We Have New USA Residents!

Well, they made it back to the USA last Monday evening, but not without some drama. I picked them up from the airport about 10:30pm. They ran into trouble several times throughout their trip.

It all started in Moscow when they tried to check in. The parents plane tickets had been canceled by Delta airlines. They had to repurchase their tickets right then and there. We are in the process of trying to get some sort of refund for that fiasco. The next problem that happened was with customs. When they went through customs in Atlanta, GA somehow their passports did not get stamped. What? How can you go through customs and not get your passport stamped? Well it happened and I am led to believe that it must happen quite frequently. Fortunately, we were able to straighten it out rather quickly at DIA in Denver. We made a special trip back to the Denver airport to have them processed in. Otherwise, their green cards would have been voided as well since they wouldn’t have had proof that they came into the country. The customs officer was astounded that these 2 Russians walked through customs without giving their paperwork from the US Embassy and not getting their passports stamped. That’s Homeland Security for you. Now I am really not convinced that they do a good job at all … What’s wrong with this picture?

Dept of Homeland Security

But now it’s all said and done. They were able to apply for the social security cards and all is well. They are starting to settle in and will move to their own place pretty soon.

Something to keep in mind is that when you bring your new fiancé or wife to the USA, she may want to move her parents eventually. Lena and I have been married for almost 7 years and the day finally came that they were coming. I can’t really say much. My mother stayed with us on several occasions for months at a time. What I can say is that they are wonderful people and a lot of patience is and will be needed to help them get going here in the USA. Life is a bit different here, so they will need a lot of help learning the new ways.