Marriage and the Foreign Police

Over the last few days, we have been re-acquainted with the wonderful Dutch immigration system. We have been on hold the last month as they sent a copy of our Apostilled marriage certificate (Apostille = a special stamp from the US government authenticating the document for International purposes) to the foreign police so that they could verify that we really and truly are married. So over the weekend we received a letter from them stating that we had to come in for an interview and that we needed to bring any proofs (ie - wedding pictures, souvenirs, etc.) to substantiate our claim. I supposed the Internationally authenticated marriage certificate was not enough proof. So, on Tuesday morning, Jeremy, Keiric, and I (missing a field trip with Kaylie) biked our way to the foreign police. I have to tell you - I was so nervous! Why? I don't know. We are married, and it's not like they could prove we weren't, but I kept thinking, "What if we don't have enough proof for them?" We didn't bring any wedding pictures with us to Holland, so the best we could do was to get together some family pictures. In the end, though, I didn't need to worry about the marriage license.

When we walked in, the administrator said, "Oh, you haven't been here yet, then you are not authorized to be here. You are illegally in Holland and we are going to have to fine you." Then I was really nervous! What was she talking about? Apparently, upon entering the Netherlands with the intent of applying for residence you must register with the foreign police within 3 days of arrival. This was news to us, and everyone else in the country that we have since told, because typically a tourist visa is good here for up to 90 days. I tried to explain that we had not been told this (by the city or the immigration department when we explicitly asked what we needed to do) nor did we see it written in any of the guidelines or applications. But it is apparently implied in a one-line phrase on a paper we were given from the city that says to make sure you remain legal in this country. Though it says nothing about the foreign police anywhere, we were supposed to (subliminally?) interpret that to mean; go to the Foreign police and report within three days of arrival. We also held our breath for a moment when, upon inspecting Jeremy's passport, the administrator practically accused him of living here illegally since 2003, since there was not a stamp in his passport saying he had returned to the US after our 2003 summer here. We had to convince her that they don't always stamp your passport on your way back and that he has been in Phoenix with us the whole time.

We tried to argue delicately (especially since we were then illegally in this country) but in the end had to pay a fine for our "ignorance." Jeremy had to run to a bank, and while he did, she just went ahead and signed off on the marriage, no questions asked! For that we got a nifty stamp in our passport that says we are now here legally and can now hopefully finish our application for our immigration appointment next week. It was an interesting morning, and while we are still confused with the bureaucracy of it all, we know that God has a plan. I was able to talk with the woman, while Jeremy ran to the bank, about why we are here. She commented on how much work it is for us to come for a year, and I replied that we felt it was important enough to go through all the hassle. She came from a church background, but now feels that it is not relevant for her life, though she said -nodding at Keiric- that it was good for kids; almost like she considered it to be similar to childrens' fairy tales or Santa Claus - part of the idealism of childhood, but not really practical for an adult. Hopefully, our encounter will leave an impression.