t wait for 8 weeks in the Netherlands for a new passport? By the way, one of the documents that they want to see is a ‘recent statement which proves my Dutch nationality’, this is something the Dutch representation in the country where the applicant lives will have to provide, so in my case the United States… does this mean I will have to get this in Los Angeles or is this also possible to get in Honolulu? If it is LA then I might as well just renew my passport over there.

No, I am not really happy with this new arrangement. I also emailed the ‘Netherlands Front Office’ with the question if Hawaii gets no equipment indeed, they wrote the following:

Indeed, you will need to travel to a embassy or consulate general to apply for a new passport. There are also a few Honoraire Consulates where you can do this. Hawaii is unfortunately not one of the possibilities.

So I am really not happy about this. It does not even matter much for myself as it takes a bit until I have to renew my passport (later next year), and I could do it right now so I could wait for another five year but I am also wondering about the baby which will be born later on, how will that go? I think I should ask that question at the Dutch consulate in Los Angeles, and possibly also at the city of The Hague.

Nice going again, Netherlands

the green card!

I have not much else to say but just wanted to let you guys know about it ^_^

I was busy washing our M3 this afternoon since it had rained quite a bit the last weeks, and the car was pretty dirty so it was about time someone did something about it, plus I am the one who usually drive in the BMW and Michelle usually only drives the Mercedes so I thought it would be justified for me to wash ‘my’ (haha) car.

While I was washing the car (this reminds me of a joke: “what was was before was was was?”, I will give the answer later in this post), the mailman (woman) dropped by. I checked if there was any mail for us, and what do you think? There was a letter from the USCIS (Department of Homeland Security). Exciting!

I opened the letter right away, while my hands were still half wet hehe, and I read the following:

“WELCOME TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA”

“This is to notify you that your application for permanent residence has been approved. It is with great pleasure that we welcome you to permanent resident status in the United States.”

And some other information about the card and such. The letter stated that I can expect my green card within three weeks by mail, but I think it might actually be with a week, that is, if I can believe the statistics… the statistics said that I would receive this letter after about 8 days when I was approved, and indeed, it has been exact 8 days ago and since the statistics also say it takes 7 days after this letter for the green card to arrive, I think I can expect it soon also. I am curious if it is true but I am not worried any more

This is really great news. We will not have to worry for another 2 years after we received the green card. The only thing we need to do is to make sure that we can show them in 2 years that we are still married (which is just the same as we did now so I doubt that will cause us problems) and request a new card.. after that it is over with us having to prove that our marriage is for real and in good faith because then I will come out of the conditional status (these two years are conditional: I have to stay married in order to be able to stay here during these two years, but yeah, do you really think I would stay here when I was not married to Michelle? Not really, then I would rather be in the Netherlands as I have my family there and there is not much here, besides Michelle and our ‘peanut’). And if I want, then I can request citizenship within three years, after which I get a US passport next to my Dutch one and then I can also vote in the 2012 elections haha.

Right, I still owe you guys the right answer, here goes: Before was was was, was was is!

Think about that

Well, we’re not entirely sure but we think it should be ok.

We went, as I mentioned before, to the Department of Homeland Security in Honolulu for our adjustment of statement interview.

The interview was at 10.15 AM but we were there at around 10.05 AM. After about 10 to 15 minutes, our number was called and we met the immigration officer who would take our interview. The first impression that we got from this man was very nice, he didn’t make a strict impression but seemed to be a bit more relaxed.

First he took our oath and then explained how things would take place, he would mostly look if everything was in order and he would ask questions on base of the forms. He also explained that there might be moments in which nothing would be said but we shouldn’t be worried about that as he might still be writing certain things down.

Ok, so we started.

He mostly asked us some general questions, like on which address we lived, when we met, how that this was, when we got married, if I had children (and that was a “yes, one, but there will be two soon” after which he congratulated us) and more of that kind of questions. Nothing special really and you don’t have to worry about it I think, as long as your marriage is in good faith and so I did not worry much about those questions either.

And then we came to the scary part, my court record.. he started to read everything and read my explanation also which I added to the application (for those who do not know what it is about, I once have been arrested for participation of theft, however, I never did anything like that. I only once had the goods in my car but at that time I did not even know those were stolen, that is something I found out later when the police arrested me.. so basically that something nothing special but, well, you never know what the USCIS might say). The officer did not ask much about these documents, except if I had been more in contact with the police of if this was the only thing so I told him that there was nothing else except for the one time they pulled me over for speeding but that was nothing special. During the talks that followed I told him that I was quite worried about that part but he told us that it would not be much of a problem and, even though he did not say it with that much words, we shouldn’t worry much about it.

