Some of you may not know that Yoli and I sort of have two anniversaries.
Being from two different countries, it was necessary for us to obtain a visa so that Yoli could join me here in the U.S. After we got engaged the question we faced was which visa? Marriage visa or fianceé visa?
The marriage visa is for couples who get married outside the U.S. The fianceé visa is for those who want to marry within the U.S.
The advantage of the fianceé visa is that it is generally faster to get. For that and other reasons, we decided to apply for it. It took much longer than it should have (read the story), but the final result is that we would marry at the end of November 2003.
First we had a religious wedding ceremony in Bolivia for Yoli’s friends and family, on Nov. 22. Then we packed and flew back, arriving in the U.S. on Nov. 24. During our layover in Miami, we took a taxi to Coral Gables and legally tied the knot.
I always take great pains to stress that we didn’t legally marry in Bolivia. We only had a ceremony. That’s because the fianceé visa requires that the couple be unmarried prior to entering the U.S.; otherwise it’s visa fraud.
Anyway, the upside to this is that every year we celebrate our two “weddings.”
Today Yoli made a lovely lunch and some Boston cream pie. Awesome! After lunch, we had a piano delivered. More on that in our next entry.