Getting an American immigration visa or green card is next to impossible if you are not a famous scientist or a successful athlete and you do not have millions in your bank account, either. If you are just an average guy, you have a tiny chance of getting it. Unless you get married, in which case you win the golden ticket.

Ellis island when foreigners were welcome

I am not saying that you should get married to a U.S. citizen just to get a visa – this could have worked in 1960’s, but today it is hard if you think you can beat the system today. The USCIS will be watching you and if it is fake, the way they are checking now, in the department of homeland security it will not end good. Be sure they will find out and ship you back to where you came from. It is not worth it, because your legal entry to the States will be banned. And that is not good for anyone.

• Marriage visa – However, if you happen to be in love with an US citizen who you intend to marry, it is a different story. I got my wife a Visa for the USA and I can help you if you have any questions. The first thing is go to the US embassy website and download form I-130 and follow the instructions. You need photos, all primary documents like birth and marriage and medical history and job history. But really the visa is about something else, you guessed it, the green stuff, money.
• The only one real requirement to get someone a visa for the USA –  you have to worry about is you need 1.5 times the poverty rate of US based income. That is you have to show US income for about six months to prove you can provide for your family. If you are in the military or teach English abroad do not assume this to be so easy. It has to be US based income.

Becoming a legal US resident is a process of filling out forms and a lot of people get turned down. The reason people do not meet the requirements is ‘money’. In my opinion this is not fair, it is not democracy. It is anti family. But those are the rules and arguing with embassy staff will not get you anywhere.

• You can read about my respect for US government system and workers here: -> www.political-economy.com/us-foreign-service-jobs-embassy-workers/

I know what they really, they want to see a high level of income. Having a degree and a job is always a good thing and increases your chances as it makes you look serious and like you could support yourself and your family without access to public funds, but US based income is that they want.

The USA has all these names and abbreviations for the forms and requirements in this process which foreign service workers know, and it rolls off their tongues, but the process comes down to money. The whole application process is about one thousand dollars and you need to be making about 30,000 dollars a year for a year, in the USA before you can bring your family over. That is it. They of course have to believe you are in love and married for love not a visa, but that is secondary in my opinion.

How to get a K1 visa to at least get your fiance into the USA to get married

This is a fiance visa and you have to get married within six months of entering.

1. Your American spouse has to fill out the I-129 F form at the USCIS office in the district they belong to. This cannot be done at the embassy outside the country. Your kids under the age of 21 can get a visa as well if they are included in the petition.
2. Wait for the petition to get approved by the National Visa Center. This might take anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks for most cases and no longer than 90 days. It is then sent to your home country’s embassy or consulate. You can check on its status on USCIS website.
3. The embassy will send you a letter with further instructions and a list of documents that you need to provide, including the affidavit of support. Take an extra copy of any document or form that you use. Fill out the IV- F04 form and send it back to them. Soon after that they will set an appointment for your interview. Make sure you bring all the papers from the list to your interview. They also require you to bring any personal items that will prove your relationship with your fiancé, such as pictures, letters or plane tickets, if you traveled somewhere together. The more you collect, the better, but try to choose the most significant ones if you have a big pile of them.
4. You need a medical check up and some vaccinations, those cannot be done at the doctor’s office of your choice. You will get specific instructions in the letter. Bring the papers to your interview as well.
5. It costs $350 to apply for the visa, you can pay it on the day of your interview or earlier, whatever is more convenient for you. The currency can be US dollars or the local currency, depending on the policy of your embassy or consulate. Keep the receipt, as you will have to present it to the interviewer.

The interview

You will most likely be surprised by how smooth it goes. People think this is the most important thing, it means little, money is the most important thing. You just wait in a big room and in front of the window like the Post office they ask you some questions. Everyone I know that has been down that road said it is a lot less ‘scary’ than they thought it would be. The questions you will be more than likely asked include: how long you have known each other, can you speak English, what do you do for a living, etc. If you ever applied for any kind of visa you will be familiar with some of these.

