July '08 filers

[Terri and Seb 0]

Is there a thread on VJ for people to discuss their wedding and honeymoon plans? I can't seem to find one. Since all of us are dealing with trying to throw a wedding that involves at least two countries, and all of us are pretty limited in honeymoon options unless we get Advanced Parole- it only seems reasonable that there should be somewhere where we get gather and talk about the fun, frilly stuff instead of just the logistics of filling out papers!

not that I know of but I say we July fliers do it here so we can all see what we all have planned..from simple to whatever and SUPPORT each other on this wonderful journey!!!

I would love to see what everyone is planning..ideas you name it..MAYBE we can pitch in together and even share ideas...recipes for weddings you name it...I will post mine later on because I am taking the grandkinds home

loves you all!

Meri

This sounds fantastic! What does everyone else think? I just don't want to hijack the thread and annoy people who come in here strictly looking for timelines and paperwork advice. I'd be willing to set up a separate thread if anyone has any objections to doing it in here.

[Corinthians 7]

Is there a thread on VJ for people to discuss their wedding and honeymoon plans? I can't seem to find one. Since all of us are dealing with trying to throw a wedding that involves at least two countries, and all of us are pretty limited in honeymoon options unless we get Advanced Parole- it only seems reasonable that there should be somewhere where we get gather and talk about the fun, frilly stuff instead of just the logistics of filling out papers!

not that I know of but I say we July fliers do it here so we can all see what we all have planned..from simple to whatever and SUPPORT each other on this wonderful journey!!!

I would love to see what everyone is planning..ideas you name it..MAYBE we can pitch in together and even share ideas...recipes for weddings you name it...I will post mine later on because I am taking the grandkinds home

loves you all!

Meri

This sounds fantastic! What does everyone else think? I just don't want to hijack the thread and annoy people who come in here strictly looking for timelines and paperwork advice. I'd be willing to set up a separate thread if anyone has any objections to doing it in here.

Go for it, I vote for the July people sticking together. Imagine what it would be like if we started a thread for every little topic...July 08 Filer Wedding Plans, July 08 Filer My Parents are Annoying thread, etc.

[kenny+Ugochi 1]

Corinthians July 08 Filer My Parents are Annoying thread ? that's about the funniest thing i have heard in Ages.......... ........

[Aubrey 10]

Is there a thread on VJ for people to discuss their wedding and honeymoon plans? I can't seem to find one. Since all of us are dealing with trying to throw a wedding that involves at least two countries, and all of us are pretty limited in honeymoon options unless we get Advanced Parole- it only seems reasonable that there should be somewhere where we get gather and talk about the fun, frilly stuff instead of just the logistics of filling out papers!

not that I know of but I say we July fliers do it here so we can all see what we all have planned..from simple to whatever and SUPPORT each other on this wonderful journey!!!

I would love to see what everyone is planning..ideas you name it..MAYBE we can pitch in together and even share ideas...recipes for weddings you name it...I will post mine later on because I am taking the grandkinds home

loves you all!

Meri

This sounds fantastic! What does everyone else think? I just don't want to hijack the thread and annoy people who come in here strictly looking for timelines and paperwork advice. I'd be willing to set up a separate thread if anyone has any objections to doing it in here.

Go for it, I vote for the July people sticking together. Imagine what it would be like if we started a thread for every little topic...July 08 Filer Wedding Plans, July 08 Filer My Parents are Annoying thread, etc.

Be careful about allowing all of that in here! lol

But yeah, I see no reason not to blab about our plans on just about anything. We're our own support group - it's great getting to know everyone and avoid feeling alone in all of this. I already blabbed about both of these topics here anyways!

[ChuckandOlga 0]

Hello everyone and I wish for your visas to come in quickly.

Myself being new to this site and learning more and more every day I have pondered upon something. All of us have lacked patients from time to time during our endeavor to be with the people we love the most ; ) Something I do not understand is the Mexicans that come across the border illegally into So. Cal. AZ, NM, and Texas they are given free health care, shelter at times, send their children to school and they walk down our streets laughing at the American public that they can live here without charge. We have a sheriff Joe Arpiao “America’s Toughest Sheriff," is trying to take all of the illegals off of our streets. But the Governor of Arizona and the Mayer of the city of Phoenix takes money away from Sheriff Joe because they want Phoenix to be a safe haven for Illegals to live and play at "our Tax Dollars". But yet I miss my soon to be wife very much! I ask myself why she cannot be here also. We all on this forum do the correct and just thing to protect America and each and every one of us are helping Homeland Security in traveling down our paths responsibly and doing things correctly to bring our loved ones to America for a new life together. I wonder if USICS has ever taken thought of this length of time we are to endure to be separate from our loved ones. So we shall have to wait and wait and wait even more? The USICS has recently hired in 1500 new employees? But yet they are even more back logged? "Laughing" about government employees... they make how much money?

