Madridman, please don't delete this thread or if you must, please move it to another location to avoid the ad--it's just getting interesting! I've actually heard about that book. Perhaps the post-er is just telling us about it but who knows.

Boy, do I know about this topic...my Spanish national husband decided in Jan 01 to move to the US to be with me. So we applied for a fiancee visa. I had to send the application to the US INS sponsoring him and declaring our intention to be married within 3 months of his arrival. He had to have an interview with the US consulate in Madrid and they stamped his passport and sent it back to him in Sevilla. He had it by March 01. He flew to Boston at the end of March 01 and we visited INS shortly after his arrival to get his Employment Authorization (EAD) card, but they had stamped his passport with work authorization upon his arrival anyway. We were married on May 5 01 and then went to INS a couple weeks later with our marriage certificate and they gave him a new EAD card. Then we began the process to apply for his Permanent Resident card (also known as the infamous "green card") and he had within a year of our marriage. That involved an interview with INS to prove we were married, but it wasn't as bad as we thought it was going to be. (i.e. they didn't ask me what color toothbrush he uses!) All in all, the process wasn't too bad. If anyone has any specific questions, I would really be glad to be a resource. I work in Human Resources and deal with immigration-related matters on a daily basis so I am fairly knowledgeable. There's lots of paperwork and you HAVE to be prepared with anything INS asks you for, so don't throw anything away. (read: save your plane ticket stubs!)

Saludos,

Sarita