Here are some of my other posts about visa’s and citizenship:

• Citizenship by marriage
• baby born in a foreign country
• Buying a Citizenship
• How to be a dual citizen
• EU citizenship
• Marry a Polish citizen
• Living in Europe
• Polish EU visa requirement
• How to get a Visa to the USA for your husband or wife

If you have questions about the US spousal visa or K1 visa just ask, I got my wife one.

Many people ask me why I live in Europe?  Why do you live where you do? If it is because you were born in your country, wrong answer.

When you are 96 years old are you going to look back on your life and say you wish you had more adventures? I live in Krakow, Poland but was born in the US. I am not saying everything everyday is wonderful and super terrific, however, it is beautiful. Life in American is easy, life in Eastern Europe is beautiful. What do you want an easy life or a beautiful life?

I think if you ever get the chance to live abroad do it. I live in Europe because living in Europe in general I can experience so many things that I can not in the United States.

Day in the life of some expats in Europe

First here are some photos of what I did today living in Europe (sorry I left my good camera at home, maybe next time). I guarentee on a Tuesday afternoon in the USA you were not doing the same.

Life in Europe is beautiful

I know there are Middle Age fairs in the USA and reenactors etc. I know the USA has history, but Poland and espcially Krakow where I live has so much history, almost everyday I step out my door and there is something new. If you not in Krakow you feel like your missing something.

This is what it is like to life in Europe. What are you doing today?

Further in the USA everyone, myself included is so programmed to be a career warrior that smelling the roses means taking your laptop to Starbucks from time to time. No way. This is not my idea of living my life. people in Poland and in Europe in general take time to smell real roses and gather a few rose buds while they are at it.  Perhaps it will change but Europe is an interesting place to live.

Life is fun living abroad

I think the split in European and American thinking came from the enlightenment. America took the pragmatic approach while Europe the Romantic lifestyle.

Sometimes you have to fight to survive as an Expat living in Eastern Europe

I am American and like all of us we for formatted like a hard disk to succeed and win, especially in business or on our Resume.  In Europe it is quite OK to be poor.  However, it is not OK if you do not take your two months of vacation in the summer.

Live a life of adventure

Life here also has a mystical side.

Life is a mysterious and beautiful when you are living the life you want

I hope you enjoyed some of these photos I took of the Medieval fair in Krakow I went to yesterday.

If you think living in Europe is about going to the pub and sitting in cafes you are wrong. If you think your life is about working for your resume , career or for your company you are lost. Companies will change you one way. Living in Europe will change you in another way. If you can ever pull yourself away from the Matrix and live as an abroad as an expat do it.  Sometimes my days are harder than in the USA. But other days like when I stepped outside my door and spent the afternoon walking through living history, life is beautiful.  The choice is yours. You can take the blue pill or the red pill. What choice are you making  in your life?

Why is Galeria Bonarka Kraków important?  Let me explain. I am an American living in Kraków Poland. When I came here over five years ago, I was the richest guy riding on the tram.  Now I look around me and I ask myself, am I even average? I do not think so.  Polish people have become rich.

Polish people will say no, but it is true (Polish people sometimes complain). However, this is is the fact, Poland has always been a great nation, just manifest in different ways for different times.

Now Poland and Krakow is becoming rich not only from a cultural, spiritual and historic center but also capitalist center.  Galeria Bonarka is a manifestation of this but not really anything great in itself of course.

Kraków is still charming and historic. But the reality is Kraków is getting rich. Galeria Bonarka will also create jobs and investment and make it even richer.

Gareria Bonarka city center the largest in Europe

Galeria Bonarka Kraków is the largest shopping center in Kraków, oh wait Poland, no wait, central Europe.  Well it is over 200,000 square meters and will be bigger than anything in the UK or America.  At this current time it matches the UK and the USA.

