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I too am planning to tie the knot soon but unlike most on the board I have no near term plans to bring my future wife to the US. It occured to me though that if we go through the spousal visa rigamarole in Bogota then eventually she'd gain sufficient gringa status that we could travel to places that for now, with just a Colombian passport she can't set foot on. To you married guys then, what sort of timeline is involved before your colombiana can travel with you outside the US?

Cali-vet

... in response to No near term plans but..., posted by Cali vet on Jan 7, 2003

When she gets the spousal visa at the Embassy in Bogota it will get her in the US.My wife got her green card in the mail in about 6 weeks.Thats good for getting in and out of the US but what her status is getting in other countries with her Colombian passport I don't know.I guess you need to check with each respective country you want to enter.How much good a US visa and green card is except for US entry I don't know.

Pete

... in response to Re: No near term plans but..., posted by Pete E on Jan 10, 2003

Ok thanks. One friend who's been married three years took his calena all over Europe. Another who was married less than a year managed to take his to Morroco for a visit so I'm still not sure how it works.

... in response to Re: Re: No near term plans but..., posted by Cali vet on Jan 10, 2003

Sounds hopefull that her green card status in the US gives her an advantage with visas to other countries,which it should.With a US green card a lady is unlikely to become an illegal resident of another country.

Pete

... in response to No near term plans but..., posted by Cali vet on Jan 7, 2003

[This message has been edited by Calipro]

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... in response to No near term plans but..., posted by Cali vet on Jan 7, 2003

It is much easier for your colombian wife to get a visa to just about any place in the world if she is living in the good old USA.
The US visa in her passport usually does the trick. Along with the fact that she is living in the US means she probably won't settle down in what ever country you are visiting. It took one day for my ex-wife one day to get a visa to travel to Mexico at the mexican consulte's office.

... in response to No near term plans but..., posted by Cali vet on Jan 7, 2003

I hate to tell you this but it doesn't get any easier after you're married.   The relevant issue is what passport she's traveling on.   If she's traveling on a Colombian passport she's subject to Colombian visa restrictions, period.   For example my wife and I wanted to take a trip to Italy last summer (we ended up not going).  To get the visa we needed: 3 months bank statements (in her name), proof of medical insurance, proof of employment/student enrollment, airline tickets, and a detailed itinerary from a travel agent (or letters from every hotel you planned on staying at).  Those are the requirements for all European Union countries by the way.   Mexico was a little more reasonable but you still had to go to their consulate and get a visa to travel there.   Unfortunately consulate beauracrats are not known for reasonableness.  Good luck.

... in response to Re: No near term plans but..., posted by kevy on Jan 8, 2003

Ok thanks, that's good to know. I was thinking of a trip to DR maybe for honeymoon and they just require a hotel voucher for her to get the visa. Travel agencies in Cali say it's easy.

... in response to No near term plans but..., posted by Cali vet on Jan 7, 2003

I thought you were already married, and live in a nice house, with your calena, outside San Francisco.  Or was that another gringo?

... in response to Re: No near term plans but..., posted by bogota vet on Jan 7, 2003

I think that would be PeteE no?