After this he gave us some general explanations of what would happen next. He would process the documents and if he didn’t see anything weird, which he did not expected, then we should receive, the latest in two months, but more probably at the end of April, the greencard. He also explained how we had to request the permanent residency in two years from receiving the conditional greencard (this one is conditional for two years to see if it is really a bonifide marriage) and that we had to do that within a certain amount of time. He asked us to sign some documents which were related to this and from that it also showed that he didn’t think that there was anything weird about our application. He also told us that, if there would be anything unclear or if they needed another document, that they would be in touch but if we do not hear a thing, then wouldn’t be a problem.

He asked some documents after this to see that the marriage was really real, we gave him some bank statements and some voided checks which had our names on it, some copies of the registration and title of our car and a few more of these things. This was more than enough for him. We also gave him two pictures that he liked to have for the dossier as extra proof and that was basically all, I think we have been inside for less than an hour.

To know it really sure, I asked again what he thought of the interview and he told us again that we shouldn’t have to worry and that he would check everything and that we would receive the greencard, if there were no special things, could receive within the timeframe given. I also asked if he needed the EAD card (employment authorization) and Advance Parole documents but he said he rather didn’t do that as, in the unlikely case that something goes wrong, I would at least have the insurance that I can work and travel if needed.. sounds like a solid explanation to me.

So ok, we did not get the relieving “you’re approved” but we think we shouldn’t worry about it as we really did not get that impression from the immigration officer.

until the interview that will decide over our future, the interview for the greencard.. I am already pretty nervous, even though we still have to wait for a few more days.. and even then there is a pretty big chance that the officer can’t tell us the outcome right away, it might actually take another 60 days if he is not sure about our case.. that is at least something that I hear sometimes on an immigration forum

Nah, it aint fun, I wish it was Friday already but, yeah, we have to wait two more days. I am gathering and collecting everything that we need to bring in the mean time, it will be quite a package that we will bring with us. I hope we have everthing as it should be so they have nothing to mention about that. And, well, the fact that Michelle is pregnant now should be the best proof of an ongoing relationship and a marriage out of good faith.

We’ll see, I’ll keep you updated!

EAD card? Yep.. that stands for Employment Authorization Document.. as I described before, it was announced that I would receive the card and I also got an AP (advance parole (aka a travel document which I can use to reenter the US again)) awarded. I received the AP last Monday and today I also received the EAD!

When you ask yourself what such a card look like, here’s a picture:

And yes, this is indeed not the card that I received, on my card you will be able to see my own head haha I just didn’t think I should’ve put my own card online with all the personal numbers that it contains

There are also a few little things different on my card, my picture was, for example, taken with me looking into the camera, I also do not have any holes in my card and, well, it is a bit longer valid that this card haha.

Right, now we can officially work.. hooray :S haha j/k

And now towards March 13 for the interview

One time you are waiting and waiting and nothing happens, and when you least expect it, you’ll get it all at once haha.

Michelle just came in with the mail and she gave me a letter from the USCIS, the United States Customs and Immigration Service. I thought at first ‘that is quick, my papers already?’ but that wasn’t exactly true.. instead of the papers that I expected, I read that it was the invitation to my AOS (Adjustment of Status) interview.

Unbelievable, I didn’t expect it until summer but I already received an interview date, that is really quick!

I am unsure if I really like it though… of course I am very happy that we will know within one and a half month if I can or can not stay in the United States with Michelle but at the other hand, it is making me seriously nervous. They are really deciding about my future and the outcome of that interview makes all the difference.

Right, the date of the interview is on Friday, March 13… I am a little bit superstitious sometimes but I sure hope that has no grounds.. we’ll see

A few days ago I was telling to my mother and some others that it might take at least a month until I will receive notice about my employment authorization document and my (emergency)travel document (advance parole), and what do you think? I just received two emails with the following announcements from the USCIS:

Application Type: I131, APPLICATION FOR USCIS TRAVEL DOCUMENT
Current Status: Approval notice sent.

and:

Application Type: I765, APPLICATION FOR EMPLOYMENT AUTHORIZATION
Current Status: Card production ordered.

So, in other words: I will receive a card soon which I can use to work and make money and I will also receive a letter (I think at least that it is a letter) which I can use during my adjustment of status to leave the country whenever it is needed. The latter is, by the way, not something which you can use for holidays (it depends how you look at it because some do it but I rather be sure) but something you can use to go to your old country whenever there is an emergency (for example when there is a close relative in the hospital) and still be able to get back into the United States for as long as you are waiting for your adjustment of status.

Now the only thing left is my permanent resident status, or my greencard, I will be able to say goodbye to these two items when I receive that as you can travel and work without problems when you have your permanent residency card.

So we made another step into the right direction, hopefully I will receive my greencard in a couple of months and then I wont have to worry if I can stay or not since, believe me, I am quite worried about the outcome of the greencard.