Oregon-Washington/UK Couples filing or have filed with CSC

[BMJ 0]

Just thought I would try to set up a chat for any couples (with a UK fiancé) in the Oregon and Washington to share their stories, struggles, ask questions, keep up on how our visas are coming along and any other information you want to share.

I currently live in Vancouver Washington, just north of Portland, and thought it would be nice to get to know if there was anyone else around the area who was also filing.

Maybe we can start by introducing ourselves, how we met our fiancé, and what step you are in with your visas.

My name is Rebecca, I met Mark in '05 while playing EverQuest II. Stopping playing online EQII in April '05 but kept in contact with Mark by msn messenger. In June '06 our friendship became more and in Aug '06 Mark and I met face to face for the first time. One of our biggest concerns would be how my four children would accept him. At the time my girls were 9, 14, and 15, and my youngest, and only boy was 8. The kids took to Mark better than either of us could have ever hoped for and by the time he came again, in October of '06, the youngest two were asking if they could call him papa. We got engaged in October '06, and filed our K1-Visa on Feb '08. We are planning on getting married in Oct of this year and are praying that everything goes through in time.

Sadly, due to trying to save up for the wedding, needing a new car for when he gets here, and all the costs of the immigration process, the last time we got to see each other was Dec '07. We talk on skype every day, but it isnt the same as having him here.

I hope there are others in the area that have gone or are going through the k1-visa process and that we can form a type of support system. This chat can be anything at all you want to say, share your daily struggles, just want to vent, heard a funny story or joke, or ask each other questions regarding the visa process.

Hope to hear from you all soon!

Rebecca

[Sal and Jay 2]

Just thought I would try to set up a chat for any couples (with a UK fiancé) in the Oregon and Washington to share their stories, struggles, ask questions, keep up on how our visas are coming along and any other information you want to share.

I currently live in Vancouver Washington, just north of Portland, and thought it would be nice to get to know if there was anyone else around the area who was also filing.

Maybe we can start by introducing ourselves, how we met our fiancé, and what step you are in with your visas.

My name is Rebecca, I met Mark in '05 while playing EverQuest II. Stopping playing online EQII in April '05 but kept in contact with Mark by msn messenger. In June '06 our friendship became more and in Aug '06 Mark and I met face to face for the first time. One of our biggest concerns would be how my four children would accept him. At the time my girls were 9, 14, and 15, and my youngest, and only boy was 8. The kids took to Mark better than either of us could have ever hoped for and by the time he came again, in October of '06, the youngest two were asking if they could call him papa. We got engaged in October '06, and filed our K1-Visa on Feb '08. We are planning on getting married in Oct of this year and are praying that everything goes through in time.

Sadly, due to trying to save up for the wedding, needing a new car for when he gets here, and all the costs of the immigration process, the last time we got to see each other was Dec '07. We talk on skype every day, but it isnt the same as having him here.

I hope there are others in the area that have gone or are going through the k1-visa process and that we can form a type of support system. This chat can be anything at all you want to say, share your daily struggles, just want to vent, heard a funny story or joke, or ask each other questions regarding the visa process.

Hope to hear from you all soon!

Rebecca

There is a topic for February K1 filers Here you may find this useful, there are a great bunch of people active on this topic.

[BMJ 0]

There is a topic for February K1 filers Here you may find this useful, there are a great bunch of people active on this topic.

Yep I know, I was just hoping to connect with some people that are more local and also have someone coming from the UK, I thought it would be nice if we could have our own little group instead of just being so general with March filers. This way, since we will all be CSC and it would not be limited to just those who recently filed but would be open to people going through the process and also to ones who already have.

It would also be nice to connect with people who have thoughts and concerns, and just to share a few laughs.

For instance... I like to tease Mark (Xaos) on how he pronounces garage. Funny enough, his dad grew up going to American/English speaking schools all over the world. So his dad is on my side, of course Mark tells me that no matter what he will always say it his way and we still joke about what a garden is vrs a back yard.

[BMJ 0]

Just wanted to pop on and write something before this post gets buried and no one notices it.

I know a lot of people who are filing are from California but I was hoping we had at least a couple in the Washington/Oregon area that have a fiance' in the UK and are filing with the CSC.

I guess my main reason for wanting to have this chat area is so I will know couples in my area who are going through the same thing. Another reason is that I feel pretty bad about Mark moving here and giving up all his friends to move here. Mark is the more social of the two of us, hes very outgoing and friendly and has a lot of friends in the UK. I however, being a single mom who is trying to work, go to school, and still spend time with the kids and run them all over to their events, have up to this point not made many friends, I have a couple, but not many.

I feel that Mark is giving up all his friends to come here, his lifestyle there, and while he says he can make friends anywhere, it worries me that he will come here and not find the US people as friendly as his friends in the UK.

Around where I live, we have bars, but we really don't have pubs. Back in the UK Mark and his friends sometimes go down to the pub to hang out, drink a bit of guiness, and just talk about whats going on. Neither of us are into the whole bar scene. Sometimes him and his friends get together to play dice role play games like DnD, and stuff like that.

I was hoping if there were other people in our area, that were from the UK, we could kind of build a support network, and maybe make a few friends that share our intrests.

As for me, my intrests include reading, hiking, playing online games, and just hanging out, walking around, exploring new areas, and traveling.

Hope to hear from you guys soon!

[snowfrostedlashes 0]

I hope you get some responses from people in your area here, but it might be worth investigating whether there are any local groups with british links, or even just a good D&D network, etc.

I'm lucky because Mark and I already shared quite a few mutual friends who are near where we'll be living before we started dating and I keep in touch with them on facebook, etc. so it won't be quite so difficult for me to settle in socially despite not knowing anyone from the UK in my immediate area.

All of my american friends are lovely and I really don't think you need to worry too much about your OH making friends in the natural course of things.

[Lansbury 19]

There are quite a few Brits already in the Portland area but there isn't anywhere that is a meeting place, we seem to have assimilated into the local culture quite well. Don't recall seeing that many posting who are going through the visa process right now.

[jundp 191]

Well we aren't a UK couple, but we are a Seattle couple and we're both fluent in English :-)

[BMJ 0]

Well we aren't a UK couple, but we are a Seattle couple and we're both fluent in English :-)

Hehe, that works too! My German isnt the best, I only took it in university to German 103, but I can try

Thanks so much for the support. It is wonderful knowing there are others in the area!

*hugs*

[jundp 191]

There's quite a few of us here, actually, that I've seen on VJ.

I think that we are lucky in that Seattle/Portland area is very open minded. Though I did once have someone ask me if P was marrying me just for a greencard. I laughed silly about that one!!

It's SO hard being away from the one you love, especially when you have kids (I have 2) because you want to get your life started with them. But, isnt it nice to know you've finally found him?

:-)

[Eli the Barrowboy 16]

We are going to be living in Portland once we get there ... while my being British on here is misnomer (I'm Northern irish and view myself as Irish but I have a British passport) so stay tuned if you want to chat more ...