October 08 K1 Filers

[mr and mrs 187]

There's some more photo's here http://www.grandmarq.net/images/New%20House

It's on the outskirts of Montgomery, about 5-10 min north of Gunter (part of Maxwell-Gunter AFB).

He's renting it for $650 a month, I'm not sure whether that's good or bad as I don't really know the area but I imagine rental prices have increased due to people unable to get morgages to buy.

Im hoping our issues are nothing to worry about. Basically when he was here last month we were very distant with each other, it's like we were strangers. I think we had got so used to not being with each other that when we were back together it felt wierd, like he was invading my personal space. I still live with my parent's so it probably felt cramped. He was here 10 days and I don't think that was long enough to get back into being a proper couple. I told my boss all about it and he said he and his wife went through the exact same thing when he came back from the Falklands after 9mths (he's ex military). A couple of other people said the same so I'm hoping it's just temporary. Tom's been under a lot of stress too, he hated Bahrain by the end and just wanted to go back to the US after being 4 years away.

oh my god. thats a good price, no matter where you are. thats fabulous.

i think that what youve said, the stress sounds really normal. living with parents, it can be tough to fully relax. and if hes not been happy in bahrain, im sure that contributed. being back in the states will allow him to devote more energy to the things that make him happy and therefore probably everything will be easier. the personal space issue i can understand. its a big change from never to all of the time.

is he looking forward to you coming?

i just think it sounds like this solution is a great idea. and i think you guys will be able to settle in to being 'you' on fairly neutral ground. (american soil, yes, but still...) a new home, a new place, a new life.

sounds like a recipe for success!

now im going to look at the pictures. (i LOVE pictures. and im nosy!)

edit: OH! i like it even better. it has a lot of things i lust after:

a grill

a SHED!

a gas hob

a window in the shower/bath (obsessed with this, dont know why)

a laundry room

great great great!

Edited April 2, 2009 by mr and mrs

[Laura+Tom 2]

There's some more photo's here http://www.grandmarq.net/images/New%20House

It's on the outskirts of Montgomery, about 5-10 min north of Gunter (part of Maxwell-Gunter AFB).

He's renting it for $650 a month, I'm not sure whether that's good or bad as I don't really know the area but I imagine rental prices have increased due to people unable to get morgages to buy.

Im hoping our issues are nothing to worry about. Basically when he was here last month we were very distant with each other, it's like we were strangers. I think we had got so used to not being with each other that when we were back together it felt wierd, like he was invading my personal space. I still live with my parent's so it probably felt cramped. He was here 10 days and I don't think that was long enough to get back into being a proper couple. I told my boss all about it and he said he and his wife went through the exact same thing when he came back from the Falklands after 9mths (he's ex military). A couple of other people said the same so I'm hoping it's just temporary. Tom's been under a lot of stress too, he hated Bahrain by the end and just wanted to go back to the US after being 4 years away.

oh my god. thats a good price, no matter where you are. thats fabulous.

i think that what youve said, the stress sounds really normal. living with parents, it can be tough to fully relax. and if hes not been happy in bahrain, im sure that contributed. being back in the states will allow him to devote more energy to the things that make him happy and therefore probably everything will be easier. the personal space issue i can understand. its a big change from never to all of the time.

is he looking forward to you coming?

i just think it sounds like this solution is a great idea. and i think you guys will be able to settle in to being 'you' on fairly neutral ground. (american soil, yes, but still...) a new home, a new place, a new life.

sounds like a recipe for success!

now im going to look at the pictures. (i LOVE pictures. and im nosy!)

I hope he's looking forward to me coming! He's said he has. Unfortunately we haven't been able to speak much about it the past month as he's been without the internet a lot. He just moved in on Tuesday and he has no connection yet. He has no phone either.

The last two trips I took to see him, once to Bahrain and once to the US were fine, like we'd never been apart, it was just this one. However it was a longer separation this time than it was between the other trips which I don't think helped.

