US Military Spouses

[eloko 0]

THATS FUNNY....

im already read all the post and it looks like its always the man who leaves the woman...

im married with a reserver soldier and SHES being deployed in june for 400 days, and when SHE receive the order to deploy we call right away immigration and with the order we being faster without them, but the thing its, only we have 2 months for everything before SHE leaves overseas... we are currently in NVC IV Fee bill, but takes to long for them to answer back... i send the paperwork on express mail and they send it in regular mail and that takes to long... the time its ending...

how can i make them, maybe, to they send the paperwork faster or something like that...

thanks ladies...

and to be honest, its weird being one out of all of you who its the men who stays and the women who is leaving...

Hi Eloko,

Please call the US Military Immigration Helpline

USCIS has established a toll-free military help line, 1-877-CIS-4MIL (1-877-247-4645), exclusively for members of the military and their families. USCIS customer service specialists are available to answer calls Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. (CST), excluding federal holidays.

They will give you all the information you need, and are extremely helpful. You will speak with USCIS directly and there will be no 'messing around'.

They will be able to help you with your expedite.

Let us know how you get on.

Best wishes to you and your wife during this difficult time.

Sarah x

hey, thanks for the answer, NVC already send the paperwork to Ciudad Juarez, so now we waiting for the rest of the process... now need to expedite the process on CDJ because my wife shes leaving in like 1 month more... this is going too fast now...

thanks for the help...

[Army_Wife 2]

Hi ladies!

I'm going through the k-1 visa process right now with my Fiance. We filed in early Feb, but we recently found out that he will be deployed. We have ask JAG and the mil. hotline about the expedite but weren't given any help in doing so. They said that all we could do was wait. Does anyone know anything about the expedite?

WE are also thinking of just voiding the k-1 ( breaks my heart.. all that work and waiting!) and just getting married in Canada a few months before he is shipped off. While he's gone, I am going to Korea to teach English and thorugh that that would be the perfect time to apply for the k-3 in Korea, while my hubbie was away.. so hopefully when he comes back, I will be alloed in the states and we can start a 'normal/ life.

Any ideas about how to make the expedite work, or if there's some huge red flag on my second option of the 130/k-3 thang?

Thanks!!

I'm sorry the Military Immigration Helpline was not good for you, I noticed myself that there was a new girl on the phone the other day who was a bit clueless ..... hopefully she'll learn fast, or move on.

In the meantime, here's the info for you to do the expedite yourself.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=43385

Goodluck, and do let us know how it goes.

Sarah x

[Thewhites 0]

We have finally sent theservice request to expedite our visa.. here's hoping!!

Thanks again, sarah.. like I already said.. you should be working for the hotline! lol

[MarineBabe 0]

Hi ladies!

I'm going through the k-1 visa process right now with my Fiance. We filed in early Feb, but we recently found out that he will be deployed. We have ask JAG and the mil. hotline about the expedite but weren't given any help in doing so. They said that all we could do was wait. Does anyone know anything about the expedite?

WE are also thinking of just voiding the k-1 ( breaks my heart.. all that work and waiting!) and just getting married in Canada a few months before he is shipped off. While he's gone, I am going to Korea to teach English and thorugh that that would be the perfect time to apply for the k-3 in Korea, while my hubbie was away.. so hopefully when he comes back, I will be alloed in the states and we can start a 'normal/ life.

Any ideas about how to make the expedite work, or if there's some huge red flag on my second option of the 130/k-3 thang?

Thanks!!

How does your second option work? I'm kinda confused here

May I ask where your fiance will be shipped to? Korea?

During my process, I didn't find military helpline very helpful as well.

The man who answered the phone was pretty mean. Too bad we couldn't remember his name

I hope you will find a good way.

[Thewhites 0]

Hi ladies!

I'm going through the k-1 visa process right now with my Fiance. We filed in early Feb, but we recently found out that he will be deployed. We have ask JAG and the mil. hotline about the expedite but weren't given any help in doing so. They said that all we could do was wait. Does anyone know anything about the expedite?

WE are also thinking of just voiding the k-1 ( breaks my heart.. all that work and waiting!) and just getting married in Canada a few months before he is shipped off. While he's gone, I am going to Korea to teach English and thorugh that that would be the perfect time to apply for the k-3 in Korea, while my hubbie was away.. so hopefully when he comes back, I will be alloed in the states and we can start a 'normal/ life.