Galeria Bonarka vs. Mall of America - Bonarka city center wins

The only thing in the USA that comes close to Galeria Bonarka (234 thousand square meters) is the Mall of America in Michigan (259 thousand square meters or the two king of Prussia malls in Philadelphia combined (257 thousand square meters).  The UK or Ireland does not have anything that will come close to this real estate investment.

You may say Galeria Bonarka is smaller by a bit.  But the reality is it will not be done until 2012, at that juncture is you take into consideration the entire Kraków shopping complex of Bonarka it will be larger.

I love America but Poland is the new world. Full of economic energy and development and the investments are new and shinny, while America is the old world and a lot of the things look thirty years old.

In 2012 it should be bigger than any shopping center in the USA or Europe.   (it will be done in 3 years as they are going to add to it).

It even has a Walmart type store.  It is called Auchen it is a French store even though it sounds German.

I can not believe how much Krakow has changed in 5 years.

That combined it the five other large Galleria makes Krakow, now the shopping center of Europe.

I guess Polish people have money.  I think it is because all the businesses flooding into Krakow from all over the world.  It is an outsourcing and IT, high tech capital, its like the silicon valley was in the USA.

Cheese has moved to Kraków (as manifest by Bonarka)

Anyway, there is a book in the USA called ‘who moved my Cheese’ it is about corporate America and how to survive.  It says change is the rule in business.   And the mouse that does not see this will ask ‘who moved my cheese’.  The smart mouse will not cry about it, but look for a new source of cheese.

I think the cheese moved to Krakow.

Let me know your comments about Galeria Bonarka.  I know this is a little off the topic languages but I like to write about all things of interest to me and Kraków, Poland is something that does.

This post is not about languages, but about galeria Bonarka city center opening in Kraków. I am an American in Kraków and sometimes get off the subject of langauges.  I can not believe all the Galeria’s that have opened in Krakow. It is a good thing, I guess.  I am not complaining, but read on to see why you will not see me shopping in Krakow there.

Update about Bonarka

I just got back from Bonarka, it is great.  It is cheap like Walmart but fancy like a European shopping center.  I spend 300 pln and that is a lot of money for me.  So my judgement is it is very nice, but you will spend because everything is so cheap.

The newest galeria is  Bonarka city center. It will have a movie theater with 20 movie screens and 270 shops, including Empik which I love.  Bonarka city center will be bigger than M1, galeria Krakowska and Galeria Kazimierz. Therefore, Krakow shopping has really opened up. It will be the biggest shopping mall in southern Poland, but I have also herd all of central Europe.

Bonarka is open now but will not be fully complete by 2012.  They contractionally have to open now. However, there are of course design problems.  I was over there today they have a lot of run for expansion.

Bonarka by the way is named after the area of Krakow that as an ancient ocean which has resurfaced as a fossil rich area.

Galeria Bonarka city center

It will be the biggest shopping mall in Kraków for sure.  The total investment was about 500 million Euro. I think it is a Hungarian multi-national EU investment group. The main anchor store is French.  I have no objection to large consumer centers in Krakow or in Poland. I think it is great in Poland you can get soft consumer goods with better customer service that was once only found in the USA.

In fact there is no reason to go shopping in the USA or UK as I have found many prices in Poland cheaper than the west. It is a Polish myth that the west is cheap.  I am an American living in Poland.  Poland is very cheap compared to the west.  There is no reason to live anywhere but Poland anymore.  Further, if you can not find it directly in Poland I just order it from ebay and I have it in a week, but when I compare apples to apples Polish prices are cheaper.

But me personally, I have to stay away from places like Bonarka as they are pure temptation to spend money. I want to earn money not spend it all at Bonarka.  I may try to go there only from time to time.

Bonarka city center is more for single Polish girls in their twenties

Further, a galaria like Bonarka city center is mostly for single girls in their 20s buying clothes at large retail type chain shops.  Nothing unique or special, but sometimes nice. But lets be honest its just hyper market. But I am not complaining as Poland is developing and I am very pro Poland.  Further, many guys say shopping in Kraków is a good way to meet Polish girls.  I do not care for this myself as I am off the market.

