Happiest of New Years, 2024
January 1st, 2024
Jessica and I were going to spend our first New Years together in 2024. This was also the first time we would be seeing each other since our wedding. Unfortunately, we only spent four full days together immediately following our marriage and believe me when I say that four days is no where near enough. Please also believe me when I say that this particular time apart was, for me at least, by far the most painful and the longest. In reality, it was not the longest as we experienced over two months apart when I accepted a job in South India early in 2023, however, this one felt the longest. It hurt the most. Being apart after our wedding when we should be beginning our lives together was the worst.
New Year’s Day in front of the “Obelisco” in Buenos Aires, Argentina; January 1st, 2024.
Because of this immediate separation after our wedding, we wanted to have a unique and memorable experience that we could share on New Years. We decided to spend New Years in Buenos Aires, Argentina. At the time of our departure from Brazil, I felt the beginning of a cold coming on. By our first full day in Buenos Aires, both Jessica and myself were undeniably sick.
New Year's Day came and we got off to a late start. We enjoyed my first ever Argentinian barbecue experience at Lila's in Puerto Madero, the neighborhood we were staying in. Shortly after we returned to our hotel from our lunch, the sickness hit me like an NFL linebacker. I was so nauseous that I was confined to our bed in the fetal position with my focus on deep breathing and not immediately losing my delicious lunch that I had just consumed.
I am truly grateful Jessica was there. The care and concern she displayed and has displayed the few times I have been sick when we have been together is a true testament to her nurturing and comforting nature. After spending more time than was necessary doing all that she could to ensure I was ok and comfortable, she finally returned her focus on herself and entered the shower. Shortly after I heard the water turn on, I heard Jessica scream: "BABE!"
Before I could even move, and not that I could really move at that moment, she was in front of me with her phone in her hand. She had checked our I-130 status on the "Lawfully" app and the status had been changed: our “case status” for our I-130 had been changed to “your case is being actively reviewed.”
I had been so focused on the "estimated time until case decision" that I had not even glanced at the current case status on our I-130. Every time I log on, I am trying to click over to the "myProgress” as quickly as I can.
Naturally, I immediately signed on to the myUSCIS website where I checked the myProgress status to see if there was any update there as well. To my surprise, our estimated time until case decision had been updated as well: “2 months.” One month of our estimated time until case decision had been shaved off in just a few weeks.
I could not and would not ask for anything better than this update to begin our 2024. I could ask for an even shorter estimated time until case decision and I could ask for Jessica’s application to be documentarily qualified already of course, however, our application progress is already moving forward much faster than I ever anticipated. I will, instead, be grateful for what we have and I will continue to pray and hope that this process continues to move forward at the same pace.
Happy New Year to all and we both wish everyone health, happiness, and a successful and quick CR1 visa application process!