Any ideas about how to make the expedite work, or if there's some huge red flag on my second option of the 130/k-3 thang?

Thanks!!

How does your second option work? I'm kinda confused here

May I ask where your fiance will be shipped to? Korea?

During my process, I didn't find military helpline very helpful as well.

The man who answered the phone was pretty mean. Too bad we couldn't remember his name

I hope you will find a good way.

My fiance will be shipped to Iraq. But, as I have previously worked teaching english in korea, I will go there while he's in Iraq. Its a job I love and very good money! hehe

My second option, is just to void the K-1, get married in Canada, and since I won't be allowed into the US until our 130 is complete and whatnot, I will go to korea and teach for a year while he is in iraq, and process for the greencard while in korea. That way..about a year or so from then.. hopefully, I will have the card and can be in the USA with him when he's finished in iraq.

Our only loss will be the money and time spent on the k-1 but to be married to him before he goes to iraq is very important to us.

I have a question about the expedite... if we do get to expedite the visa, will I have to stay in the USA for an extended period of time? IS the whole visa expedited I wonder... because I want to be able to leave the USA while he's in Iraq.

Edited April 25, 2008 by Thewhites

[B&J.S 0]

GRRRHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I told my SO about this 9 days visa...then he said that this guy he works with took only a week to get a visa for his wife,

then he said that he cant ask him how they do it now because he is on a different base !!!

.. i wish i can smack him like this

Hahhaha, sorry, Ruby, I don't mean to laugh, but your SO sounds just damn similiar with mine ... I wish I could do that to him sometiems too ... cause they sometimes just not quick witted enough- a polite way to say idiot ... my DH is applying for the expedite for me too, but now it took 2 weeks and I still see nothing yet ... Mmmm, was looking for an icon that beating on butt, I would love to beat on his butt instead of his head, that might make him more slower if I beat on his head ... lol...

ling

LOL in short he is stupid! he just lost his passport before he was deployed and only told me recently,, now he is gonna get a new one in baghdad on the first week of may... its so frustrating because he is so stubborn and wont listen to me sometimes...

maybe if i can do this then he will get back into his senses!!!

btw ling do u have myspace??

Same here with my idiot, he's stubborn too, always thinks he's right and could handle everything, but most of the times he screwed up things...

Yes, I have myspace, but I am just too lazy to get on there often I am going to add this link in my signature, feel free to add me anytime.

ling

ok ive added u in MYSPACE.. u can go check it out..

yeah i know what its like,, mine is kinda immature but i love him ...

you take care

ruby**

Hi Ruby, I went to your space, just as what I wrote to you at there, I really like your space and the pictures Sorry that I get you back late, something is going through here at my side about my marriage ... and I m just in depress for that ...

Hope you're well.

ling

[B&J.S 0]

Hi Sarah, Jamericanlove, Ling, Ruby_Jade, and Paris Heart,

How is everyone doing? Now it's time for me to share my little VJ.

Let me start with how I got into this insane situation. I was a graduate student in the US when we got married before his second deployment in 2005. Because of some personal reason, we didn't file the petition. We could have done this without any pain two years ago.

But anyway, because of some family emergency, I flew back home in January. None on us realized that I would have a hard time to get a non-immigrant visa until someone told me last month. We were so devastated when we found out how serious the situation was. I probably would not be able to come back to the US until 2009. But I had to come back to the US ASAP. Fortunately, I found this forum and found out something called DCF!

We understood that my husband had to be a resident to file I-130 in Taiwan. But since this is the fastest way, we still decided to try it. In the first two days, we had no way to contact the right person. He called American Institute in Taiwan (AIT)… they hung up on him. He called the base legal … they said we had to wait. He called military help line…they said they couldn't expedite our petition because we had not filed I-130 yet…As you could see, none of them was helpful. At that point, my smart hubby decided to write AIT an email asking for help. Meanwhile, he found the number of Taiwan desk of State Department. The gentleman gave my husband the direct number to the immigrant unit at AIT.

He called and explained the situation to the lady answering the phone at AIT. She told us she knew of our case via the email my hubby sent and she would let her boss know. On that same day, the unit chief called and said he would do his best to help us file in Taiwan. But because my husband could not leave the US to file I-130 in Taiwan, the chief had to make sure if this was within the boundary of law. On April 7th, the chief let us know that my husband could fax his I-130 first and then send the original one and the rest of the supporting documents to him, and I could hand in my part in person. So my hubby filed I-130 on the 9th. And I handed in my part on the 14th.

