u/yourunclejeb

And how was the relationship when the green card was still a ways away from being given?

And if you do, why? And if you had a career prior to it, do you wish you stayed there?

I am curious to hear about your perspectives as I mull a career switch to LEO.

Location: NJ, USA

I went to university for IT. When I graduated in late 2022, the tech job market started to fall apart, i.e. local warehouse IT jobs would have 1,000 applications, people I knew who moved out to California for jobs got laid off within months of starting out over there, etc. It took me a few months to land my current job, which is a state job in Trenton that was advertised as an IT position, but almost 4 years later, all my promotions have been non-technical roles where all I do is make PowerPoints for higher-ups and their meetings. The job is easy (a couple days remote) and very secure, but I really hate the mundane work, especially sitting in an office in Trenton all day and emailing indecisive people back and forth. I don't do anything that I was hired to do, my IT degree is useless here.

My family says I'll never have a job like this again, but it's not paying the bills (almost half my paychecks get deducted to taxes/benefits/etc. - I know people who have a lower salary than me but have more cash every month than me), and there's no room for skillset development or career growth - if I stay here, I will be making PowerPoints for the higher ups until I retire. I don't want to do that.

I've been thinking about becoming a local cop somewhere in South Jersey. I don't have any family police connections, but my family and I know a few cops who said that if I wanted in, they'd be able to help me get started.

I've felt drawn to police work in the past, but seeing the environment post-2020 (if you know what I mean) made me steer clear of it since then, plus I was a political ideologue then - I did not want to be arresting people for laws I disagreed with (drug possession, possession of "assault weapons" etc.). Those days have come and gone, I am married now, we want kids, I've been looking at my options besides my current job and I am approaching 30 - it's time to look at things like an adult.

I am looking to hear about the experience of police officers who were in a similar situation to me before their career - either working in the tech sector, or worked some other "cushy" office job they just got tired of before they switched careers and became a cop.

Long time lurker, occassional commenter here.

I got married to a Nicaraguan woman at the beginning of this year. I didn't go to her, she immigrated here under TPS (or whatever it is) during COVID, and we met on Hinge and the rest is history; I joke that she found me.

Obviously I know this isn't a true "passport bro" post but I assume this sub would have people who have dealt with the same thing I'm dealing with, and that is my wife is terribly homesick.

My wife doesn't have a lot of friends here and rarely goes out to do anything besides work and errands; sounds pretty dope at first but that means she can get a certain way if I am out with my friends without her especially if I come back late-ish.

The other day the topic of friends came up in discussion and I must've said something wrong (I was saying how I want her to make more friends here, such as introducing her to my friends' spouses and partners) and she kinda blew up saying "it wasn't my choice to come here, my parents made me come with them" and "all my friends are back home, I don't need anymore friends."

That cut the conversation pretty short; obviously, she is homesick. Currently working on getting her permanent residency here, so she cannot exactly take a quick trip home (especially being on TPS with the current admin). Also, Nicaragua is not very politically stable right now, so that's another thing I am a bit worried about...

Have any of you who have brought your partner back home dealt with something like this before? How did it go and what would be helpful for me to do/know here?

Wife overstayed her visa 3 years ago. We are currently working with a lawyer to get her legal/a green card.

Wife and I got married earlier this year in a town in NJ. Since then, apparently, the town has had most of its office staff (including the mayor somehow) quit/resign.

Lawyer told us we need a certified copy of our marriage certificate to proceed; copies we have right now are not certified and therefore not valid. I went to the town last week to ask for it; they told us that they didn't have it and that I should go to the (Catholic) Church where we got married. I went there, they only had a non-certified copy of our marriage certificate, and told me to go to our state capitol (Trenton) to get the certified copy... and here's where it gets fun.

I go there, and they tell me that the marriage certificate is WRONG. Where "Spouse A" is, instead of my name, it is the name of the REGISTRAR of the town on there, who is also the one who signed off on the certificate. Given that this person is a woman, and my wife is a woman, there is no way that a Catholic priest would sign off on that. The state office gave me (again) a non-certified copy of the certificate that leave Spouse A blank (but everything else is filled and correct), and in order to get a certified copy, I will need to file for an adjustment/correction.

If I file that with the state, who I am very sure won't f*** it up, it will take 8-10 weeks; if I file it with the town, who f***ed it up in the first place, it will take (allegedly) 6-8 weeks.

Obviously I know what has to be done, (fill out form, wait) but I am BEYOND frustrated right now; my wife is in legal limbo right now, especially with everything going on, and another month+ of waiting because of someone else's F*** UP is unbelievable. Part of me thinks the town telling me they didn't have it was them covering their asses; they have been in the news in recent years for some serious municipal mishaps with licenses and whatnot (I won't name and shame just yet)