I am an American citizen who married a French man while I was abroad last year. We began the immigration process 1 year ago and now, over a thousand dollars later, we are giving up due to the incompetent, condescending people and system.

They gave us trouble at every turn, but we finally made it to the interview stage last week. Finally, they will not accept my husbands birth certificate, which has been obtained from the French government according to their instructions. There is nothing wrong with the birth certificate, but the 25 year old behind the desk didn't recognize it, so that pretty much ended our interview before it even began.

Then she just continued to condescend us. She wondered why we wanted to move someplace other than Michigan where I grew up (apparently she doesn't read the papers and does not know that they have 20% unemployment at the moment). She accused us of wanting to come to America to use public assistance. My husband is a computer science engineer who earns $120, 000/year and is fluent in English, we have saved $50, 000 to make this move go smoothly, I hardly think we would stay if we ran out of money. Its so insulting that she suggested this was our "plan". The NVC asked us to bring financial documents supporting our evidence, and she refused to even look at what we brought because she said it didn't matter. She said it was irrelevant to the case, and was absolutely unhelpful.

The only possible solution she offered was suggesting that I move to America alone, work and live here for several months, and then after that *perhaps* my husband could join me. We find this ENTIRELY RIDICULOUS. We are a newly married couple and the thought of spending six months or more apart just because the American government is full of absurd bureaucracy and incompetent fools is too much to bear. We are tired and annoyed at these protectionistic jerks. From the moment you begin the process, you feel that they don't want you to come, even if you have good reasons and a sound plan. Something has gone very very wrong in America...