Often times the prices in a Kraków’s galaria is often quite good. Prices if you are a bargain hunter are better than even the open markets if you compare quality.  This is because of economies of scale.

I image this will be the same for Bonarka city center.  The buyers find the best prices and quality.  Not as cheap as a small market but the quality is good. However, the point is there is so much to choose from that when you go into a galeria like Bonarka city center, you can not help to spend money.

Good thing about Bonarak city center Kraków

It is not in the city center directly.  That means it does not destroy the historical feel of Kraków. It is about 15 minutes from the center, but it is not right by the castle.  I am very much into Kraków history and it upsets me when I see greedy Kraków real estate investors destroy the beauty of the old city.  So again I have no problem with a large hyper consumptive shopping galeria like Bonarka city center in Kraków as long as I personally do not shop there everyday and it is not in the city center really.

Bonarka good and bad

• Many choices at Bonarka and good quality
• Not in the old town and nice design
• More jobs

On the other hand

• Bonarka just another reason to spend money instead of invest money my money in own life and business.
• Hyper market, but a very nice one.

Overall I will not shop at this Krakow city center galeria too much, because I can not afford to be hyper consumptive.   Do not get my wrong, I would love to, I just need to save money not spend it.   I am trying to save for an apartment and Krakow real estate is crazy in terms of price.  I guess the conclusion we can draw from all of these things like galeria  Bonarka city center Krakow is people in Poland have money.  Polish people say no we are poor, but the evidence does not support this. But overall I think it is a good think for Krakow as many people enjoy galeria shopping in Kraków.

Do you want to convert square meters to square feet? I am an American living in Europe (not in London, but Krakow, Poland) and the most useful thing when converting the metric system to the English system of measure are rules of thumb.

When you have a rule of thumb, you can take it anywhere and use it anywhere.  If you use a calculator every time you want to convert a sq meter to a sq foot than it is not as convenient.

The most obvious reason why you need to know how this is to measure a unit of area when you are looking for an apartment or evaluating a plaza. It is commonly referred to as cost per square foot or cost per square metre. With this rule, you can to compare prices of flats back home to Europe lets say.  It is hard to feel what 50 square meters is if you are use to the English system.

Basically any real estate whether for sale or for rent is evaluated on price per square foot or metre (British spelling).  It makes not sense to look at a unit at the over all price, you need to evaluate the rent or purchase price in relation to the sq m price or rent and how that compares to the apartments in the same neighborhood.

Square meters to square feet

Sq mt to sq ft rule of thumb

Here is my rule of thumb for converting. Take the measure in square metres and multiply it by ten.  Therefore, a flat that is 50 square meters flat is about 500 square feet.  The reality 1 square meter = 10.7639104 square feet so this is not exact formula, but it is very close.

Here is a table that might be useful:

square meters  to  square feet
30                                    322
40                                   431
50                                   538
75                                   807
100                                1076
150                                 1615
200                                 2153
sq m            to               sq ft

The rest you can extrapolate.

A typical apartment for a single person expat is about 50 meters, for a couple about 75 meters and for a family it is about 100 meters plus in Europe. Prices in Europe are very pricey.  I think Americans are use to a much larger scale for living, however, in European cities there is more culture and for Americans life is very interesting. In Eastern Europe it is a little on the smaller size and in Western Europe perhaps a little larger.  But really cities like Paris are no value any more.

The word metre comes from the Greek word which literally means to measure, it is based on the International system of measure or SI. It is ten million meters from the equator to the north pole (running through Paris of course as a Frenchman devised this system.

A square meter is the area of a square whose side equal one meter. m2 is the symbol.
A square foot is from the imperial unit / U.S. customary unit of measure and is used in the US, Canada and the UK.

Therefore, in summary, the rule of thumb I use for the square meters to feet conversion is simply multiply the number times ten.

Why is Italy one of the most visited counties in the world?  Not because the prices are very reasonable or  air Italia has great specials on flights, its because Italy is simply amazing.