Chief, Transformation Program Office... Homeland Security, Citizenship and Immigration Services, $114,468.00+

SPACE MANAGEMENT SPECIALIST... Homeland Security, Citizenship and Immigration Services, $77,670.00+

COMMUNITY RELATIONS OFFICER... Homeland Security, Citizenship and Immigration Services, $82,961.00+

WOW!!!

Now I know why this will take several months

Ok, I am now done with my ranting and raving

[Corinthians 7]

Corinthians July 08 Filer My Parents are Annoying thread ? that's about the funniest thing i have heard in Ages.......... ........

Guten abend and boa noite. Aubrey was my inspiration for that one.

I've been lucky with both sets of family so far. All my gripes would go under the US CIS visa waiver program and POE police are lame thread. Once you apply for a visa it seems like nobody from anywhere other than western europe or canada is getting in this country. Or the why can I fly to Brasil for $1100 but to fly from Brasil to here is $1500 to $2000 thread.

Remember how simple things were before the government got involved? Everyday seems like G325 this or I94 that or $455 here and $1010 there. It's crazy.

[Cham 3]

Corinthians July 08 Filer My Parents are Annoying thread ? that's about the funniest thing i have heard in Ages.......... ........

Guten abend and boa noite. Aubrey was my inspiration for that one.

I've been lucky with both sets of family so far. All my gripes would go under the US CIS visa waiver program and POE police are lame thread. Once you apply for a visa it seems like nobody from anywhere other than western europe or canada is getting in this country. Or the why can I fly to Brasil for $1100 but to fly from Brasil to here is $1500 to $2000 thread.

Remember how simple things were before the government got involved? Everyday seems like G325 this or I94 that or $455 here and $1010 there. It's crazy.

I AGREE!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay

tomorrow after work I will post some of our plans and pics of what we have done so far for our wedding..Man I cant wait and I so agree...Our loved ones cant be here sooner (being they hired ALL those folks) yet others who are not doing it the legal way get here sooner it seems SIGH

[Madmag12 0]

Hello fellow VJers's!

This is my first time on the site. I submitted my i-29F and got my NOA1. I also have an account in USCIS but I can not figure out if where can I check if I got a touch . Would I be notified through my email address or through my USCIS account?

Thank you VJ Fams!

[Terri and Seb 0]

Hello fellow VJers's!

This is my first time on the site. I submitted my i-29F and got my NOA1. I also have an account in USCIS but I can not figure out if where can I check if I got a touch . Would I be notified through my email address or through my USCIS account?

Thank you VJ Fams!

Welcome to the forums! I copied and pasted my response to someone else from the July Vermont thread :

"If the date that's displayed differs from your official NOA1 date, you've been touched. Keep in mind that there will only ever be one date displayed. It's not like a list of dates appear, the numbers will just change. If it hasn't been touched, don't fret! Lots of people go through the process with few, if any touches. They're not an incredibly accurate reflection of what's being done with your file."

As for wedding planning- I think we're going to do a classy elopement somewhere. Is anyone else doing this? Since we're looking at early to mid winter for approval, his family can't fly out while his siblings are still in school and his friends are working on their Masters degrees. And what's a wedding without the other half's friends and family? I'm also a full time student so I don't have a great deal of flexibility in the winter either. I think we're just going to elope and throw two huge parties within the next year or two, one in the U.S. and one in the U.K. We're looking into www.butterflyhollow.com because they've got a fantastically priced elopement package and it seems so much more personal than going to Vegas. I told him so long as we get gorgeous photographs and I can wear a poofy white dress, I don't care how we do it . Naturally, as a guy, this makes him incredibly happy. I could tell he was bored to death talking about centerpieces and floral arrangements.

Edited August 20, 2008 by Terri and Seb

[Cham 3]

Hello fellow VJers's!

This is my first time on the site. I submitted my i-29F and got my NOA1. I also have an account in USCIS but I can not figure out if where can I check if I got a touch . Would I be notified through my email address or through my USCIS account?

Thank you VJ Fams!