In Taiwan, there are only four hospitals that can conduct medical exams for immigrants. So it is not easy to make an appointment. But when I was there on the 14th, he had his people make an appointment for me and ask the hospital to have my result ready on Thursday (17th). I did the medical exam on the 14th and picked up my result on the 17th. I had an interview Friday (18th) and received my IR-1 3 hours later. I flew out on the 20th. This is what my hubby and I did not expect. When I was there for the interview, one officer there told me that they had never spent so much time on any applicant. But thanks to the chief, I made it here. He was so willing to help. Because of the time difference between Taipei and Washington (12 hours), he had to call Washington and wait for their response in his office late at night. We greatly appreciate his help. He made this happen.

I don't know if my experience provides any helpful information. To those whose husbands are getting deployed, maybe you can try the DCF route if you have valid reasons. If the consular is willing to help, things can be done way faster. Good luck to all of you.

Thanx for sharing this with us, MarineBabe... I am sure this could be helpful for some friends here , I just wish everyone here can be with their loves after all this...

ling

[B&J.S 0]

Oh my goodness MarineBabe, thankyou for this .... I know it will definately help someone on here at some point. There is no way any of us would think this sort of thing would have been possible, but you have proven that it is.

I'm sure everyone on this thread would agree with me when I say thankyou for your in depth account as to how your process was conducted.

Now, you go and enjoy the time with your Husband, and please let us know how you're doing when you get the chance.

It just goes to show, that where there's a will there's a way. We Military Spouses live an 'out of the box' lifestyle .... therefore it's great to see when one of us literally thinks 'out of the box' we get stuff done.

I'm going to add you to my friends list MarineBabe so that we can keep in touch .... that way if we ever need to find information out concerning the immigration process of a particular country in the future for our FRG's, we know who to contact.

You and your family are in my thoughts for a safe deployment, and a happy reunion in 2009.

Hi, Sarah, how are you doing? It's been a couple of days that I don't get on here... Something might happen to my marriage, I just don't wanna do anything but just sit at home and going crazy ... I saw you added the thread I posted about keeping the military safe in your signaure, thanks for that ... take care...

ling

[✿Ice Rain✿ 0]

Hello,

I am also a wife of an army, but my husband is not a full time active US Army anymore. He is now a civillian, but still part for US NG.

Just dropping to this thread to say hello to all of you guys. Take care, and good luck to the process.

Shape

[B&J.S 0]

Hi Sarah, Jamericanlove, Ling, Ruby_Jade, and Paris Heart,

How is everyone doing? Now it's time for me to share my little VJ.

Let me start with how I got into this insane situation. I was a graduate student in the US when we got married before his second deployment in 2005. Because of some personal reason, we didn't file the petition. We could have done this without any pain two years ago.

But anyway, because of some family emergency, I flew back home in January. None on us realized that I would have a hard time to get a non-immigrant visa until someone told me last month. We were so devastated when we found out how serious the situation was. I probably would not be able to come back to the US until 2009. But I had to come back to the US ASAP. Fortunately, I found this forum and found out something called DCF!

We understood that my husband had to be a resident to file I-130 in Taiwan. But since this is the fastest way, we still decided to try it. In the first two days, we had no way to contact the right person. He called American Institute in Taiwan (AIT)… they hung up on him. He called the base legal … they said we had to wait. He called military help line…they said they couldn't expedite our petition because we had not filed I-130 yet…As you could see, none of them was helpful. At that point, my smart hubby decided to write AIT an email asking for help. Meanwhile, he found the number of Taiwan desk of State Department. The gentleman gave my husband the direct number to the immigrant unit at AIT.

He called and explained the situation to the lady answering the phone at AIT. She told us she knew of our case via the email my hubby sent and she would let her boss know. On that same day, the unit chief called and said he would do his best to help us file in Taiwan. But because my husband could not leave the US to file I-130 in Taiwan, the chief had to make sure if this was within the boundary of law. On April 7th, the chief let us know that my husband could fax his I-130 first and then send the original one and the rest of the supporting documents to him, and I could hand in my part in person. So my hubby filed I-130 on the 9th. And I handed in my part on the 14th.

