But the root cause of the situation that American Express created is one that could impact anyone, so I ultimately decided to share. Last Monday was my wedding day. However, what started as a friendship and then a fling grew into two years of talking to each other every day and traveling together to UNESCO World Heritage sites. Eventually, we decided we liked each other enough to file immigration paperwork, and after exploring my career opportunities in Kazakhstan vs.
Eventually the paperwork was approved, and Rakhat arrived. We were planning to get married at a private gathering on Orcas Island, on a picture perfect balcony, with some of the most beautiful scenery in the Pacific Northwest as our backdrop. The US Consulate in Almaty had other plans. They use a contractor to process US visas and associated documentation, and the contractor failed to return an envelope full of documentation intended for Customs and Border Protection.
When Rakhat showed up, he was paroled into the United States for 30 days while we sorted out the documentation problem with the US Consulate fortunately, they admitted their error and FedExed the needed documentation. And if all of this sounds completely insane, welcome to the US immigration system.
Anyway, we decided to make lemonade from lemons. Why not get married at Sea-Tac Airport? And then I set about to turning our dream into a reality. I reached out to a good friend, who is a Sea-Tac Airport volunteer. I shared my plans with my friend, who investigated options.
However, the American Express Lounge had a private room, and we were welcome to use it for the ceremony. Also, many people we knew from the private event we attended on Orcas Island were flying out that day as well. And we could return on a quick flight ourselves.