Welcome to the forums! I copied and pasted my response to someone else from the July Vermont thread :

"If the date that's displayed differs from your official NOA1 date, you've been touched. Keep in mind that there will only ever be one date displayed. It's not like a list of dates appear, the numbers will just change. If it hasn't been touched, don't fret! Lots of people go through the process with few, if any touches. They're not an incredibly accurate reflection of what's being done with your file."

As for wedding planning- I think we're going to do a classy elopement somewhere. Is anyone else doing this? Since we're looking at early to mid winter for approval, his family can't fly out while his siblings are still in school and his friends are working on their Masters degrees. And what's a wedding without the other half's friends and family? I'm also a full time student so I don't have a great deal of flexibility in the winter either. I think we're just going to elope and throw two huge parties within the next year or two, one in the U.S. and one in the U.K. We're looking into www.butterflyhollow.com because they've got a fantastically priced elopement package and it seems so much more personal than going to Vegas. I told him so long as we get gorgeous photographs and I can wear a poofy white dress, I don't care how we do it . Naturally, as a guy, this makes him incredibly happy. I could tell he was bored to death talking about centerpieces and floral arrangements.

we were going to do this BUT decided on a casual/classy wedding princess bride mixed in

He will where a tux and my son will to (he is standing up for him) I have a beautiful simple white dress

Colors are royal blue and lilac with hints of soft green/ivory/white.

our cake that I am making will be two squares and the top will be round. I have already bought our goblets ect.

We are setting up round tables and just seating people throughout on both sides with an isle down the center of the tables. (his family and friends are trying to fly out..BUT very spendy to fly) We are having the wedding AT the reception hall ...WAY cheaper and it has a small stage thing with steps in front for us to get married on.

SO far so good!!!

[Aubrey 10]

Hello everyone and I wish for your visas to come in quickly.

Myself being new to this site and learning more and more every day I have pondered upon something. All of us have lacked patients from time to time during our endeavor to be with the people we love the most ; ) Something I do not understand is the Mexicans that come across the border illegally into So. Cal. AZ, NM, and Texas they are given free health care, shelter at times, send their children to school and they walk down our streets laughing at the American public that they can live here without charge. We have a sheriff Joe Arpiao “America’s Toughest Sheriff," is trying to take all of the illegals off of our streets. But the Governor of Arizona and the Mayer of the city of Phoenix takes money away from Sheriff Joe because they want Phoenix to be a safe haven for Illegals to live and play at "our Tax Dollars". But yet I miss my soon to be wife very much! I ask myself why she cannot be here also. We all on this forum do the correct and just thing to protect America and each and every one of us are helping Homeland Security in traveling down our paths responsibly and doing things correctly to bring our loved ones to America for a new life together. I wonder if USICS has ever taken thought of this length of time we are to endure to be separate from our loved ones. So we shall have to wait and wait and wait even more? The USICS has recently hired in 1500 new employees? But yet they are even more back logged? "Laughing" about government employees... they make how much money?

Chief, Transformation Program Office... Homeland Security, Citizenship and Immigration Services, $114,468.00+

SPACE MANAGEMENT SPECIALIST... Homeland Security, Citizenship and Immigration Services, $77,670.00+

COMMUNITY RELATIONS OFFICER... Homeland Security, Citizenship and Immigration Services, $82,961.00+

WOW!!!

Now I know why this will take several months

Ok, I am now done with my ranting and raving

Having lived in a border state myself for most of my life (I only moved to Idaho from Texas 2 years ago), I understand your frustration with the Mexican illegals. But honestly, I don't think that interferes that much with our SO's process and time length. The Mexican illegals thing is its own ugly problem. I don't want to derail this thread with my rant on this topic... I could go on and on!

Und guten morgen, Corinthians and everyone else! My German is ... well, not good! Glad my SO's English is great!

I found a couple more Las Vegas wedding sites that look promising, too. His parents and one grandma at least want to fly in to see us married, and it's so expensive to fly to Moscow, Idaho... so a destination seems the best for us. Ruled out most of the strip hotels because they want too much money.

The Flamingo

Vegas Weddings

Cupid's receptions

I can't narrow anything down too much until I know what our financial situation will be when he arrives. And that depends on what sort of job he lands when he returns home next month (and my finances are pretty horrible 'til I finish my 2nd degree in May). The job market in his hometown hasn't been great (not that it's so hot in the US at the moment either!). I've got him studying for A+ certification while he's here so he has a better shot at job hunting here and back in Germany. He's got a Vordiplom which has no US equivalent (it's like a 3 year degree but all credits in computer science), and the credit didn't transfer well when we looked into him finishing a 4th year for a BA. That certification should help him land a decent job here until we can sort out the rest.