In Taiwan, there are only four hospitals that can conduct medical exams for immigrants. So it is not easy to make an appointment. But when I was there on the 14th, he had his people make an appointment for me and ask the hospital to have my result ready on Thursday (17th). I did the medical exam on the 14th and picked up my result on the 17th. I had an interview Friday (18th) and received my IR-1 3 hours later. I flew out on the 20th. This is what my hubby and I did not expect. When I was there for the interview, one officer there told me that they had never spent so much time on any applicant. But thanks to the chief, I made it here. He was so willing to help. Because of the time difference between Taipei and Washington (12 hours), he had to call Washington and wait for their response in his office late at night. We greatly appreciate his help. He made this happen.

I don't know if my experience provides any helpful information. To those whose husbands are getting deployed, maybe you can try the DCF route if you have valid reasons. If the consular is willing to help, things can be done way faster. Good luck to all of you.

Oh, btw, MarineBabe, what does DCF stand for ?

ling

[Army_Wife 2]

Hi, Sarah, how are you doing? It's been a couple of days that I don't get on here... Something might happen to my marriage, I just don't wanna do anything but just sit at home and going crazy ... I saw you added the thread I posted about keeping the military safe in your signaure, thanks for that ... take care...

ling

Hi Ling, I'm fine. Just wating for the approval as usual. You're welcome about the post link in my signature, I think it's important and so I thought I'd add it.

Will PM you in a bit about the rest of your message.

Sarah x

Hello,

I am also a wife of an army, but my husband is not a full time active US Army anymore. He is now a civillian, but still part for US NG.

Just dropping to this thread to say hello to all of you guys. Take care, and good luck to the process.

Shape

Hi Shape, your process should be not far to finishing now .... do you have an idea as to timeline yet? Do you know when you'll be flying into the US ?

Loving your new cute posts by the way, I really must liven up my profile too.

Nice to hear from you, take care and hope to hear from you again soon

Sarah x

Oh, btw, MarineBabe, what does DCF stand for ?

ling

DCF is Direct Consular Filing .... it's where you apply through the consulate in that country, and is a lot faster as USCIS is avoided. Normally, both you and the USC have to be living in the country where you will be filing, but obviously in this instance the consulate kindly helped out one of us in a needy situation.

[B&J.S 0]

Hi, Sarah, how are you doing? It's been a couple of days that I don't get on here... Something might happen to my marriage, I just don't wanna do anything but just sit at home and going crazy ... I saw you added the thread I posted about keeping the military safe in your signaure, thanks for that ... take care...

ling

Hi Ling, I'm fine. Just wating for the approval as usual. You're welcome about the post link in my signature, I think it's important and so I thought I'd add it.

Will PM you in a bit about the rest of your message.

Sarah x

Hello,

I am also a wife of an army, but my husband is not a full time active US Army anymore. He is now a civillian, but still part for US NG.

Just dropping to this thread to say hello to all of you guys. Take care, and good luck to the process.

Shape

Hi Shape, your process should be not far to finishing now .... do you have an idea as to timeline yet? Do you know when you'll be flying into the US ?

Loving your new cute posts by the way, I really must liven up my profile too.

Nice to hear from you, take care and hope to hear from you again soon

Sarah x

Oh, btw, MarineBabe, what does DCF stand for ?

ling

DCF is Direct Consular Filing .... it's where you apply through the consulate in that country, and is a lot faster as USCIS is avoided. Normally, both you and the USC have to be living in the country where you will be filing, but obviously in this instance the consulate kindly helped out one of us in a needy situation.

Ahh, got it finally, I thought it's the embassy my husband apply I-130 in the states... Thanks, Sarah...

ling

[MarineBabe 0]

Ling,

DCF is just like what Sarah says. But it still needs to go through USCIS, just in a different way. The embassy still needs to get the clearance there.

I hope you are feeling better.

And Sarah, your are always so fast and informative ^^

[Army_Wife 2]

Ling,

DCF is just like what Sarah says. But it still needs to go through USCIS, just in a different way. The embassy still needs to get the clearance there.

I hope you are feeling better.

And Sarah, your are always so fast and informative ^^

MarineBabe, I'm laughing ..... I'm sure it's because I'm soooo caught up in my own visa processing, that I'm on this website far too much

[B&J.S 0]

Ling,

DCF is just like what Sarah says. But it still needs to go through USCIS, just in a different way. The embassy still needs to get the clearance there.

I hope you are feeling better.

And Sarah, your are always so fast and informative ^^

Thanks, MarineBabe, I am feeling much better now, I am so happy to know you guys as my friends

take care

ling