we got it! we got the EEA family permit!

To all those couples who are worried and confused about this EEA permit process I am writing this for you.  Got married to my dutch love in december and then travelled w/ him to the states for him to meet my dad for a month.  fast forward to february and alot of kicking ourselves in the proverbial for not having our documents in order.  That is the name of the game people: the actual visa took 5 days for them to process; it was just the document gathering that was a pain.  here is how it went: sent paperwork from regular mail on a tuesday afternoon; got the confirmation e-mail wednesday.  confirmed by monday morning that my process was successful and that they were sending my stuff back to me by UPS the next day.  The best advice anyone here can give you is have all your paperwork.  Have notarized copies of all passports and marriage docs.  translations-easy: go to a professional service that will put a stamp on your translated docs saying that they are pros and this is accurate.  Remember some official docs can be scanned so rental/employment agreements are good there( but to be safe only as last resort).  If you do have a criminal record just cop to it: better to be honest here and also if you can you should try to get it expunged/charges dismissed if it wasn't a felony and it happened a long time ago.   Rule here:  send them everything you got.  The more stuff you have to prove that A) you are married and B) not going to rely on public funds the better.  So good luck everyone that is stressing and I want to thank everyone here at this forum for providing me and my love such great advice over the past few months.   

Congratulations    It feels good to have everything fall into place.