Have the rest of you talked about what your SOs will do for work in the US?

[Koakland 0]

Hello everyone and I wish for your visas to come in quickly.

Myself being new to this site and learning more and more every day I have pondered upon something. All of us have lacked patients from time to time during our endeavor to be with the people we love the most ; ) Something I do not understand is the Mexicans that come across the border illegally into So. Cal. AZ, NM, and Texas they are given free health care, shelter at times, send their children to school and they walk down our streets laughing at the American public that they can live here without charge. We have a sheriff Joe Arpiao “America’s Toughest Sheriff," is trying to take all of the illegals off of our streets. But the Governor of Arizona and the Mayer of the city of Phoenix takes money away from Sheriff Joe because they want Phoenix to be a safe haven for Illegals to live and play at "our Tax Dollars". But yet I miss my soon to be wife very much! I ask myself why she cannot be here also. We all on this forum do the correct and just thing to protect America and each and every one of us are helping Homeland Security in traveling down our paths responsibly and doing things correctly to bring our loved ones to America for a new life together. I wonder if USICS has ever taken thought of this length of time we are to endure to be separate from our loved ones. So we shall have to wait and wait and wait even more? The USICS has recently hired in 1500 new employees? But yet they are even more back logged? "Laughing" about government employees... they make how much money?

Chief, Transformation Program Office... Homeland Security, Citizenship and Immigration Services, $114,468.00+

SPACE MANAGEMENT SPECIALIST... Homeland Security, Citizenship and Immigration Services, $77,670.00+

COMMUNITY RELATIONS OFFICER... Homeland Security, Citizenship and Immigration Services, $82,961.00+

WOW!!!

Now I know why this will take several months

Ok, I am now done with my ranting and raving

Having lived in a border state myself for most of my life (I only moved to Idaho from Texas 2 years ago), I understand your frustration with the Mexican illegals. But honestly, I don't think that interferes that much with our SO's process and time length. The Mexican illegals thing is its own ugly problem. I don't want to derail this thread with my rant on this topic... I could go on and on!

Und guten morgen, Corinthians and everyone else! My German is ... well, not good! Glad my SO's English is great!

I found a couple more Las Vegas wedding sites that look promising, too. His parents and one grandma at least want to fly in to see us married, and it's so expensive to fly to Moscow, Idaho... so a destination seems the best for us. Ruled out most of the strip hotels because they want too much money.

The Flamingo

Vegas Weddings

Cupid's receptions

I can't narrow anything down too much until I know what our financial situation will be when he arrives. And that depends on what sort of job he lands when he returns home next month (and my finances are pretty horrible 'til I finish my 2nd degree in May). The job market in his hometown hasn't been great (not that it's so hot in the US at the moment either!). I've got him studying for A+ certification while he's here so he has a better shot at job hunting here and back in Germany. He's got a Vordiplom which has no US equivalent (it's like a 3 year degree but all credits in computer science), and the credit didn't transfer well when we looked into him finishing a 4th year for a BA. That certification should help him land a decent job here until we can sort out the rest.

Have the rest of you talked about what your SOs will do for work in the US?

My fiance has worked for the past few years as an IT engineer in France. I live in the Bay Area, very close to Silicon Valley, so I don't think that he will have a lot of trouble finding work once he gets an EAD (or whatever it is ). Until he finds that type of work he's thinking about tutoring French or math or science or maybe he'll just taking some IT classes at a community college so he can learn English IT lingo. We've also talked about all the housework he can do (hehehehe).

I spoke to my mom (who is an HR manager in a company that hires lots of foreign nationals) and she said to make sure my fiance brings official transcripts from his school. Once he gets here he has to hire a service to translate them and verify them...I'm sure there is a thread somewhere on VJ about this. I'll search around.

The one good thing about the long wait from NOA1 to NOA2 is having lots of time to get together all the random documents...

Aubrey, what is A+ certification? It is very cool that you and your fiance are spending so much time together. I am very jealous. Lately, I've been missing my SO so so so much. If he doesn't call me or text me or email me fast enough I get really annoyed. But I know it's not his fault. It's just me missing him. I need to relax Yesterday, we talked about all the things we have to do when he moves here and he was really excited. That made me feel much better. Ahhhh, the wonderful world of immigration.

[Aubrey 10]

My fiance has worked for the past few years as an IT engineer in France. I live in the Bay Area, very close to Silicon Valley, so I don't think that he will have a lot of trouble finding work once he gets an EAD (or whatever it is ). Until he finds that type of work he's thinking about tutoring French or math or science or maybe he'll just taking some IT classes at a community college so he can learn English IT lingo. We've also talked about all the housework he can do (hehehehe).