[mr and mrs 187]

I hope he's looking forward to me coming! He's said he has. Unfortunately we haven't been able to speak much about it the past month as he's been without the internet a lot. He just moved in on Tuesday and he has no connection yet. He has no phone either.

The last two trips I took to see him, once to Bahrain and once to the US were fine, like we'd never been apart, it was just this one. However it was a longer separation this time than it was between the other trips which I don't think helped.

thats sounds like things just havent been easy (distance, lines of communication, privacy, time, etc) for you to have the relationship. so these two months will be a breeze! when you will have all of those things (closeness, face to face communication, phonecalls, privacy, tons of time, plus A SHED!), things will be a lot simpler adn a lot less effort.

cant wait to see the house with some furniture!

[winifredbee 1]

You could try emailing the embassy, which is what we did. We asked if it was possible to change the address, and they just sent us packet 4 via email. Email them asap in case in takes a while for them to respond, you don't want it to be sent out if you won't receive it.

Anne, is Johan home? I leave in one week for Guatemala and our interview is in 10 days!!!

Hey Chelsea and the rest of the thread!

Yep, Johan arrived yesterday afternoon :dance:

Everything went smooth thru immigration. He just went right thru the line with the other

non-USC/non-residents and then the IO sent him to a separate office where they only

asked him "when do you plan on getting married?" I think the entire process took about

45 minutes.

We are going to get our marriage license today!!! :dance:

Chelsea & Laura: are you two getting prepared & excited for your trips!!? :star:

Congrats!! Sounds like the same experience we had did you go through Atlanta?

Enjoy your trip Chelsea. Good Luck with everything. I know you will do fine. When are you leaving Laura? I am a little out of the loop. Just a tad distracted:)

I'm going to the US for 8 weeks on the 20th April. I was originally only supposed to be a two week vacation, but since me and Tom have been having some 'issues' my boss suggested I extend it so we can have some proper time together before I go out there for good. I'm looking forward to it though.

That's right I remember now. You have the amazing boss. Good Luck with the reunion. This process is so hard on people because it is a logistical nightmare and not based on emotions...at all. I hope you guys can relax and enjoy each others company. Sounds like you have had a lot going on. Thanks for all the amazing advice you have been a rock on this thread.

[Laura+Tom 2]

I hope he's looking forward to me coming! He's said he has. Unfortunately we haven't been able to speak much about it the past month as he's been without the internet a lot. He just moved in on Tuesday and he has no connection yet. He has no phone either.

The last two trips I took to see him, once to Bahrain and once to the US were fine, like we'd never been apart, it was just this one. However it was a longer separation this time than it was between the other trips which I don't think helped.

thats sounds like things just havent been easy (distance, lines of communication, privacy, time, etc) for you to have the relationship. so these two months will be a breeze! when you will have all of those things (closeness, face to face communication, phonecalls, privacy, tons of time, plus A SHED!), things will be a lot simpler adn a lot less effort.

cant wait to see the house with some furniture!

Don't worry I'll be taking pics! Currently Tom is living there with just a camp bed and sleeping bag. The delivery of his stuff got delayed so it won't be there until the 7th. I think he can rent stuff off base if he needs to.

[winifredbee 1]

Oh Man! That stinks!!! I still have no idea whats going on with our case at NVC. I would take the Vancouver interview - Vancouver is faster!

It is faster but very expensive!!!! Besides I donèt get....why would they send me there if they do the exact same thing here! Nvc said today that our file should leave for Vancouver this week.....

Have you seen this link http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...=188862&hl= ?

Seems it's been happening to others too.

Good Luck Julie. If Montreal is that backed up maybe this is a blessing in disguise.

Thanks Laura! You are so resourceful!

Kendra, I'm starting to feel this way also...I might just go with Vancouver although the trip will be expensive, it might be worth it. Dex and I are still debating wich option is the best. As of this Monday, we are still at NVC....and it's official, our daughters are dual citizens!!! :)

Congrats!! That is a promising sign.

