January filers VSC lottery, who gets the jackpot next?

[KitEEgirl 0]

Hooray!!

Paul just got his visa in the mail ! woooooo he will definitely be here on the 18th!! :)

[Damian&Kelly 16]

Congratulations on the VIH!!!

We went and applied for Damian's SSN today. waited about 10 min and we were out within 15. said it'd come in the mail within 2 weeks yay!

[Alex & Rachel 78]

Good luck to Sal tomorrow for the scan!

[Sal and Jay 2]

Good luck to Sal tomorrow for the scan!

Thanks Rachael, be glad when its over and at least I will know if I will get my visa or not soon.

[Alex & Rachel 78]

I know...Darren is originally from Essex, but has been in Devon for over 20 years...never heard an accent like his, but, boy, do I love it!!!

I'd love to hear what his accent sounds like!

Good luck to Sal tomorrow for the scan!

Thanks Rachael, be glad when its over and at least I will know if I will get my visa or not soon.

I bet it'll be a huge relief! Here's to you finally getting your visa.

[Amanda+Stephen 0]

Pls do, I would really appreciate it.

OK, so yesterday was of no help. The Raleigh-Durham USCIS local office just opened in the last month, they are barely up and running, and the employees barely trained. They didn't even listen to what we were saying, and told us to get SSN we'd have to file EAD (which we already knew to file EAD after marriage). So they went round and round with us, and then gave us a big folder full of information (stuff we already had) and said that we were wrong and he couldn't get a SSN until after EAD (which isn't correct). Even told them we weren't trying to get it for work, we just want to add him to the bank account and health insurance, etc. and they just wouldn't listen, said he had to have EAD. I figured they wouldn't be any help, and they were not. We went there to find out why he wasn't in the SAVE system, which is USCIS responsibility, if not in the SAVE system, no SSN can be issued (or you can have SSA file an inquiry to manually verify the entry, etc., which takes 4-6 weeks to process -- which we opted not to do!)

So I obviously had nothing to do at work, and made a few phone calls, also not helpful!!! Every agency immediately says, "Not our responsibility, call [fill-in-the-blank]" (for any other government agency). Well after a few of those answers I hung it up for the day. This morning I decided to call the main DHS line, and I got a helpful operator who told me that if he wasn't in the SAVE system yet, that I need to speak to someone at Customs & Border Patrol. He patched me through and I was on hold about 15 minutes and then got a helpful woman who gave me the phone number to the Raleigh-Durham CBP office and name of the department I needed to speak to and a person's name. I called shortly after that, got a lovely man who was very helpful. Since we only live about 5 minutes from the airport, I offered to come down to the office with Stephen. He said that would be great. So we went an hour later. He was very helpful, looked up Stephen's I-94, confirmed it wasn't in the system yet. Explained since Raleigh-Durham was a smaller airport, that it might take longer for the I-94 to be processed, etc. But he had us fill out another I-94, and changed the number on it to match Stephen's entry I-94 and submitted it today for entry into the system. And suggested we wait 1 more week to check again. Although he didn't really do much or give us any definite answers, he has been the most helpful person we have come across thus far. So we learned, don't enter through an airport that has only 1 international flight a day ... haha!!

It's not really slowing us down any, just a little frustrating .... so Gaye, if you are flying into RDU as your POE, beware, it might be a little slower for things to get moving

We are going to the courthouse tomorrow to get our marriage license!! Yay! And we are planning for a June 20th civil service .... *fingers crossed*

Edited June 12, 2008 by Amanda+Stephen

[dbears 1]

Thanks Amanda... my POE would be Detroit then connecting flight to RDU. I hope I will be ok then.

I hope everything gets resolved soonest for Stephen's SSN.

Sally, it is Friday morning here and I just sent a prayer that everything will turn out fine on your ct scan.

[Sal and Jay 2]

Thanks Amanda... my POE would be Detroit then connecting flight to RDU. I hope I will be ok then.

I hope everything gets resolved soonest for Stephen's SSN.

Sally, it is Friday morning here and I just sent a prayer that everything will turn out fine on your ct scan.

Thanks dbears im really scared.

[greeneyedgirlfl 0]

Thanks Amanda... my POE would be Detroit then connecting flight to RDU. I hope I will be ok then.

I hope everything gets resolved soonest for Stephen's SSN.

Sally, it is Friday morning here and I just sent a prayer that everything will turn out fine on your ct scan.

Thanks dbears im really scared.

Hoping for a good result for you, too!!!

[KitEEgirl 0]

One more day!!

[Damian&Kelly 16]

thoughts and prayers with Sally today

[KimandRuss 0]

Sal, thinking of you too! Come back and tell us how pretty you are on the inside!

[dbears 1]

One more day!!

In a few hours you would officially be MRS MARCO!!!

[psiprez 3]

Learned from the DOS that we FINALLY have an interview date!! it's still over a month away, which puts his possible arrival well into August. But at least we got one. I want so badly to start making concrete plans now, but I am so afraid there will be yet another delay. An RFE, lost visa, something. I wish we could buy his plane ticket now, but can't take the risk that he won't have the visa by then. At least there is an end in sight!

I've been silently following everyone's progress... my computer is one of those affected by the mysterious 'log-off' problems some members have had wiht the VJ site in the last month or so. I can't stay logged in long enough to make any posts, so I just lurk instead.

Sally, I hope all went well today. You are in my prayers.

And congrats to everyone who has gotten their visa approvals, and to those who are already reunited with their loved ones.

[psiprez 3]

P.S. I just looked at our timeline and realized it will have taken 3 WHOLE MONTHS from our NOA2 to the interview. That's 90 days for us. The processing time now is listed as 61 days, and I know of several who only had to wait 3 or 4 weeks.

Now you know why I expect some sort of delay with the visa. If there is any sort of delay to be had, it will happen to us.

It's so frustrating. It takes all the joy out of it.