Rene Decartes wrote “Every generalization is a distortion of the truth”.  So anything I write here is a broad sweep of the pen, but I do not know if I have ever herd anyone say they do not like Italy.

I am an American in Poland teaching English.  My students go all over Europe and universally say, Italy is an almost ideal place for vacation and life. I would have to agree.

This post is a little fast and perhaps not my best written, but what I wanted to convey is clear. If you have ever considered visiting Italy, do it. This is from an American who has lived in Europe for many years.

The climate is mild, with beautiful warm beaches, however, the mountains have some of the best skiing and rock climbing in the world.  Even in the south from Naples to Sicily they get snow in the mountains.

Because of the mild climate and the old volcanic activity of the Appian mountains the soil is great for growing food and the people from Lombardy to Calabria have some of the best cooks in the world.

Sorry if this post sounds like a travel commercial, it is not my intention, I guess I am writing this because in my post about SAO Beach in Krakow I did not approve of an Italian firm coming into beautiful Krakow and building a bar in a national park.  Sorry if this was taken the wrong way.  I still think that firm is doing the wrong thing, but nothing against the Italians as a whole.

Great Italians in history

When you think of genius you think of Leonardo Da Vinci, perhaps all Italians have some of this greatness in them.  When you meet the most common Italian they all have some special talent.

Some are barbers ( I had an Italian barber) and some are masons (I think the mason work done by simple Italian workers (like the mansions in New Port, RI) are something that can not be reproduced because it is almost like they have it in their blood)  and some are doctors but they almost all are universally talented. I have the utmost respect for Italians.

Carnival in Venice, Italy

I have a particular interest in renaissance painting.  I the rich blues and colors use and realism in the Italian renaissance, painters like Raphael, Masaccio and Botticelli.

The Italian family

Why are Italians such nice people? I think it is a combination of their strong family values and the church.  The Latin people from the Alps to the mediterranean have deep respect for religion.

In my own experience, in countries like Ireland, Poland, Spain, Italia, Romania, Ukraine and Greece where church and family are strong, in my experience as a traveller, I feel safer and the the people are welcoming and often will give you the shirt off their backs.

Love phrases in Italian

Were not Romeo and Juliet Italian? Well I have written a page for love phrases in Italian. I do not think any culture has a monopoly on love but I think the people in the Repubblica Italiana have a rich tradition both in literature and reality of romantic love.

In fact, I think Rome was conquered by love, literally.  Did you know that the walled city of Roma held out against the barbarian invasion?  It is speculated that a Roman princess (476 A.D.) was in love with one of the besiegers of the city and at night she opened the gate. I guess the Roman poet was right “love conquers all” -Virgil.

Where is the famous Chakra of Krakow, which often times official tour guides do no like to talk about and many people ask me where is the Chakra of Cracow? It is in the Castle in the court yard in the East corner.

location of the chakra of Cracow

Here is a photo close up of the Krakow chakra. The energy is from deep within the earth and radiates up.

Krakow chakra

What is the Krakow chakra

There are seven energy plexus in the world, one of them being in Krakow, Poland in the Wawel castle.  It is the second chakra connected with passion and life generation.  It is an inter dimensional portal that has existed before recorded time.  Humans have lived on Wawel hill about 50,ooo year maybe as long as 100,000 years but I think more like 50,000 years at most, this is based on archaeological evidence.

Wawel hill was a center for Pagan worship and mythology with idols along the Vistula river.

I do not believe in all this new age stuff, but I do believe in archaeology and science and religion in the ultimate meaning of the universe.  I think there is a reality  deeper than our brains can perceive.  In fact, like Hegal argued there is a complex stratification of reality.

I point this out as the Chakra of Krakow is interesting and important part of some Eastern Religions.

You can see people meditating and touching it all year around.  So many people are there the walls are worn.