[Cacerez 19]

I have a few questions too. How long do people generally wait to file for AOS? Can I file the EAD now? We went to the local SS office and they were nice and the process seems very straight forward. We have to wait 10 days until he is in the system to apply for the SSN. I am so eager to move forward but do not want to jump the gun. Balvino is here only a week and he is already doing yard work with the Brazilian guy that works for my family. He makes friends so easily I know he will do well. We have been here a week today. Ordering pizza tonight to celebrate. I want to see some of you on Facebook. I posted some photos of our kitten and Balvino here in Boston.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.ph...2650&ref=mf

We plan on filing AOS (together with EAD & AP) as soon as we fill the papers out and have the marriage certificate, etc, hopefully by early-mid May. Mainly because my brother was kind enough to give us an early wedding gift of the $1010 for the AOS and so that Josue can get his EAD sooner and start working. When are you two getting married?

I'm so glad to hear Balvino is adjusting well! What state are you in again? I'm glad Josue is not arriving in the dead of winter b/c I don't think he has ever seen snow in his life and it would be quite a shock from 70* F weather year round.

[Cacerez 19]

You could try emailing the embassy, which is what we did. We asked if it was possible to change the address, and they just sent us packet 4 via email. Email them asap in case in takes a while for them to respond, you don't want it to be sent out if you won't receive it.

Anne, is Johan home? I leave in one week for Guatemala and our interview is in 10 days!!!

Hey Chelsea and the rest of the thread!

Yep, Johan arrived yesterday afternoon :dance:

Everything went smooth thru immigration. He just went right thru the line with the other

non-USC/non-residents and then the IO sent him to a separate office where they only

asked him "when do you plan on getting married?" I think the entire process took about

45 minutes.

We are going to get our marriage license today!!! :dance:

Chelsea & Laura: are you two getting prepared & excited for your trips!!? :star:

That's so exciting! I am so very nervous and excited for my trip. I just have this horrendous fear that the one thing they ask for I won't have and so they'll make us wait forever before giving him his visa. Or worse yet, AP. Other than the paperwork, I am definitely a procrastinator! The four pages (2 spreads) I did in my scrapbook are all I have done in the scrapbook, so if I don't finish it this weekend I will most likely just putting all the photos in an album just for them to flip through. I can always finish the scrapbook later. I can't pack til Tuesday just because I'm always the dummy that packs her toothbrush or shampoo or something and so won't have what I need to work Wednesday lol.

I hope everyone's processes continue going smoothly. I saw another couple October filers approved on the 30th and 31st!

Congrats!! Sounds like the same experience we had did you go through Atlanta?

Enjoy your trip Chelsea. Good Luck with everything. I know you will do fine. When are you leaving Laura? I am a little out of the loop. Just a tad distracted:)

Good question about Atlanta - maybe I haven't read ahead enough to get the answer, but we will most likely be going through Atlanta too so glad to hear they have a pretty low harrasment level. Winifredbee, does Balvino speak English? Was his questioning at POE in English or Spanish? And thanks for the good wishes

[Cacerez 19]

He's renting it for $650 a month, I'm not sure whether that's good or bad as I don't really know the area but I imagine rental prices have increased due to people unable to get morgages to buy.

Im hoping our issues are nothing to worry about. Basically when he was here last month we were very distant with each other, it's like we were strangers. I think we had got so used to not being with each other that when we were back together it felt wierd, like he was invading my personal space. I still live with my parent's so it probably felt cramped. He was here 10 days and I don't think that was long enough to get back into being a proper couple. I told my boss all about it and he said he and his wife went through the exact same thing when he came back from the Falklands after 9mths (he's ex military). A couple of other people said the same so I'm hoping it's just temporary. Tom's been under a lot of stress too, he hated Bahrain by the end and just wanted to go back to the US after being 4 years away.