I spoke to my mom (who is an HR manager in a company that hires lots of foreign nationals) and she said to make sure my fiance brings official transcripts from his school. Once he gets here he has to hire a service to translate them and verify them...I'm sure there is a thread somewhere on VJ about this. I'll search around.

The one good thing about the long wait from NOA1 to NOA2 is having lots of time to get together all the random documents...

Aubrey, what is A+ certification? It is very cool that you and your fiance are spending so much time together. I am very jealous. Lately, I've been missing my SO so so so much. If he doesn't call me or text me or email me fast enough I get really annoyed. But I know it's not his fault. It's just me missing him. I need to relax Yesterday, we talked about all the things we have to do when he moves here and he was really excited. That made me feel much better. Ahhhh, the wonderful world of immigration.

Yeah, there's several threads on translating/verifying overseas credentials. I bookedmarked the two sites I saw recommended a couple times:

http://www.edperspective.org/evaluation.php

http://www.wes.org/immigrants/faq.asp

In the IT world, certifications are pretty desirable. A+ is sort of the basic cert for hardware and software knowledge and maintenance. Lots of IT people have it in addition to other certifications that branch off from there - like Network+, Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator, etc. We're just starting Andreas with the A+ since it's good for a PC Tech job which has good availability and pay (something like 30K I've read). Besides, the 1000 page book he's study is enough for him to manage to complete in the next few weeks! His job will need to be flexible since we don't know where we're going to end up moving to for my more specialized field next year (graphic design).

And yeah, I'm fortunate my SO was able to come for such a long stay. He was job hunting and after the student visa route failed (too expensive!), I knew we had a long wait ahead of us that I couldn't handle. It's hard financially... but I'd give my last dime to be with him. I still dread when he leaves next month and hope we can somehow afford another visit, even if it's short.

[Koakland 0]

My fiance has worked for the past few years as an IT engineer in France. I live in the Bay Area, very close to Silicon Valley, so I don't think that he will have a lot of trouble finding work once he gets an EAD (or whatever it is ). Until he finds that type of work he's thinking about tutoring French or math or science or maybe he'll just taking some IT classes at a community college so he can learn English IT lingo. We've also talked about all the housework he can do (hehehehe).

I spoke to my mom (who is an HR manager in a company that hires lots of foreign nationals) and she said to make sure my fiance brings official transcripts from his school. Once he gets here he has to hire a service to translate them and verify them...I'm sure there is a thread somewhere on VJ about this. I'll search around.

The one good thing about the long wait from NOA1 to NOA2 is having lots of time to get together all the random documents...

Aubrey, what is A+ certification? It is very cool that you and your fiance are spending so much time together. I am very jealous. Lately, I've been missing my SO so so so much. If he doesn't call me or text me or email me fast enough I get really annoyed. But I know it's not his fault. It's just me missing him. I need to relax Yesterday, we talked about all the things we have to do when he moves here and he was really excited. That made me feel much better. Ahhhh, the wonderful world of immigration.

Yeah, there's several threads on translating/verifying overseas credentials. I bookedmarked the two sites I saw recommended a couple times:

http://www.edperspective.org/evaluation.php

http://www.wes.org/immigrants/faq.asp

In the IT world, certifications are pretty desirable. A+ is sort of the basic cert for hardware and software knowledge and maintenance. Lots of IT people have it in addition to other certifications that branch off from there - like Network+, Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator, etc. We're just starting Andreas with the A+ since it's good for a PC Tech job which has good availability and pay (something like 30K I've read). Besides, the 1000 page book he's study is enough for him to manage to complete in the next few weeks! His job will need to be flexible since we don't know where we're going to end up moving to for my more specialized field next year (graphic design).

And yeah, I'm fortunate my SO was able to come for such a long stay. He was job hunting and after the student visa route failed (too expensive!), I knew we had a long wait ahead of us that I couldn't handle. It's hard financially... but I'd give my last dime to be with him. I still dread when he leaves next month and hope we can somehow afford another visit, even if it's short.

Aubrey, you are so well educated on all this stuff. I read your post and freaked but apparently my fiance knows about it. Guess he has it figured out...Thanks for the info.

[ChuckandOlga 0]

Oh my God!

I deeply apologize to everyone about my post in here it was not my intent to over run your postings with my rant and raves. I do not know how I posted it in here and not in another post ; (

Again I am sorry!