History of the seven Shiva energy stones

The seven places,  chakras, are: Krakow, Rome, Mecca, Delhi, Delphi, Jerusalem,  and Velehrad. This is according to Hindu religion. Look up lord Shiva, he is seen as the transformer.

God caste seven stones into the world and the energy radiates from these points. Some people say studies confirm this.

It would be cool if an inter dimensional time space portal plexus did exist there on Wawel hill. Let me know if you know anything more or have questions about the

I watched the film Transsiberian last night with my wife Kasia. I would give it a two thumbs up. One of my off the beaten path dreams has been to cross Siberian with via the transsiberian railroad across Russia. The trip is about a week and you can buy tickets in any European city for about 250 dollars. You can end in China or in Russia’s Pacific coast. The people I have known that have crossed Siberia this way have universally said they loved it, however, you have to be able to sit in a train for a week and talk to Russians about politics, philosophy and the world, if you want to or not.

The Film Transsiberian

Although the film Transsiberian was full of cliches and stereotypes about Russia and the Russians, it did give you a sense of how different you feel as a westerner living in a Slavic country (I am one). I would say the plot felt similar to a Jason Bourne movie, full of suspense, but low budget and not mass marketed. It was about two Americans taking the Transsiberian rail across Russia as they returned from a church based charity work in China, they hope to do something adventous. However, they did not listen to the advice ‘you should never talk to strangers’. I will not give any of the plot away. If you can rent or go to the movies I would recommend seeing Transsiberian.  If you have interest in ever living or traveling to a Slavic county, like Russia let me know, and I can give you some tips.

Rules will vary for each country, but if you want a driving license in the EU and you are a non-EU citizen here are your general options.

Lets say you are an American citizen, you can drive with an international drivers license for one year in the EU. International drivers licenses simple to get and you can get them at AAA for example.

However, you are a resident of the EU and you have a US driving licence and you want a EU driver license you must take the full written and driving test in the country you live. However, you usually have another option.

You can exchange your US driving license for an EU drivers license. You can surrender your US drivers license to the driving office in that country and just pass the written exam without the road test. The written exams for EU drivers licenses are low stress and you can study with a computer program, you just need to memorizes the rules. This is great as you do not need a road test to get a drivers license in the EU (usually). But you will have to speak the language of the country enough to take the drivers test in the language of the country you reside in.

The road exam for a EU drivers license is notoriously hard. Natives will often fail five times. You can not do one little thing wrong; and it is illegal to bribe the examiner, which was the rule maybe ten years ago in many countries.

A driving course to get a drivers license in the EU is about 700 dollars and well worth the investment if you are going to hang around the EU. You can even get it in English, for a 20% premium.

What will I do? I have a US drivers license. I live in Poland an EU country. I think I will take a course

Schengen Countries

Schengen is a zone that includes most countries of Europe. The UK is not a full Schengen country so do not expect to come to and from the UK unless all your documents are in order.  However,  for full Schengen countries it is basically the elimination of boarders between these counties for travel. If you have a EU passport or a permanent residence in one of these countries you can move freely. Visa and residence holders have up to a three month stay. While Schengen members can stay forever in any country which belongs to that zone.

Schengen Visa

A visa cost 35 Euros. It applies to certain passport holders. Ukraine has had problems with this because Ukrainians are Europeans that have very close ties to Poland and Western Europe, however, now have to pay a 35 Euro fee, which is a lot in this part of the world.
Basically North and South Americans and Australians can travel to the Schengen zone for 3 months.
On a side note, however, I know now that for American illegals in Europe, in Schengen countries, and there are a lot of them, they are having a harder time in the Schengen zone as exiting and entrance is no longer the easy game it use to be. Schengen boarders are strict. However, there are no boarder checks within the Schengen zone.

Schengen

Schengen is a great thing. Why? Peace and love. Free movement of people for travel, and with the EU, labor and capital, in a common cultural area promotes peace. Europe has been torn apart and destroyed by attempts to do this with war, now has woken up. So I think the Schengen zone is a very good thing.