Very cute house, not a bad price either! I know the feeling about the distant thing, it's so hard after being so used to talking on the phone/internet vs. actually being with that person and being able to do all the things that you've been "I can't wait until...ing" the whole time. I know when I saw Josue in December the first several hours were that way - is this real? It's been so long! You look a little different! But it does take time to adjust and I am sure that with the good foundation you two have you will be able to recover quickly. It's so nice that your boss has allowed you this time off, especially since he knows you won't be sticking around for the long haul. You must be pretty indispensible!

We are still house shopping, but with all the prep for the trip going on I haven't looked at any houses (other than drive-bys), I think it will be best to just wait til Josue gets here. I know it's going to be hard for him to adjust with the language barrier and all, so I'm excited that I was able to find a bilingual RE agent so he can ask a million questions and I don't have to translate! Yay!

I hope he's looking forward to me coming! He's said he has. Unfortunately we haven't been able to speak much about it the past month as he's been without the internet a lot. He just moved in on Tuesday and he has no connection yet. He has no phone either.

The last two trips I took to see him, once to Bahrain and once to the US were fine, like we'd never been apart, it was just this one. However it was a longer separation this time than it was between the other trips which I don't think helped.

thats sounds like things just havent been easy (distance, lines of communication, privacy, time, etc) for you to have the relationship. so these two months will be a breeze! when you will have all of those things (closeness, face to face communication, phonecalls, privacy, tons of time, plus A SHED!), things will be a lot simpler adn a lot less effort.

cant wait to see the house with some furniture!

that shed will make all the difference in the world! lol

[winifredbee 1]

You could try emailing the embassy, which is what we did. We asked if it was possible to change the address, and they just sent us packet 4 via email. Email them asap in case in takes a while for them to respond, you don't want it to be sent out if you won't receive it.

Anne, is Johan home? I leave in one week for Guatemala and our interview is in 10 days!!!

Hey Chelsea and the rest of the thread!

Yep, Johan arrived yesterday afternoon :dance:

Everything went smooth thru immigration. He just went right thru the line with the other

non-USC/non-residents and then the IO sent him to a separate office where they only

asked him "when do you plan on getting married?" I think the entire process took about

45 minutes.

We are going to get our marriage license today!!! :dance:

Chelsea & Laura: are you two getting prepared & excited for your trips!!? :star:

That's so exciting! I am so very nervous and excited for my trip. I just have this horrendous fear that the one thing they ask for I won't have and so they'll make us wait forever before giving him his visa. Or worse yet, AP. Other than the paperwork, I am definitely a procrastinator! The four pages (2 spreads) I did in my scrapbook are all I have done in the scrapbook, so if I don't finish it this weekend I will most likely just putting all the photos in an album just for them to flip through. I can always finish the scrapbook later. I can't pack til Tuesday just because I'm always the dummy that packs her toothbrush or shampoo or something and so won't have what I need to work Wednesday lol.

I hope everyone's processes continue going smoothly. I saw another couple October filers approved on the 30th and 31st!

Congrats!! Sounds like the same experience we had did you go through Atlanta?

Enjoy your trip Chelsea. Good Luck with everything. I know you will do fine. When are you leaving Laura? I am a little out of the loop. Just a tad distracted:)

Good question about Atlanta - maybe I haven't read ahead enough to get the answer, but we will most likely be going through Atlanta too so glad to hear they have a pretty low harrasment level. Winifredbee, does Balvino speak English? Was his questioning at POE in English or Spanish? And thanks for the good wishes

Atlanta was very easy for us and we only had a 2 hour layover. Between Balvino and the cat I was pretty worried but we were fine. Balvino says that most of the questions were in English but the guy spoke a bit of Spanish as well. Balvino is doing well. He does complain about the cold a little. The reviews of Atlanta on VJ are pretty good. Keep us posted I am so excited for you.

[Cacerez 19]

Atlanta was very easy for us and we only had a 2 hour layover. Between Balvino and the cat I was pretty worried but we were fine. Balvino says that most of the questions were in English but the guy spoke a bit of Spanish as well. Balvino is doing well. He does complain about the cold a little. The reviews of Atlanta on VJ are pretty good. Keep us posted I am so excited for you.

Hmmm, well Josue doesn't understand or speak much English at all, but usually in international airports like that there are always ones who speak Spanish. I do feel bad for all the countries - Russia, MENA, China, etc. - if the visa-holder doesn't speak English, b/c Spanish is at least a little more common to find someone to translate. On the flight I have been watching we will have a 3.5 hour layover, hopefully it will be enough time for us to grab a bite too. I've always connected at Fort Lauderdale, so I don't know anything about Atlanta. Hopefully we can find something in that time!

I will keep you all posted - I still have 11 days til the interview, and I assure you once the visa is in hand we will be in the internet b/c we will be searching for flights!

[Bintang 1]

I also have a question. I thought I would stick with this Oct VSC thread as everyone here are really helpful with answers. It says that we need to contact USCIS if there is a change of address. Is it apply only to Petitioner ? Or both Petitioner and Beneficiary? If my Fiancee has one different address she would like to use it to receive the Packet 3 from Embassy, instead of the address written on our petition, do we need to contact USCIS and tell them about this other address? Or is it the Embassy in her country that we must be in contact with for this matter?

FYI our case has been sent to NVC but we are not sure if it has reach Embassy or not.

Thanks everyone for your help.

You are no longer dealing with USCIS so you should either go through NVC or the Embassy.

I agree. Good Luck!

Still no NOA2. How long did it take you to get yours Laura? Called yesterday USCIS said wait at least 30 days.

Thanks everyone for your answers.!

[beans 7]

I'm worried about finally moving in with Jeremy. I mean don't get me wrong I love the s**t out of him but there's the little things. Like Sex and the City with single secret behaviours. And I've never lived with a boyfriend or anything of that magnitude and I like personal space so its going to be something that everyone has get used to.

Laura, I read your posts alot and sympathize with your situation. You guys really need that time together. Tom can decompress for a bit and you guys can just be a normal couple (and these long distance situations are a far cry from normal) I wish you both nothing but luck and a very happy future together.

[Laura+Tom 2]

I'm worried about finally moving in with Jeremy. I mean don't get me wrong I love the s**t out of him but there's the little things. Like Sex and the City with single secret behaviours. And I've never lived with a boyfriend or anything of that magnitude and I like personal space so its going to be something that everyone has get used to.

Laura, I read your posts alot and sympathize with your situation. You guys really need that time together. Tom can decompress for a bit and you guys can just be a normal couple (and these long distance situations are a far cry from normal) I wish you both nothing but luck and a very happy future together.

Thanks beans. I'm sure you'll be fine too, like you said it'll just be something new you have to get used to. This is the first time I'll be moving in with someone aswell. The longest I've ever 'lived' with Tom was three weeks in Bahrain. When he lived in the UK we only spent the weekends together and one night out a week as he still lived nearly an hour away.

[Cacerez 19]

I'm worried about finally moving in with Jeremy. I mean don't get me wrong I love the s**t out of him but there's the little things. Like Sex and the City with single secret behaviours. And I've never lived with a boyfriend or anything of that magnitude and I like personal space so its going to be something that everyone has get used to.

Beans, I sympathize with your situation because I'm used to living by myself now - or before with my mom, and if I wanted to go out with my friends I just petty much told her. Basically, it goes from doing your own thing, eating cereal for dinner, etc., to having that "other half" to always think about when making decisions. It is tough, and nearly all newlyweds go through it. The good thing about being in a LD relationship is that you talk...A LOT. It is to the point now where Josue can tell just by how I say "hello" when I answer the phone what kind of mood I'm in. You two both speak English, but I know in my situation it has been a big help to learn how to express myself in a second language without gestures, signals, pointing, etc.

I wish you all the best in your "new" relationships!